AP - Digital picture frames were a big item last Christmas. This holiday season, there will be an innovation on store shelves: a frame that can receive and display pictures straight from cell phones, (almost) no matter where they are.

AP - Without Google's muscle behind it, Yahoo's chances for digging out of a long slump are looking even poorer, making it appear more likely that the company will turn to Microsoft or AOL to help weather the economic downturn.

AFP - Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang said Wednesday that Microsoft should buy his pioneering Internet firm despite failed takeover talks between the companies earlier this year.

InfoWorld - Sun is offering on Thursday its open-source Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server version 3 Prelude, a Web application server based on a modular OSGi architecture with capabilities from the planned Java Platform EE (Enterprise Edition) 6 release.

Reuters - It sure helps to have the 'Guitar Hero' franchise. On Wednesday, two big video game companies reported quarterly earnings, with Activision Blizzard impressing investors while THQ depressed them.

CNET - Loopt, the friend tracking software developer, has struck a licensing deal with a Qualcomm subsidiary to help lower the cost of providing location services.

AFP - Mobile phone giant Vodafone said Thursday it had taken control of South African peer Vodacom after increasing its stake to 65 percent from 50 in a cash deal costing 1.4 billion pounds.

Reuters - Wrestling fans tired of watching from the sidelines can get into a virtual ring with their idols when THQ launches its newest videogame 'WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009' this week.

AP - A former Intel Corp. employee is charged with stealing trade secrets worth $1 billion from the chip maker while he worked for its rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

AP - Vodafone Group PLC, the world's biggest mobile phone provider by sales, announced Thursday it is planning to take majority control of South Africa's largest mobile phone company, Vodacom.

Reuters - It sure helps to have the 'Guitar Hero' franchise. On Wednesday, two big video game companies reported quarterly earnings, with Activision Blizzard impressing investors while THQ depressed them.

AP - AT&T Inc. said Thursday it will buy Wayport Inc., a privately held company that operates more than 10,000 Wi-Fi hot spots in McDonald's restaurants and hotels, for $275 million in cash.

AP - A former Intel Corp. engineer has been charged with stealing trade secrets worth $1 billion from the chip maker while he worked for its main rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Reuters - After nearly a year spent seeking alternatives to Microsoft Corp's buyout offer, Yahoo Inc's Chief Executive Jerry Yang said he believes a deal between the two is still the best option for the software company.

AFP - Norway's consumer mediator said Thursday he would take US electronics manufacturer Apple's iTunes before a government agency for failing to make its online store compatible with music players other than its iPod.

CNET - Apple appears set to turn on over-the-air podcast downloads with the next version of the iPhone software, making it much clearer why it rejected a third-party application that did the same thing.

NewsFactor - Intel has big plans for its little chips. The chipmaker is looking to the future with its Intel Core i7 microarchitecture, code-named Nehalem, which is being described as 'mind-blowing' by some observers after it was offered for review earlier this month.

Reuters - Surging demand for the latest iPhone and Blackberry models helped Apple Inc and Research In Motion to win larger shares of the smartphone market in the third quarter at the expense of top vendor Nokia, market research firm Canalys said on Thursday.

AP - Technology companies often say their products ought to remain appealing in an economic downturn because they can save businesses money by making operations more efficient. But corporate spending apparently is being cut too forcefully for that message to get through.

NewsFactor - CNN correspondent Jessica Yellin's virtual visit to the network's New York studio from a trailer outside President-elect Barack Obama headquarters in Chicago may not have been a hologram, as dozens of bloggers have spent the last 48 hours pointing out, but it was a tantalizing glimpse of the future.

Reuters - Qualcomm Inc forecast fiscal first-quarter and full-year earnings will be far below Wall Street estimates, indicating that the economic crisis could have a prolonged impact on cell phone demand.

AP - Facebook Inc. doesn't need to befriend more investors to finance its rapid growth, but the popular online hangout hasn't ruled out the possibility of accepting another cash infusion of help pay the bills, its chief executive says.

Reuters - High-speed wireless Internet will be cheaper and more available across the United States in the near future, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and a Google co-founder said on Thursday.

AFP - Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday his fast-rising social networking website is focused on spreading around the world, not pumping cash into its coffers.

Reuters - MySpace, the popular online social network owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, could develop a digital music player in the future, pitting it against Apple Inc's hot-selling iPod.

CNET - Brutal.

Reuters - Software giant Microsoft Corp dismissed speculation it might still be interested in a takeover of Internet firm Yahoo Inc.