Reuters - Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) surpassed Motorola in third quarter to became the largest mobile phone vendor in the United States, research firm Strategy Analytics said on Friday.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp , capitalizing on Google Inc's regulatory snarl, is working to steal a deal with Verizon Wireless away from its rival, the Wall Street Journal said.

AP - Microsoft's chief executive said Friday the software giant is not interested in renewing its bid for struggling search engine company Yahoo Inc.

AP - Imagine a bicycle seat connected by mechanical frames to a pair of shoes for an idea of how the new wearable assisted-walking gadget from Honda works.

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.

Reuters - A wave of economic gloom is set to hit mobile phone buyers next year, with a growing number of analysts expecting the once-buoyant market to shrink for the first time since the 2001 crash, a Reuters poll showed.

CNET - Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Friday that Microsoft is 'not interested' in making a new offer for internet company Yahoo, despite Yahoo's share price currently sitting at less than half what Microsoft initially offered.

Reuters - Sprint Nextel , the No. 3 U.S. mobile service, on Friday posted a quarterly loss and weaker revenue as customers fled to rival services.

BusinessWeek Online - For a glimpse of shopping trends this holiday season, consider Deborah Niemann-Boehle. The Joliet (Ill.) teacher says she 'used to be one of those parents who spent $1,000 at Christmas and had presents sticking out from under the tree for a couple of feet in every direction.' This year, instead of getting Xboxes (NasdaqGS:MSFT - News) or iPods (NasdaqGS:AAPL - News), her three teens will receive clothes from Kohl's or J.C.Penney . She's crocheting hats and mittens and making goat milk soap for everyone else.

AP - Sprint Nextel Corp. watched another 1.3 million wireless subscribers head for its competitors during the third quarter, leading the company to post a loss that sent its stock skidding Friday.

Reuters - Sprint Nextel Corp , the No. 3 U.S. mobile service, posted a third-quarter loss and a 12 percent drop in revenue as customers fled to rival services.

AP - Zsolt Kerecsen, a 34-year-old software developer with three kids and a mortgage, is no high roller. But like thousands of other middle-class Hungarians he gambled by borrowing to buy a home in Swiss francs.

AP - When Les Paul's grandchildren are jamming on the video game 'Guitar Hero,' it's not lost on him that he made it all possible.

NewsFactor - Apple's iPhone is emerging as king of the corporate world as global shipments of smartphones reached a new peak. Defying speculation about a global recession, worldwide smartphone shipments climbed to just shy of 40 million units in the third quarter, according to the latest estimates from Canalys. That means smartphones now represent about 13 percent of the total mobile-phone market, up from 11 percent in the second quarter.

AFP - Clive Goodinson has gone from writing a master's thesis on woodpeckers to trying to unite the world through online funnies.

Reuters - Sprint Nextel Corp , the No. 3 U.S. mobile service, posted a third-quarter loss and a 12 percent drop in revenue as customers fled to rival services.

NewsFactor - If an ancient writer was alive today, he might post something like this to his Twitter account: 'Hell hath no fury like a software giant scorned.'

AFP - Japan's Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Donkey Kong and global best-seller Super Mario Bros, releases his Wii Music in Europe next week, his latest work in 30 years of inventive videogame design for Nintendo.

NewsFactor - Before you wake up in the morning, your iPhone downloads your news and tells your coffeemaker to start brewing. Then when you're up and you wave the device at your TV, the news feeds get transferred to your TV.

Reuters - Gadget geeks, used to booking hotel rooms way in advance for the annual Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show, may be one-upped by lazier peers this January.

CNET - Police in Monroe, Wash., say they've arrested that guy who robbed an armored car outside a bank, hired unsuspecting dress-alike decoys on Craigslist to fool authorities, and escaped downriver in an inner tube, according to the Seattle Times.

NewsFactor - If the past week is any indication, Americans may soon enter the era of always-on, always-available Internet. While the full rollout of new broadband technologies may be two or three years away, the nation is closer to catching up with its access-rich Asian counterparts than ever before.

AFP - Digg founder Kevin Rose on Friday shined light on a stormy economic landscape, saying the climate is right for launching Internet startups.

Reuters - AT&T Inc plans to buy rural phone company Centennial Communications Corp for $944 million in cash to expand its wireless network in Puerto Rico and other regions of the United States.

Reuters - South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) has had talks with Chrysler LLC owner Cerberus Capital Management about a potential acquisition of the U.S. automaker's Jeep brand and possibly other assets, people with knowledge of the talks said on Friday.

Reuters - A U.S. District Court judge in New York ordered a newly hired Apple Inc executive to stop work immediately because he might be violating an agreement with his former employer, IBM .

CNET - Long before I ever heard about personal computers, I was a huge fan of automobile design. When I was a kid, my room was jammed with miniature model cars I spent hours assembling, painting, and proudly putting on display.

Reuters - Amid the flood of third-party instrument peripherals emerging for the new 'Guitar Hero' and 'Rock Band' music simulation games, God forbid if Gene Simmons would miss an opportunity to get his brand on.