CNET - President-elect Barack Obama's cell phone billing records were improperly accessed by employees of Verizon Wireless, CNN reported late on Thursday.

Reuters - Google Inc said it would shut down its three-dimensional virtual experience website by year end to focus more on its core search, advertisements and applications business.

Reuters - NBC News has made a big pitch to the Facebook generation, offering users of the social-networking site the chance to test their knowledge using video from the network's vast archives.

PC Magazine - Several Verizon Wireless employees gained unauthorized access to the cell phone account of President-elect Barack Obama, the provider revealed Thursday.

AP - When the last new Guns N' Roses album came out, there were no iPods or digital downloads. There was no 'American Idol.' No music blogs. No MySpace.

BusinessWeek Online - With the recession in full swing, industries across the charts have been laying off hundreds of employees -- making the job market increasingly competitive. So what's a freshly unemployed tech professional to do? Hit the streets and start networking. As the hordes of job-seekers descend upon trade shows, conferences, and meet-ups around the country, a few mobile startups could be poised to profit from their misery: digital business-card services.

Reuters - Intel Corp's cut in its fourth-quarter revenue outlook earlier this month was the final revision by the world's top computer chip maker, which is grappling with weakening demand, Chairman Craig Barrett said on Friday.

NewsFactor - All eyes were on Research in Motion Friday as the BlackBerry Storm rolled out across the United States with Apple-like fanfare. The phone is available exclusively through Verizon Wireless.

AP - Two engineers from China who pleaded guilty to the rare charge of economic espionage against the U.S. are facing sentencing Friday, in a case that highlights national security threats surrounding sensitive technologies.

CNET - Here's a sampling of green-tech news, with quick commentary.

Reuters - Who said bras are only for women? A Japanese online lingerie retailer is selling bras for cross-dressing men and they've quickly become one of its most popular items.

Reuters - Hundreds of people lined up at Verizon Wireless stores on Friday to buy the BlackBerry Storm, the first touch-screen phone from Research In Motion that aims to compete with Apple's iPhone.

PC Magazine - Apple has released iPhone OS 2.2 and iPhone OS for iPod touch 2.2 fixing a dozen vulnerabilities in the older versions. From a user perspective, the iPhone OS update also adds Google Street View and a podcast download capability.

NewsFactor - Nokia and IBM on Thursday launched IBM Lotus Notes support for Nokia's S60-based mobile phones. That means millions of Lotus Notes users will be able to access their e-mail on Nokia devices in December.

NewsFactor - IBM, in collaboration with five universities, announced plans Thursday to create computing systems that simulate and emulate the brain's abilities for sensation, perception, action, interaction and cognition while rivaling its low power consumption and compact size. The goal is to solve the problem of information management.

NewsFactor - Online games, social-networking Web sites, and chat rooms are empowering and motivating for teens and help with their development, according to a study released Thursday by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation at the American Anthropological Association's annual meeting. The study covered three years and 5,000 hours of observing teens online.

AP - The nearest Wal-Mart is two hours away, and only foul weather, a deer in the road or a Washakie County sheriff's deputy would slow down anyone with a mind to drive there faster.

AP - Two engineers from China are each facing a year in prison on the rare charge of economic espionage against the U.S.

Reuters - A Florida teenager committed suicide by drug overdose in front of a webcam streaming live video to the Internet and some viewers may have egged him on, authorities said on Friday.

InfoWorld - In separate moves this week, Sun and Microsoft both proceeded with previously stated plans to boost their software development environments

NewsFactor - Features galore are included in Apple's new 2.2 software update for the iPhone, which became available a day earlier than expected. Apple released the new software one day before Verizon Wireless and Research In Motion's BlackBerry Storm hit store shelves, but analysts say it was just a coincidence.

CNET - Hundreds of people lined up outside some Verizon Wireless stores to buy the new BlackBerry Storm on Friday, but many walked away empty handed.

AP - Word of mouth is one of the most common ways homebuyers and sellers find a real estate agent. Now, there are several Web sites that tout a more scientific approach: ranking agents based on criteria such as years of experience, how many sales they've closed, and the number of positive testimonials from past clients.

PC Magazine - MSI Computer said Friday that it will show off an upgraded MSI Wind netbook that is WiMAX capable at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. As of press time, the Wind is the current holder of the category's Editor's Choice award for the netbook category.

Reuters - Internet search giant Google Inc is known for hosting the most extravagant holiday parties in Silicon Valley, often drawing crowds of over 10,000 and prompting some employees to post ads for party dates on classifieds Website Craiglist.

InfoWorld - Ruby on Rails 2.2, an upgrade to the popular Web application framework, was released Friday, featuring an internationalization framework and stronger support for HTTP validators, according to the Ruby on Rails Web site.

Reuters - U.S. mobile service provider Sprint Nextel Corp said on Friday that the president of its CDMA business unit, John Garcia, is leaving the company.

Reuters - Nokia Corp plans to launch a mobile phone service in Japan next spring, a move expected to intensify competition among Japanese cell phone carriers, Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Saturday.