Applied Materials' board of directors has appointed Gary Dickerson as president and chief executive officer (CEO) and Michael Splinter as executive chairman of the board of directors, effective September 1, 2013.

After months of speculation and hype, the first biopic about Apple co-founder Steve Jobs hits theaters Friday.

A startup called Ubi Interactive is now selling $150 software that can turn any wall, desk or screen into a 45-inch touchscreen. Just hook up a Microsoft Kinect sensor and a screen or projector, and the display will instantly gain touch-screen capabilities.

Samsung has been named in a lawsuit filed by a Brazilian labor group, which said working conditions at the technology firm's assembly lines were in violation of Brazilian law.

Facebook, the world's largest social networking company, is planning to test a new mobile payment feature.

Samsung has unveiled an Android flip-phone with dual-touchscreens in China, which will likely be positioned as a premium device.

"We are seeing a near-term slowdown in investment by our foundry customers as they focus on ramping (production using) new capacity installed over the past two quarters," said Applied CEO Michael Splinter.

Whirlpool of the US has agreed on a US$552 million proposal to take control of a Chinese maker of fridges and washing machines as it tries to gain a better foothold in the fast-growing consumer markets of Asia.

Cisco Systems saw its shares fall sharply late Wednesday after the company announced that it is cutting 4,000 jobs to adjust to what CEO John Chambers called a "challenging" and "inconsistent" economy.

Intel, AMD and ARM are looking to address new workloads fueled by such trends as cloud computing, mobility, big data and social networks.

Universal Display sees more growth potential as more OLED products, including curved TVs, hit the market.

North Korea has begun producing its own smartphones, even though most residents' access to the Internet and telephone networks is severely limited.

The smartphone-fans turned out with BB guns and knives on sticks to pop the balloons and claim a voucher for a free LG G2.

The German economy grew strongly in the second quarter, raising hopes that the eurozone has come out of recession.

The commitment of solar panel manufacturers to good environmental practices may be fading as intense competition causes some companies to pare costs and others to go out of business, according to an industry watchdog.

Intel has confirmed that it acquired last month Fujitsu Semiconductor Wireless Products, the Tempe, Ariz.-based subsidiary of Fujitsu that developed an advanced multimode LTE RF transceiver. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Yingli Green Energy Australia has entered into a sales framework agreement with L&H Solar + Solutions, a subsidiary of L&H Group, the largest electrical wholesaler in Australia and New Zealand.

The cuts will not come from among the employees acquired along with Elpida, Micron said.

Foxconn Technology Group, best known for assembling Apple's iPhones, will decide by year-end whether to branch off into unconventional new territory: making solar panels in China.