The next installment in the global patent infringement dispute between Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.SE) and Apple Inc. (AAPL) got under way here Monday in a trial that's scheduled to last for three months.

China is investigating whether exporters from the US and South Korea sold solar-grade polysilicon below cost, a practice known as dumping, as part of a probe following complaints from four domestic companies.

Germany's environment ministry said on Friday it would back solar firms' efforts to bring anti-dumping proceedings against China amid a bitter price war in the industry that has left many German panel producers fighting for survival.

Semiconductor revenues worldwide will grow 4.6% in 2012 to US$315 billion, according to IDC. Revenues will grow at a CAGR of 4.8% from 2011-2016, reaching $380 billion in 2016.

More U.S. owners of "smart," Internet-connected, televisions are using them to access streaming video from the Web, a research firm says.

Qualcomm has lowered its forecast of global cellular device shipments for 2012 due to a gloomy economic outlook, though it expects device sales to surge in the fourth quarter because of upcoming products, a likely reference to Apple's iPhone and Microsoft's Windows 8 tablets.

Intel is the world's dominant chip maker, but its business model doesn't align well with the move in computing toward mobile, and that will make it difficult for the company to make significant inroads into smartphones, tablets and other devices, according to an official with ARM.

Samsung has bought the mobile-phone technology division of CSR - the British firm formerly known as Cambridge Silicon Radio. The US$310m deal includes patents to the firm's bluetooth, wi-fi and GPRS location innovations.

Google's tablet is off to a rousing debut. I doubt sales numbers will reach iPad standards, but Nexus 7 is nevertheless hotly pursued and reports from early adopters evoke pure delight. If you want one and haven't ordered, be prepared to wait. In the United States, delay is now nominal for the 8GB model -- 3 to 5 business days before shipping, according to Google Play. Prepare to wait three to four weeks for the 16GB tablet, however. That's from Google, which right now has best availablity following the first weekend rush.

Nokia has dropped the price of the Lumia 900 to its original price in the United States, just three months after its release.

I can't remember being as anxious to receive a new gadget as I am to get my Nexus 7 tablet. Word has started hitting the social networks that some are receiving their Nexus 7 already, while others are hearing nothing.

Mobile chip designer ST-Ericsson grew revenues but failed to shave net losses in its most recent financial quarter.

Chinese telecoms outfit ZTE has hit back at rumours suggesting it will respond to sliding market share and a scary balance sheet by shedding 12,000 staff. Instead, the company says, we can expect a graduate hiring spree.

LDK Solar, the world's second- biggest maker of wafers that convert sunlight to power, will have part of its debts paid by the government of the Chinese city in which it is based.

Buying a phone is becoming harder and harder these days. There are so many different options on smartphones that it is hard to keep up with all the latest technology. With phones and tablets almost completely relying on touchscreen interfaces, the screens on these devices are easily the most important part of modern day devices. There are several different technologies behind these screens, and we aim to explain what some of these terms mean. If you've ever wondered what AMOLED, LCD, IPS, or TFT mean, you're reading the right article.

Tech giants Samsung and LG Display have again clashed over Samsung's claim that its rival stole its key technologies used in manufacturing large AMOLED screens.

Samsung continues to increase its dominance over Apple in the smartphone arena, thanks largely to the launch of its latest Galaxy S handset.

Foreign direct investment into China fell in June as an economic slowdown dampened companies' appetite for expansion.

TCL Corp. (000100) televisions now hang in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, replacing Panasonic Corp. (6752) sets in a sign that China's biggest flat-panel TV maker is piling on to the woes besetting Japan's industry.

Making bets on what Apple will do in the future is, as they used to say, a mug's game. Most predictions, like the June "iPhone 5 launch," are based on wishful thinking or sources so thin you can see through them.

Google on Friday began shipping its Nexus 7, which is smaller and less expensive than Apple's iPad, and is meant to compete with both that device and Amazon's Kindle Fire.

Unveiled late last month, the tablet has slowly trickled into the retail market. Google was naturally first in line, offering the Nexus 7 as a preorder in advance of its official mid-July launch. Other retailers, such as GameStop, Staples, and Sam's Club, soon followed suit.

Sina Corp. (SINA), operator of the Twitter- like Weibo site in China, plans to start a new Internet television service, stepping up efforts to add multimedia content to win social networking users.

Aided by recent moves by Intel and some other big chipmakers, momentum seems to be growing for a big technology shift in making semiconductors. But some key players remain wary, based partly on their scars from the last transition.

Future Horizons has said it included the comment "We assume GlobalFoundries will purchase IBM's semiconductor division and that Hynix/Micron will buy up the remaining smaller memory firms," in the conclusions of a report prepared by Future Horizons and Decision SA for the European Commission on the future of 450mm wafer processing in Europe.

In a new filing in the case between the two technology giants in California, which was picked up by FOSS Patents, Samsung notes that Apple took the liberty of sending do-not-sell letters to carriers and retailers that carry Samsung's products.

The smartphone momentum is clearly on the side of Samsung as HTC warns of another tough quarter.

There's a lot of speculation, along with several published reports, that Amazon is planning to enter the smartphone market. The online retail company will reportedly try to jump into the fray as early as this year to complement its current mobile offering, the Kindle Fire tablet. For its part, Amazon hasn't said what it might do with its future efforts in the mobile space and hasn't even confirmed that it'll break into the smartphone market. But many analysts and industry observers believe it's only a matter of time.

Vizio has recaptured its lead as the most popular LCD-maker in the United States, a year after falling behind other competitors.