South Korea's Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics (LGE) and SK Telecom will work with other local companies to make semiconductors for hightech digital appliances that can replace imports, the government said Monday.

The foundry's goal is to have the first tool move in by October 2011, with qualification coming in early 2012 and commercial production by the second half of 2012.

Shares of solar-energy company LDK Solar rose sharply on July 24 after the Chinese company raised its second-quarter revenue and shipment forecasts. LDK plans to report its results on August 12.

New phones equipped with Google's Android operating system may come to market too late to save Motorola's mobile phone business.

Samsung Electronics reported its highest quarterly net profit in over two years on Friday as its semiconductor and LCD businesses returned to profitability.

The slide in Japan's exports slowed in June in a sign government stimulus spending around the world may be propping up demand.

Apple, Microsoft, and 18 other companies are being sued for patent infringement by Texas-based Tsera which claims to have invented the touchpad.

Federal agencies are facing a severe shortage of computer specialists, according to a private study.

"We are very pleased with our return to profitability in the second quarter, driven by increased pricing, higher royalty revenues and strong execution," said company CEO Eli Harari. "We remain cautiously optimistic about the second half of 2009."

Silicon Valley executives are taking a close look at Taiwan's stock markets as a place for raising capital to fuel their growth given the tight US venture capital and public markets

Online auction giant eBay has reported a fall in profits between April and June of almost one-third, but analysts had expected a sharper fall. Net profit was US$327.3 million, down 29% compared with the US$460m made in the same period a year ago. Revenue also fell slightly, from US$2.2 billion to US$2.1 billion.

UK firm Spinvox's service aims to convert voice messages into text messages using advanced speech recognition software. But claims to the BBC suggest that the majority of messages have been heard and transcribed by call center staff in South Africa and the Philippines.

Sources again claim that Apple has a tablet ready to release "in time for the holidays," and will be partnering with Verizon to provide mobile data services and possible subsidies.

Disney Japan plans to sell DVDs that include copies of the film on microSD cards for use in mobile devices. The extra format will cost 1,000 yen more.

Microsoft has announced that Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 have hit the RTM milestone. OEMs can get their hands on it July 24, while MSDN and TechNet subscribers will be able to get it on August 6. Consumers will have to wait until October 22.

When consolidation comes as the expense of innovation, the results can be toxic.

Apple said that it has made a US$500 million prepayment to Toshiba for flash memory chips and indicated the market is stabilizing. Intel, which makes flash chips jointly with Micron, is also seeing a recovery in pricing.

Robert Rivet, AMD's CFO said in a conference call that capex for subsidiary Globalfoundries would be trimmed to US$690 million.

The power of technology - such as blogs - meant that the world could no longer be run by "elites", Mr Brown said.