SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp is set to cut the price of its best-selling Xbox 360 Pro model to $299 from $349, a source briefed on the matter said on Friday.

More: continued here

WELLINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc’s new iPhone made its hotly awaited debut on Friday with buyers storming stores in Asia and queues forming in Europe, although network problems marred the launch in the United States.

More: continued here

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - Apple Inc.’s new iPhone 3G and accompanying App Store is set to put the company known for technology innovation into another lucrative space — gaming.

More: continued here

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Activation problems marred the U.S. launch of Apple Inc’s new iPhone on Friday, with many eager buyers leaving stores frustrated that they could not use the hotly anticipated gadget after waiting in line for hours.

More: continued here

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former Hewlett Packard Co vice president pleaded guilty to stealing trade secrets while he worked for IBM and admitted sharing the data with Hewlett Packard, the Justice Department said on Friday.

More: continued here

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The first iPhones won praise for their sleek design and elegant touchscreen, but Apple’s new computer phones, arriving this week, will use the power of software to make the device like no phone ever seen.

More: continued here

SUN VALLEY, IDAHO (Reuters) - News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch said it was “very unlikely” his company would be involved in any Yahoo Inc. transaction and said Yahoo and Microsoft would not end up with any deal.

More: continued here

SUN VALLEY, Idaho (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama appeared to be the favorite White House contender among media moguls at an annual Idaho retreat, even if they were not so certain how an Obama victory would affect their businesses.

More: continued here

TORONTO (Reuters) - Neither rain nor controversy discouraged a hardy band of gadget lovers who lined up for up to 16 hours on a downtown street to become among the first in Canada to buy Apple Inc’s iPhone 3G on Friday.

More: continued here

BANGKOK/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The new iPhone looks set to be a huge hit in Asia countries where it goes on sale on Friday, but the sleek smartphone is already in high demand in black markets from Shanghai to Bangkok.

More: continued here

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc will let customers, academics and even rivals build customized Web search services on top of its own technology, introducing a resale model into a major Internet market where it ranks a distant No. 2 to Google Inc.

More: continued here

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - The European Union’s highest court on Thursday threw out a lower court ruling that annulled the European Commission’s approval of a merger between the Sony Music and BMG record labels.

More: continued here

SUN VALLEY, Idaho (Hollywood Reporter) - Several hundred major media executives at Herb Allen’s annual retreat in this remote Northwest niche thought they could get away from it all, including Hollywood’s labor strife 900 miles. But they were at least partially wrong.

More: continued here

TOKYO/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - As top video game makers gather next week in Los Angeles for the E3 trade show, they will be touting hot titles, new online offerings and, potentially, console price cuts to drum up gamers’ support.

More: continued here

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has decided not to file charges against Apple Inc , leader Steve Jobs and other current or former executives in a probe of backdated employee stock options, lawyers for the people targeted in the investigation said on Wednesday.

More: continued here

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Intel Corp, the world’s biggest computer chip maker, on Thursday won clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell an in-home health monitoring system for patients with chronic conditions.

More: continued here

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - Summer blockbuster movies no longer end with the closing credits with rising numbers of licensed video games being spun off from Hollywood adventures, putting the gamer in the starring role.

More: continued here

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The new iPhone is expected to attract hordes of buyers when it goes on sale on Friday in more than 20 countries, helping Apple Inc handily beat its target to sell 10 million of them by the end of 2008.

More: continued here

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chip makers Broadcom Corp and Qualcomm Inc sparred in an appeals court on Wednesday over patents used to make cell phones that offer Internet and other multimedia features.

More: continued here

BERLIN (Reuters) - In their zeal to remove the Berlin Wall, German authorities were ruthlessly efficient in eliminating almost all traces of the hated symbol of the Cold War within months of its opening in 1989.

More: continued here

TOKYO/WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Seeking to be one of the world’s first to grab the new-generation iPhone, fanatical Apple fans around Asia are queuing up two days before its launch, undiscouraged by rain or freezing temperatures.

More: continued here

SUN VALLEY, Idaho (Reuters) - The summer U.S. box office is sizzling due to hits like “Hancock” but Hollywood leaders focused on the chilling effects of industry change brought on by labor strife, fragmentation and new technology at the annual retreat of moguls this week.

More: continued here

LONDON (Reuters) - Apple’s new iPhone sold out online in Britain ahead of its Friday launch, defying general consumer gloom as the country’s economy threatened to tip over into its first recession in more than a decade.

More: continued here

(Reuters) - Wireless technology firm InterDigital Inc received a blow in an ongoing patent infringement case with the U.S. International Trade Commission’s staff recommending in favor of South Korea’s Samsung Electronics , sending InterDigital’s shares down as much as 28 percent.

More: continued here

NEW YORK (Billboard) - “Guitar Hero” won’t be the only music videogame to launch its sequel in time for the holidays.

More: continued here

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp introduced on Wednesday pricing for its suite of online services targeted at corporate customers and a revenue-sharing plan to encourage other companies to sell the software company’s products.

More: continued here

TORONTO (Reuters) - Nortel Networks Corp plans aggressive growth in the Asia-Pacific region over the next two to three years, hoping to capitalize on demand for network gear and services in rapidly growing markets such as India and China.

More: continued here

NEW YORK (Reuters) - DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc plans to use chips from Intel Corp for the creation of 3-D movies, the companies said on Tuesday.

More: continued here

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc said on Tuesday it complied with a regulator’s request for more information on its Take-Two Interactive Software Inc bid, moving a step closer to buying its rival.

More: continued here

TORONTO (Reuters) - A government auction of wireless spectrum aimed at bringing fresh competition to Canada’s cellphone market has reached its final stretch, with total bids reaching more than C$4 billion ($3.9 billion) so far — about twice the amount expected.

More: continued here

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Activision Inc shareholders approved a deal on Tuesday to merge with French telecommunications and media group Vivendi SA’s games unit, creating a public company called Activision Blizzard.

More: continued here

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Any deal between Yahoo Inc and Time Warner Inc’s AOL division would be unlikely to be struck before Yahoo’s annual meeting on August 1, a person familiar with the negotiations said on Monday.

More: continued here

LONDON (Reuters) - Many City workers are unlikely to have a relaxing summer holiday this year, with 83 percent admitting they will take their mobile phone or Blackberry with them, a report said on Monday.

More: continued here

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp is rushing to finish the production version of its Chevy Volt and plans to unveil a showroom-ready model of the heavily touted electric car in September, people familiar with the project say.

More: continued here

BOSTON, Massachusetts (Reuters) - From online courses to kid-friendly laptops and virtual teachers, technology is spreading in America’s classrooms, reducing the need for textbooks, notepads, paper and in some cases even the schools themselves.

More: continued here

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Microsoft has told a European Union court that an antitrust fine of 899 million euros ($1.4 billion) against it is both excessive and disproportionate, the Court of First Instance said on Monday.

More: continued here

SUN VALLEY, Idaho (Hollywood Reporter) - Major media executives packed their bathing suits, BlackBerrys and iPods this weekend and headed for their version of summer camp — the annual gathering put together by financier Herb Allen in this exclusive resort.

More: continued here

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said on Monday it would be willing to reopen talks to buy all or part of Yahoo Inc, but only if a new Yahoo board is elected — a big boost for financier Carl Icahn’s board slate.

More: continued here

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp plans to install solar panels on some Prius hybrids in its next remodeling, responding to growing demand for “green” cars amid record-high oil prices, a source briefed on the matter said on Monday.

More: continued here

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Appeals court arguments in a battle over MP3 digital music patents between Alcatel-Lucent and Microsoft Corp focused Monday on a joint development pact struck nearly two decade earlier.

More: continued here

SEOUL (Reuters) - These days when customers walk into electronics stores, the first question they ask is how much electricity the fridge, washing machine or laptop computer they are contemplating buying consumes.

More: continued here

TOKYO (Reuters) - Kawasaki Heavy Industries decided to cancel its plan to spend 10 billion yen ($94 million) to build a new industrial robot plant as auto and microchip makers curb capital investments, the Nikkei business daily said.

More: continued here

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean flat screen maker LG Display Co and two smaller Taiwanese rivals are set to post profits for the second quarter that more than trebled thanks to strong demand for TVs and tight supplies of PC panels.

More: continued here

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. judge’s order to Google Inc to turn over YouTube user data to Viacom Inc sparked an outcry on Thursday from privacy advocates in the midst of a legal showdown over video piracy.

More: continued here

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese private broadcaster TV Asahi Corp aims to ally with an information technology and telecoms firm by the end of the year and is open to a capital tie-up, its president said.

More: continued here

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Ask.com, the Web search unit of IAC/InterActiveCorp, has closed an all-cash deal to acquire Lexico Publishing Group LLC, the owner of popular reference sites Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com.

More: continued here

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force is sending its top-of-the-line F-22 Raptor fighter jet across the Atlantic for the first time, showcasing its capabilities even as it remains off limits for export and its production line is threatened at home.

More: continued here

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc have been holding separate talks with other potential media partners after their negotiations with each other broke down, sources familiar with the companies’ thinking said on Wednesday.

More: continued here

HELSINKI (Reuters) - The world’s top cellphone maker Nokia said on Thursday it had signed a cooperation agreement with Norwegian telcom group Telenor for its “Ovi” Internet services platform.

More: continued here

LONDON (Reuters) - British computer games retailer Game Group smashed first-half profit forecasts, boosted by new releases like Grand Theft Auto IV and Wii Fit, but its shares slumped on concern that demand has peaked.

More: continued here

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - If “American Idol” and a modern fairy tale combined to create a video game, you’d get “Boogie SuperStar” — Electronic Art’s latest game for the Nintendo Wii system.

More: continued here

(Reuters) - Mozilla, developer of open-source Web browser Firefox, said on Wednesday it set a new Guinness World Record for the largest number of software downloads in 24 hours.

More: continued here

MADRID (Reuters) - Three mobile phone operators in Spain fixed tariffs in March 2007 to compensate for a new law banning rounding up call periods, Spain’s Competition Commission said on Thursday, citing initial findings of an investigation.

More: continued here

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The deteriorating U.S. economy and slumping stock prices will frame discussions among top media and technology executives at the 26th annual Allen & Co confab in Sun Valley, Idaho, next week.

More: continued here

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Just how many “brains” does your personal computer need, anyway?