When Samsung Electronics rushed its first smartphone to market in a panicky response to the smash-hit debut of the Apple iPhone, some customers burned the product on the streets or hammered it to bits in public displays of disaffection. Complaints ranged from dropped calls and a clunky touchscreen to frequent auto rebooting and a dearth of applications. "It was just awful," said Kim Sang-uk, 27, who bought the Omnia in late-2009 just before …

Apple appears to be making less of a profit from each new iPad than it did when it launched the previous model a year ago, according to a research firm's analysis. IHS iSuppli took apart a new iPad on Friday, the day the device went on sale in the U.S. and nine other countries, and found that the components are more expensive than those of the iPad 2. The third iPad comes in several versions starting at $499, the same price as the iPad 2 …

They've come a long way since the man who would be Mario set off to rescue Pauline from Donkey Kong and Pac-Man gobbled up as many dots as he could before the ghosts caught up with him. But really, are video games art? Absolutely, contends a major exhibition that opened Friday at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington that celebrates gaming's rich creative side and the people behind a medium that's still in full bloom. "The …

The first privately owned passenger spaceship is on track for a test flight beyond the atmosphere this year, and nearly 500 people have signed up for rides. Another company just closed on $5 million equity financing, enough to finish building a two-seater rocketplane called Lynx. Both firms -- and a half-dozen more -- are looking at flying not just people, but experiments and payloads owned by research laboratories, businesses and educational institutes. …

Apple Inc will continue to retain the lion's share of the tablet market as its new 4G-enabled iPad readies for competition from Windows 8-based products, and a cheaper iPad 2 takes on Amazon's popular Kindle Fire, analysts said. Shares of Apple inched up a percent to as much as $535.89 in morning trade on Thursday, after the company unveiled an upgraded version of its popular iPad tablet, featuring a more powerful chip, high-definition screen, sharper …

Apple is expected to reveal a new version of its coveted iPad on Wednesday in its first major media event since the death of legendary founder and beloved pitchman Steve Jobs. In typical Apple style, the California-based company has offered the scantest of hints as to what it will unveil on the stage of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, igniting a wildfire of rumor in the online technology world. A picture on press invitations, …

A British ethics group has launched a debate on the ethical dilemmas posed by new technologies that tap into the brain and could bring super-human strength, highly enhanced concentration or thought-controlled weaponry. With the prospect of future conflicts between armies controlling weapons with their minds, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics launched a consultation on Thursday to consider the risks of blurring the lines between humans and machines. …

Mozilla, which brought the free web browser Firefox to the masses, now wants to do the same for mobile users, with a new open source operating system that could drastically slash smartphone prices. The non-profit group's so-called Boot to Gecko project will go after Google's Android or Apple's iOS, to create an alternative which could generate smartphones that are "10 times cheaper" than an iPhone while offering similar experiences to those running …

A Chinese firm trying to stop Apple Inc from using the iPad name in China has launched an attack on the consumer electronics giant's home turf, filing a lawsuit in California that accuses it of employing deception when it bought the trademark. A unit of Proview International Holdings Ltd, a major computer monitor maker that fell on hard times during the global financial crisis, is already suing Apple in multiple Chinese jurisdictions and requesting …

Pakistani military was working to develop a homegrown version of the iPad (PacPad) at the Kamra Air Force Complex, a leading American news agency, has reported. The $200 iPad tablet was manufactured at the Kamra Air Force facility that produced fighter jets and was the latest addition to Pakistan military’s sprawling commercial empire. The report appearing in The Gulf News, maintains: “The device runs on Android 2.3, an operating system made by …