Business

FILE - This combination of 2012 file photos shows the logos of Yahoo, left, and Facebook, outside their offices in Santa Clara, Calif. and Menlo Park, Calif. The two companies have agreed to settle a patent dispute on Friday, July 6, 2012, averting a potentially bitter battle over the technology running two of the Internet's most popular destinations. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Yahoo, Facebook strike patent truce, ad alliance

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook and Yahoo have agreed to settle a months-long patent dispute, averting a potentially expensive battle over the technology running two of the Internet's most popular destinations. In dropping the lawsuits, the companies agreed to license their patents to each other and form an advertising and…

Business

China inflation falls, giving leeway for stimulus

BEIJING (AP) — China's inflation fell to a 29-month low in June, giving Beijing more room to fight a deepening economic slowdown. Consumer prices rose 2.2 percent over a year earlier, down from May's 3 percent, government data showed Monday. Food costs rose 3.8 percent. Lower inflation clears the way…

A man walks by the entrance to Samsung Electronics Co.'s showroom at its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, July 6, 2012. Samsung, the world's largest maker of memory chips, mobile phones, flat-screen panels and televisions, said Friday that its preliminary second-quarter operating profit jumped nearly 80 percent from a year ago to a record high. (AP Photo/Hye Soo Nah)

Business

Samsung tips record-high profit for 2nd quarter

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Smartphones powered Samsung Electronics Co. to record quarterly earnings, but its shares fell Friday as lower-than-expected overall sales underlined the threat from Europe's economic malaise. The world's largest maker of memory chips, mobile phones and flat-screen panels estimated its second-quarter operating profit at between 6.5…

FILE - In this undated file photo provided by the Google[x] group's "Project Glass", an early prototype of Google's futuristic Internet-connected glasses, are modeled. Google is making prototypes of its futuristic, Internet-connected glasses available for some computer programmers to try out. The company is selling it for $1,500 to people attending its annual conference in San Francisco for software developers. It will ship early next year and won’t be available for sale outside the conference. (AP Photo/Google, File)

Business

Google sells small tablet, challenges Kindle Fire

AN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google unveiled its attempt to catch up to Apple and Amazon in the growing market for tablet computers. It also provided a titillating glimpse at its vision of a digital future through the mind-boggling lens of Internet-connected glasses. The debut of a long-anticipated tablet computer bearing…

Business

Fears, hopes grow for Sony under new president

TOKYO (AP) — The record 9,000 shareholders that packed Sony's annual meeting was no cause for celebration. After four years of losses and a halving of the share price, some angry investors doubt even a new CEO can pull the entertainment and electronics giant out of its slump. The questions…

Chairman of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Mohd Isa Abdul Samad, right, poses with Deputy Minister at prime minister's department Ahmad Maslan, left, after Felda listed on the Malaysia Stock Exchange in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Thursday, June 28, 2012. Shares of Malaysian palm oil giant Felda soared by as much as 20 percent on its public debut Thursday - the world's biggest share sale this year after Facebook. (AP Photo/ Vincent Thian)

Business

Palm oil giant Felda soars in stock market debut

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Shares of Malaysian palm oil giant Felda soared as much as 20 percent in their first day of trading Thursday, overcoming weakness in global stock markets after the company completed the world's biggest IPO this year after Facebook. State-backed Felda Global Venture Holdings hit a…