Nokia Corp.

Samsung Electronics Co., the largest maker of cell phones for the U.S. market, on Sunday revealed the first phone running Samsung's own "smart" software system, bada.

With bada, Korea-based Samsung is taking the TouchWiz system used on its touch-screen non-smart phones and making it the basis of a smart phone platform to take on Apple Inc.'s iPhone and Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry. Samsung also makes phones based on other competing smart phone systems: Android, created by Google Inc., and Symbian, of which Nokia Corp. is a major backer.

The world's largest wireless carriers, including the four largest in the U.S., announced Monday that they are combining forces to make it easier for software developers to write applications that will run on as many phones as possible.

The "Wholesale Applications Community" is an attempt to retake the initiative from phone makers like Apple Inc., Nokia Corp. and Research in Motion Ltd., which have applications stores of their own. Google Inc. is also building a significant store for its Android software.

Powermat USA helped consumers cut some power cords last year by selling mats that juiced up gadgets placed on top of them. They weren't seamless solutions, though, because they required add-ons such as special cell phone cases.

Now, the company is trying to streamline wireless charging with a battery that replaces the one that comes in your cell phone. Called the Powerpack, it lets users charge phones by just plopping them down on one of the company's mats.

Qualcomm Inc. posted a fiscal second-quarter loss Monday on a hefty payment to rival chip maker Broadcom Corp. to end legal disputes that spanned several continents.

The settlement with Broadcom, announced late Sunday, calls for Qualcomm to pay $891 million over four years. Broadcom is a relative newcomer to the business of making chips for cell phones but proved to be a fierce legal adversary.

I'm typing this in between perusing Facebook, trying (and failing) to master a guitar-simulation game and listening to Internet radio on my smart phone.

And no, I'm not using an iPhone. I'm using a BlackBerry Curve 8900 to try out the recently rolled out BlackBerry App World.

Lately, any smart phone maker worth its salt is operating or about to launch an application store that corrals all kinds of free and paid software you can download straight to your handset. Apple Inc. started the trend with July's release of its App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, is done making major acquisitions to complement its business and will provide more online services, its CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said Friday.

Kallasvuo was quoted in an interview published Friday as saying that the Finnish company has "collected all the basic building blocks," and now aims to push ahead with innovations, despite the challenging climate that saw Nokia lose market share last year.

The economic recession is hurting every industry, and technology is no exception -- big names like Microsoft Corp., Intel Corp. and Dell Inc. have had layoffs as they try to cut costs and stay competitive amid declining sales.

But the effects of the meltdown haven't been spread evenly across the sector -- even within companies, sales of certain products may fall while others are more resilient. It seems that the health of tech companies has a lot to do with what they sell, and who their customers are.

Just as Clearwire Corp. has fired up its long-awaited WiMax wireless data network in two cities, Nokia Corp. has stopped selling the only portable gadget that can use the network without accessories.

Nokia spokeswoman Laurie Armstrong confirmed Wednesday that the company has discontinued the N810 Internet Tablet WiMax Edition on its Web site.

Armstrong did not say why the tablet was withdrawn. But she said Nokia is still interested in WiMax, and by the time WiMax networks are more widely deployed, "refreshed products with even better performance will be required."

Samsung Electronics Co. announced a major restructuring Friday, consolidating business operations into two divisions as South Korea's most powerful and iconic corporation deals with the slowing global economy and expectations of looming red ink.

The new organization was included in an announcement of personnel changes at the company as well as at the broader Samsung Group of which it serves as flagship.

In a sign that it may be finally turning its fortunes around, Motorola Inc. posted a small surprise profit for its second quarter and shipped more cell phones than in the first quarter.

The Schaumburg, Illinois-based cell phone company said Thursday that it earned $4 million, or less than 1 cent per share, in the three months ended June 30. That includes charges of 2 cents per share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had been expecting a loss of 3 cents per share.

In the same quarter a year ago, Motorola lost $28 million, or 2 cents per share.