Office Reaches RTM!  —  Today we reached an important milestone in the development of the new Office.  —  Moments ago, the Office engineering team signed off on the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) build.  This milestone means the coding and testing phase of the project is complete …

Chip Design Luminary Leaves Samsung for Apple  —  Samsung recently raised eyebrows by beefing up its team of Texas-based chip designers, including those whose backgrounds pointed to an interest in chips for server systems.  Now one of the most prominent of those recruits has left the South Korean company for Apple .

Apple Has Quietly Started Tracking iPhone Users Again, And It's Tricky To Opt Out  —  Apple's launch of the iPhone 5 in September came with a bunch of new commercials to promote the device.  —  But Apple didn't shout quite so loud about an enhancement to its new mobile operating system …

Kindle Fire HD and Paperwhite sales make Amazon no profit  —  Amazon boss Jeff Bezos discusses the Kindle Fire HD  —  Amazon has confirmed it will not make a profit from sales of its latest Kindle tablet and e-reader devices.  —  “We sell the hardware at our cost, so it is break-even on the hardware …

Exclusive: Ellison eyes fellow billionaire's AEG empire - sources  —  (Reuters) - Oracle Corp's Larry Ellison, known for his taste for the finer things in life, is now intrigued by a multibillion dollar sports and entertainment empire.  —  Ellison, who recently bought a Hawaiian island …

Sony revamps VAIOs for Windows 8, prices Duo 11 and Tap 20, adds touchscreen to T series  —  Sony is once again giving its VAIO laptops and all-in-ones a refresh, but things are a bit different this time around thanks to the launch of Windows 8.  Instead of the usual processor spec bumps …

Samsung Galaxy S III mini pops up, we go hands-on (video)  —  When word first started trickling out that Samsung planned to make a mini version of the Galaxy S III, it had the air of plausibility — we've heard from many a person about the too-large size of that phone for their hands.

Uncovered: Google creating a “Nexus Call Center” for device support  —  One of the big complaints surrounding the Nexus 7 launch was the lack of customer support when dealing with the device.  Google was not initially prepared to handle the volume of users that required support …

Talk is cheap: Cell phones hit six billion worldwide  —  It's something that we all knew but perhaps didn't fully appreciate—just about all of us have cell phones now, and we use them a lot.  —  According to new figures published by the International Telecommunications Union on Thursday …

Microsoft gearing up to make smartphones, tablets and PCs in company-saving strategy shift  —  Microsoft (MSFT) is currently in the midst of a major transition unlike anything the company has dealt with in the past.  According to our own sources and multiple subsequent reports, Microsoft is working on its own smartphone.

Best Buy to Match Online Prices  —  Retailer Will Match Online Prices, Shrugs off ‘Showrooming’  —  Best Buy Co. is planning to match the prices of Internet competitors such as Amazon.com Inc. this holiday season, even as it plays down its concerns over shoppers browsing gadgets in stores only to buy them for less online.

Reddit, freedom of speech and the dark side of community  —  Unless you spend a lot of time on Reddit, the discussion-forum community that more or less took over after Digg sank beneath the waves, you may have missed the latest storm of controversy over content posted on the site's various “sub-Reddits” or topic pages.

Nathan Myhrvold's Cunning Plan to Prevent 3-D Printer Piracy  —  A patent that covers digital encryption of “objects” could bring copy protection to 3-D printing.  —  Sometime in the none-too-distant future, replacing your favorite coffee mug or creating a new iPhone case might be as simple …

Sprint Confirms Talks With Softbank Over “Substantial Investment”  —  Sprint confirmed Thursday that it is in talks with Japan's Softbank about a possible deal.  —  The No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier said the discussions are about a “substantial investment by Softbank” but offered few other details.

Facebook test leads to outage in parts of Western Europe  —  Facebook was briefly down across parts of Europe today, and the company says it was at fault — not a hacker.  —  Facebook experienced outages across parts of Western Europe today, affecting a small but undisclosed number of users, according to the company.

One-in-Ten ‘Dual-Screened’ the Presidential Debate  —  TV Trumps Digital Sources for Debate Coverage  —  OVERVIEW  —  The vast majority of Americans say they followed coverage of the first presidential debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, including 56% who followed the debate live.

Apple rumored to be expanding iPhone production to Foxconn subsidiary  —  Foxconn International Holdings, a subsidiary of Foxconn Technology and the largest cellphone manufacturer in the world, will reportedly take orders to build certain iPhone models in the company's first-ever Apple partnership.

Apple Wins Delay of South Korea Sales Ban on IPhone, IPad  —  A Seoul court granted a request by Apple Inc. (AAPL) to delay a sales ban imposed on some iPhones and iPads after an August ruling that the U.S. company infringed on Samsung (005930) Electronics Co.'s patents.

U.S. defense chief says pre-emptive action possible over cyber threat  —  (Reuters) - The U.S. military could act pre-emptively if it detects an imminent threat of cyber attack, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Thursday, urging stronger action to bolster America's defenses against such plots.