Drug Agents Use Vast Phone Trove, Eclipsing N.S.A.'s  —  For at least six years, law enforcement officials working on a counternarcotics program have had routine access, using subpoenas, to an enormous AT&T database that contains the records of decades of Americans' phone calls …

More details on Samsung's Galaxy Gear smartwatch: those images are of a prototype  —  Venturebeat caused a holiday weekend stir with what appeared to be pictures of Samsung's Galaxy Gear smartwatch, which will be formally unveiled this Wednesday.  However, the model of the watch reported …

Verizon Reaches Agreement to Acquire Vodafone's 45 Percent Interest in Verizon Wireless for $130 Billion  —  Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Vodafone Group Plc (London, Nasdaq: VOD) to acquire Vodafone's U.S. group …

Acer announces 6-inch Liquid S2, ‘first 4K-recording smartphone’  —  Compared to many other companies, Acer's taken a rather cautious approach to super-sized phones.  Its first attempt was the 5.7-inch Liquid S1, a rather straightforward Android handset unveiled back in June at Computex.

Exclusive: Japan's Rakuten Acquires Viki Video Site for $200 Million  —  Japan's Internet e-commerce giant Rakuten is set to purchase Viki, a premium video site that has been described as “Hulu for the rest of the world.”  —  The deal was set to be announced next week …

Windows 8 rockets to 7.41% market share as Windows XP falls below 35% mark  —  Just before the results of back-to-school sales and way before the holiday season, Windows 8 appears to have made a significant jump in market share.  At the same time, Windows 7′s hold remains strong …

PlayStation 4 does voice recognition with new PlayStation Camera  —  PlayStation On?  —  Sony has confirmed that the PlayStation 4 does voice recognition through the new PlayStation Camera.  —  However, the extent of its voice recognition features remain under wraps.

Which Start-Up Could Be the Next Big Thing?  —  When it comes to technology start-ups, there are a lot of paths to success.  —  Some successful start-ups sell for a billion dollars, as Tumblr did this year to Yahoo.  When that happens, it's a windfall for the founders of the start-ups as well as for the investors and some employees.

Acer announces 10.1-inch Iconia A3 Android tablet for €249 and up  —  To kick off IFA, Acer's announcing a new tablet running Android Jelly Bean, the 10.1-inch Iconia A3.  Available in both WiFi and 3G versions, the A3 will hit Africa, Europe and the Middle East in early October with a starting price of €249.

Director Says BlackBerry Can Survive as ‘Niche’ Player  —  Nordberg Says There Are ‘Subsets’ That Should Be Sold Off  —  One of the members of BlackBerry Ltd.'s board committee tasked with exploring strategic alternatives said the company can compete as a “niche company” in the smartphone business …