COMPANIES

In a radical shift for Bill Gates' 37-year-old software company, Microsoft unveiled a tablet in Los Angeles on Monday. The Surface aims to be a direct competitor to Apple's iPad, sporting a form factor that's thinner than Apple's tablet, and it also tackles several things the award-winning iPad can't do, like type well or stand up straight.

A month after the $16 billion mammoth but botched initial public offering of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social networking site, the ice may be breaking for technology companies.

Gary Giordano, a former suspect in the disappearance of his travel companion Robyn Gardner, has filed suit against American Express in an effort to collect on an insurance policy he took out on the missing woman.

South Korean electronics giant LG Group said it would step back from the tablet sector after Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), the biggest software developer, introduced its Surface tablet for shipment in the second half.

On Monday, Microsoft finally took the wraps off its much talked about Surface tablet that had created a lot of hype even before its release. However, it seems that the mysteries surrounding the device have not been solved completely.

American Express, BroadVision, Oracle Corp, Las Vegas Sands, Transocean, Infosys and Western Gas Partners are among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Tuesday.

After mesmerizing Android fans with its latest flagship smartphone, Galaxy S3, Samsung is now eyeing enterprise customers and has announced its first SAFE-branded Android smartphone in the U.S. - a secured version of the new Galaxy S3.

On May 18, Facebook closed its first day as a public company at $38.23, valuing itself around $105 billion. On Tuesday at mid-day, it traded near $31.50. Still, despite the vilification of the IPO, the slumping share price and dozens of class action lawsuits filed in federal courts in New York and California, Facebook, a damaged brand, has followed the advice of New York image guru Clive Chajet who said it should ignore the press and stick to its knitting.

Microsoft unveiled its own family of tablets Monday evening to rival Apple's iPad.

Investors rushed on Monday to buy bonds in Mexico City-based retailer Controladora Comercial Mexicana SAB (Mexico: COMERUBC) after Costco announced it was buying back the 50 percent stake of its local unit held by Comerci.

In what was possibly the most dramatic moment in this weekend's 24 Heures Du Mans, the experimental and much anticipated Nissan DeltaWing racing car, which promised to revolutionize the sport, was struck by a LMP1-class Toyota racer, sending it flying into the tires and prematurely ending its day at the races. However, the real story was just beginning when the car flew off the track.

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), the world's biggest software company, introduced its first tablet, Surface, to battle Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) in the tablet sector

Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White Monday upped his one-year target price on Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the world's most valuable technology company, to $1,111 from $1,001.

We are living at the end of an era, during the swan song of greatness, the twilight years of a golden age, the last days of the great supercars, ultra-high horsepower paeans to driving: the Bugatti Veyron, Pagani Huayra, McLaren MP4-12C, Lamborghini Aventador, Ferrari F12 Berlinetta. They may all soon be replaced by electric cars and hybrids.

Despite the clamor around Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social networking site, the real king of the social networking sector is International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), a new survey by IDC found.

State-owned Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Company (commonly known as Beijing Automotive Group or BAIC) hired Leonardo Fioravanti, legendary designer of the Ferrari Daytona, to transform the Chinese car conglomerate into a world-class maker of luxury cars by 2025, according to Bloomberg News.

Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social networking site, said it would pay $10 million to charity to settle a California lawsuit in which five members claimed it has violated their privacy rights.

With the next generation iPhone still months away, though the smartphone battle for the Galaxy S3 seems to be an easy win, Motorola is rumored to be readying Droid RAZR HD to challenge Samsung's dominance.

In just a few hours, Microsoft's mystery event will take place in Los Angeles at 3:30 p.m. (Pacific time). While the tech world eagerly awaits Microsoft's major announcement Monday, the Internet rumor mill is flooded with reports saying that the event's main focus would be a tablet or an e-reader, built in collaboration with Barnes & Noble.

The Exxon Mobil Corp. will abandon its shale gas exploration projects in Poland because the company's test wells did not produce commercial quantities of gas, the daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza reported, according to Bloomberg News.

Are U.S. technology companies fast-growing enterprises or are they banks? In a time when banks are enduring federal ?stress tests? of their ability to withstand a crisis, the tech sector seems to be rolling in money.

In the weeks leading to the Barrett-Jackson Auction Co.'s collector car auction in Orange County, Calif., a new group of people appears to be joining aging-vehicle aficionados in paying attention to this annual event, as an increasing number of investors are turning to older vehicles as the latest safe havens for their money.

As expected, Apple unveiled iOS 6 -- the next-gen mobile operating system for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch -- the 2012 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco. Nobody knew what Apple would include in its latest update for iOS, but with more than 200 new features added to the mobile platform, this will the most comprehensive update Apple has ever released to its mobile devices.

It's perhaps the greatest automotive race of all time: 24 Heures du Mans (the 24 Hours of Le Mans) on the Circuit de la Sarthe outside of Le Mans, France -- here's how to watch it online. Also known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is the oldest race in motorsport and has been held annually since 1923.

The Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) was awarded a contract worth $489.53 million to begin purchasing parts, materials, and components for a seventh batch of 35 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter planes, the U.S. Defense Department announced Friday.

Details of the fate of bankrupt Swedish carmaker Saab Automobile AB continue to emerge following the June 7 news that the company had been purchased by a Sino-Japanese joint venture National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB, or NEVS. NEVS plans to use Saab to produce electric cars, the consortium announced Friday.

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), the world's biggest software company, is expected to make a new consumer push by announcing its own Windows Tablet for shipment next quarter, industry analysts said.

Rajat Gupta, former Goldman Sachs Group director and head of consulting firm McKinsey & Co., was convicted Friday of insider trading by a New York federal jury in one of corporate America's most high-profile scandals.

Nissan Motor Co. (Tokyo: 7201) is expected to build a 5 billion yuan ($785 million) factory in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian, an aggressive move into territory traditionally under the sway of Volkswagen AG (Frankfurt: VOW) and Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM), according to the Japan Daily Press Friday.