UNITED STATES

The total number of U.S. households with televisions will jump nearly 50 percent by the year 2050, according to new estimates from The Nielsen Company.

The world's largest memory chipmaker, Samsung Electronics Co. has agreed to pay $90 to settle price-fixing lawsuits brought on by 41 states.

The Beatles and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) ended their long standing trademark dispute, possibly paving the way for the band's music to appear on the Apple iTunes online music store.

General Motors Corp. won't budge from its strategy of reducing rebates and other incentives just because it saw a steep sales drop in January, a top executive said Saturday.GM's sales were off 16.6 percent compared with January 2006.

Motorola is hoping to be seen on the red carpet for the Academy Awards in Hollywood, announcing it is handing out its latest, not-yet-available in the US cell phone to 25 of the top nominees.

The million dollar club is becoming less exclusive, as the number of millionaire households in the U.S. has risen 56 percent since 2003, reaching 5.4 million, according to a new study.

Author J.K. Rowling said the last of 7 books is due on July 21.

Nigeria continues to rank as the riskiest country to do business with over the Internet a new survey released Wednesday shows, with New York identified as the riskiest city in North America.

The chief executives leading the world's two largest stock markets - the New York Stock Exchange and Tokyo Stock Exchange - shook hands high above the NYSE trading floor before the opening bell on Wednesday, after announcing that the groups will create an alliance that sets the stage for a possible merger or acquisition.

Computer software sales declined in 2006 compared to the previous year, due in part to consumers waiting for the release of Windows Vista and diminished purchases of tax software, according to a report.

Yahoo said late on Tuesday its new system for selling Web ads, dubbed Panama, would be fully introduced in the United States as of February 5, about a month earlier than expected by Wall Street analysts.

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa threw their support behind city's effort to host the 2016 Olympic games.

Ikea, the world's leading home furnishing retailer, announced Wednesday that it will expand its presence into the Southeast region of the U.S., with plans to begin construction in North Carolina within months.

MTV's 24-hour college network, mtvU, a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B) has agreed to purchase the Internet's largest listing of college professor ratings, RateMyProfessors.com.

Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister said Tuesday that OPEC had curbed much of the world's surplus oil supplies through already agreed to output cuts, sending crude futures down and some industrial stocks in the U.S up.

After a slow start to 2006, the video game industry witnessed a huge spike in sales, with hardware and software sales swelling to $3.7 billion in December.

A new report reveals that Sony Electronics outpaced its rivals in 2006, achieving the number one spot for total TV market share.

The parent company of the New York Stock exchange and three other financial institutions have agreed to purchase a combined stake of 20 percent in the National Stock Exchange of India, a move which contributes to a global trend of financial markets consolidation.

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) unveiled the next generation of its fiber optic service for home consumers this week, promising a medium that can deliver multimedia, voice, and data to home customers.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced that it will begin to update the Virtual Earth online mapping platform with new, more detailed U.S. imagery.

Driven by a strong rise in holiday spending, U.S. retail Web sites crossed the $100 billion mark for the first time, collecting $102.1 billion in 2006, a 24 percent increase over the previous year.