ELECTRONICS

While New York technology jobs increase in 2012, America's middle class will be shrinking.

With the searing success of Apple's iPhone line helping to spur sales of nearly 580 million smartphones in 2011, consumers are lining up to buy them. Meanwhile, the mobile industry is dying to serve them, lured by prospects of subscriber growth and terabytes of new revenue.

Sony and Panasonic had their debt ratings downgraded by Moody's on Friday, citing weak television sales.

China is closing in on the 1 billion mobile connections mark, which it will likely surpass before the end of March, according to the latest report.

Japan's Nikkei share average hit a two-month high on Friday, boosted by encouraging results from U.S. banks Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N), while near-term concerns over Europe eased after successful Spanish debt auctions.

Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor maker, reported fourth quarter results that blew past estimates despite warnings of slower sales due to floods in Thailand.

Suspicion is growing that operatives in China, rather than India, were behind the hacking of emails of an official U.S. commission that monitors relations between the United States and China, U.S. officials said.

Four key technology giants are to report earnings Thursday. Intel, IBM, Google and Microsoft results may provide keys to 2012 progress, while Apple comes next week.

Chipmaker stocks rose on Wednesday, helped by upbeat earnings forecasts by Linear Technology Corp and Xilinx Inc.

Chipmaker Xilinx Inc expects fourth quarter results at the mid-point of analysts' expectations, allaying investor concerns that the slowdown in the semiconductor market would continue into the new year.

Google Inc's strong holiday-quarter results may take a backseat to growing concerns about long-term margins after it dives into a fiercely competitive smartphone market through its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings.

Research In Motion is not on Samsung Electronics Co's immediate shopping list, but the ailing Blackberry maker may still be attractive to Asian smartphone makers looking to compete against Google's Android, the world's fastest growing mobile platform.

Research In Motion is not on Samsung Electronics Co's immediate shopping list, but the ailing Blackberry maker may still be attractive to Asian smartphone makers.

Samsung Electronics said on Wednesday it was not interested in buying ailing Blackberry maker Research In Motion or licensing its operating system, refuting a tech blog report that RIM was seeking to sell itself to the South Korean technology giant.

A handful of technology leaders – IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Google and Apple – are all scheduled to report quarterly earnings over the next week. Here are five things to watch when the numbers come out because they may indicate prospects for 2012.

Samsung's third generation Galaxy S3 may be completely shrouded in mystery, but for its brief appearance in the company's official video at last week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, GSM Arena reported.

Samsung Group, which includes Samsung Electronics Co, said on Tuesday it is raising its 2012 investment to a record $41.4 billion, as the South Korean conglomerate seeks to consolidate its leading position in mobile chips and flat screens.

Another exciting week of the Consumer Electronics Show has come to an end and it's time to take a look at those who really shined at CES 2012 and those that managed to disappoint.

Now that 153,000 people have exhausted themselves at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, an American visitor can't help thinking that the future of electronics is in Asia, not California's Silicon Valley or Texas.

From the world's first eye-controlled laptop personal computer to a pet-tracking application to a glass-encased ultrathin notebook PC, 2012's Consumer Electronics Show produced more than a few gems to point the way forward in technology.

It's the last day of International CES, CNET has announced their best of show awards, and we still don't have a new iPad, so we've put together our own best of CES in pictures. There was so much on offer at this year's show, there is no way to produce a comprehensive list, but we've got some high quality photos of some awesome new products you may see on the shelves before the year is out.