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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) on Monday started notifying customers of United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Italy that it would hold its annual one-day shopping event on Friday, a day after Thanksgiving, at its retail stores and on online store.

A few common thoughts to consider before you buy.

Microsoft's mobile operating system, Windows Phone, now has around 40,000 apps as more and more smartphone makers pair with the tech giant to run their new devices. So far, Nokia is perhaps the biggest manufacturer to pair with Microsoft, but Samsung and HTC both have some nice devices running the year old system.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion and Spanish telecom Telefonica are teaming up to test a payment system that turns a mobile phone into an electronic wallet and identity card, the companies said on Wednesday.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Prime fans had braced themselves for the leaked Dec.8 release date on the Verizon Wireless networkbut , a new Best Buy ad featuring the phone points to an earlier release date on Sunday.

In what could create quite some controversy, Samsung's advertisement for the new Galaxy S2, suggests that Apple iPhone fans are so foolish and blinded by marketing stunts that they cannot acknowledge a better phone.

In just over a month, the iPhone 4S has shot near the top of Flickr's Camera Finder, which tracks camera phone usage online, while the iPhone 4 has bested Nokia and Canon models to be the most popular camera on Flickr overall. As Annie Leibovitz and other photography greats take on the iPhone 4S, some worry traditional cameras are on the way out.

Black Friday news: Amazon has just expanded its smartphones-for-a-penny deal to include all non-iPhone products. Find out details on the Black Friday 2011 sale, the contract catch for buying from Verizon, AT&T and Sprint, and what products will sell fastest as Amazon extends it phone deal into Cyber Monday. Click and buy before all the smartphones are gone!

When the Galaxy Nexus debuts, it will feature a voice typing function that allows for writing emails, texts or any kind of writing to be done with the human voice. Samsung's Galaxy S2 has this type of feature already, as does the iPhone 4S. But those two devices also talk back, with iPhone 4S' Siri being the most capable in that area.

Michelle Parker, 32, mysteriously vanished last Thursday in Florida straight after her case appeared on the television show the people's court,' where she reported that she had been a victim of her ex fiancé's violent temper.

Black Friday 2011 will feature a one-day Apple shopping event. Get your credit cards ready.

Verizon stores will debut the Samsung Illusion in January, but starting Thursday and lasting through the weekend, the brand new device will be free from Verizon's Web site. It's a new Android phone with a 3.5-inch screen and the newest version of the Android system, version 3.2.

Samsung's Galaxy Nexus is available now in the UK and a launch date has been given for Canada, but a U.S. release date has yet to be given, so it looks like the device won't be out in time for Black Friday. There's little doubt the new Android device will be out in time for the shopping season, but it will only be available on Verizon

Apple's legal success continues, as the company won a whopping 31 new patents with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patents range from inventions to strategic acquisitions.

Intel's (INTC) stock has broken out of a four-month range-trading pattern to trade at/near $23.50. Is there more upside ahead with Intel?

Google officially opened its new music store to the U.S. public on Nov.16, thereby putting the search giant's service in direct competition with Apple's iTunes and Amazon's MP3 services.

Jefferies believes based on channel checks and its recent visit to Japan that Sharp is taking share in Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad 3, iPhone 5 LTE, and iTV displays.

Hewlett-Packard, the world’s largest computer company, reported fourth-quarter earnings that exceeded expectations even as sales of PCs and printers fell. As well, the company wrote off a record $3.3 billion of the failure of its TouchPad in the tablet sector.

The shares of Apple (AAPL), maker of the iPhone 4s, have pulled back to about $370. Does the pull-back represent a buying opportunity?

Nobody likes to pack - especially if you're packing the mounds of gear needed for a ski trip. To make things easier, here are some tips on what you absolutely need on and off the slopes.

Traditionally Black Friday deals were revealed through ads released in national and local newspapers on Thanksgiving day, but now with the Internets capacity to make ads go viral the deals are being released earlier and earlier. Here is a roundup of the ads released for Black Friday 2011 so far: