SAN FRANCISCO Having seized the lead in personal computer sales worldwide, Hewlett-Packard Co. is stalking the technology services market for its next conquest.

SEATTLE Microsoft Corp. launched its WorldWide Telescope late Monday, bringing the free Web-based program for zooming around the universe to a broad audience.

WASHINGTON Some things about Barack Obama rub some voters the wrong way.

SEATTLE Microsoft Corp. launched its WorldWide Telescope late Monday, bringing the free Web-based program for zooming around the universe to a broad audience.

LOS ANGELES Will people remember three-second video ads on their mobile phones? Do high-definition commercials on big screens get people's hearts racing more than other pitches? Is the sports ticker crawl distracting or does it add value to the 30-second TV spot?

LOS ANGELES Will people remember three-second video ads on their mobile phones? Do high-definition commercials on big screens get people's hearts racing more than other pitches? Is the sports ticker crawl distracting or does it add value to the 30-second TV spot?

DENVER Dish Network Corp. said Monday its first-quarter net income rose 65 percent even though new subscriber growth of its satellite television service plunged on the languishing economy and stiffer competition.

SANTIAGO, Chile A prosecutor was appointed Monday to investigate how a computer hacker accessed government data for 6 million Chileans and posted it to the Internet.

SAN FRANCISCO Two executives have left Advanced Micro Devices Inc., including the head of the slumping chip maker's microprocessor division, as the company tries to engineer a dramatic turnaround to fend off larger rival Intel Corp.

For hardcore gamers, controlling a video-game character is second nature. You use one joystick to run, use another stick to look around, press the right trigger to shoot and use various buttons to open doors, take cover or talk to other characters.

SEATTLE The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said Monday that Microsoft Corp. executive Jeff Raikes will take over in September as chief executive of the world's largest charitable foundation.

SAN ANTONIO Clear Channel Communications Inc. and its prospective buyers are talking with banks to try to settle a dispute over whether the banks must fund promised loans for the $19.5 billion takeover, the radio and outdoor advertising company said Monday.

SAN FRANCISCO Apple Inc. said Monday its online stores in the U.S. and U.K. are sold out of the iPhone, a sign supplies are being winnowed ahead of the launch of the device's next generation featuring faster Internet surfing speeds.

NEW YORK Tribune Co.'s $650 million sale of Newsday is an important step toward alleviating its debt burden - for this year.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. Sprint Nextel Corp.'s Dan Hesse had little good news to share Monday on the eve of addressing his first shareholder meeting as chief executive of the troubled wireless carrier.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. An affiliate of Sprint Nextel Corp., iPCS Inc., said Monday it is seeking to block Sprint from forming a wireless broadband company with Clearwire Corp.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. The effort to make it easier for Web surfers to connect with their friends is attracting a crowd.

News from the virtual world:

WASHINGTON 4gt yr meds? Getting kids to remember their medicine may be a text message away. Cincinnati doctors are experimenting with texting to tackle a big problem: Tweens and teens too often do a lousy job of controlling chronic illnesses like asthma, diabetes or kidney disease.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. What do you want your cell phone to be able to do?

McLEAN, Va. XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. said Monday its first-quarter loss widened by nearly 6 percent even as revenue jumped 17 percent.

LEXINGTON, Ky. In stressful times, caregivers must figure out how to share information with lots of people and friends must figure out how best to help without being invasive. One possible solution: Check the internet.

TOKYO Home electronics suppliers Victor Co. of Japan and Kenwood Corp. said Monday they have agreed to combine operations under a holding company that will focus on car and home audio electronics.

NEW YORK Research In Motion Ltd. on Monday introduced its first major new BlackBerry model in more than a year: the Bold, a high-end model that further demonstrates the company's desire to make tools for both work and play.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Once upon a time, people bonded with their co-workers on office softball teams and traded gossip at the watercooler.

NEW YORK Clear Channel Communications Inc., a major radio and outdoor advertising company, reported higher first-quarter earnings Friday on asset sales but operating results were flat, reflecting weak demand for radio advertising.

SAN JOSE, Calif. EBay Inc. is exploring whether to require customers to use its online payment service PayPal, a move that has angered users and prompted antitrust scrutiny in Australia, where a PayPal-only rule takes effect next month.

Jon Edwards often manages what appears impossible. He has recovered precious data from computers wrecked in floods and fires and dumped in lakes. Now Edwards may have set a new standard: He found information on a melted disk drive that fell from the sky when space shuttle Columbia disintegrated in 2003.

SAN FRANCISCO An executive at Dell Inc. who led the slumping computer maker's procurement efforts and managed its relationships with suppliers has left the company, Dell said late Friday.

SAN FRANCISCO Facebook Inc. is loosening its grip on millions of personal profiles to allow inhabitants of its popular Internet hangout to transplant the information and applications to other Web sites.

SAN FRANCISCO Apple Inc. has agreed to settle a pair of class-action lawsuits in Canada alleging it misled customers about the staying power of their iPods, the latest courtroom truce over the dwindling battery life of early generations of the device.

SAN FRANCISCO It's a new kind of virus for Sun Microsystems Inc.

WASHINGTON An online advertising partnership between Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc. is facing opposition from consumer and civic groups that didn't wait for an official deal announcement to voice their discontent.

SEATTLE Microsoft Corp. on Friday said it has appealed a $1.39 billion fine imposed in February by the European Commission for the company's failure to comply with a 2004 antitrust order.

JAKARTA, Indonesia Microsoft Corp. will focus on growing its own advertising and Internet search business after it withdrew its takeover offer for Yahoo Inc., Chairman Bill Gates said Friday.

NEW YORK In a May 8 story about Activision Inc.'s earnings, The Associated Press reported that the company expected earnings of $1.30 per share after excluding Vivendi Games. The story should have said the adjusted earnings excluded other items as well.

It's been a long road to No. 4 for the "Grand Theft Auto" series.

Grand Theft Auto IV car-jacked pop culture this week.

LAWRENCE, Kan. Meat retailers can now trace their wares from the ranch to the refrigerator case using DNA analysis.

DALLAS Texas officials may claim that Amazon.com owes millions in sales taxes on purchases that state residents made from the Internet retailer.

NEW YORK Wholesale fees for Internet addresses ending in ".org" will increase 10 percent Nov. 9.

HARTFORD, Conn. Facebook, the world's second-largest social networking Web site, is adding more than 40 new safeguards to protect young users from sexual predators and cyberbullies under an agreement with officials nationwide that was announced Thursday.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. Google Inc.'s top executives expressed hope Thursday that the Internet search leader will be able to form a potentially lucrative advertising partnership with Yahoo Inc. - a deal that would lower the odds of Microsoft Corp. renewing its attempts to buy Yahoo.

WASHINGTON Is a baseball pitcher's method for throwing a curveball patentable? How about a chiropractor's techniques?

LOS ANGELES Social networking site MySpace said Thursday it will soon enable users to quickly share profile data with Web sites operated by Yahoo Inc., eBay Inc. and others.

SEATTLE Without the influx of Web traffic that Microsoft bet would quickly follow a Yahoo buyout, the software maker is facing a long slog if it wants to turn its money-losing online services business into a Google-killer.

NEW YORK Cable TV provider Cablevision Systems Corp. disclosed plans Thursday to offer high-speed wireless Internet service across its coverage area in the New York region.

SAN JOSE, Calif. Grappling with major layoffs and a stock price that's been chopped nearly in half since last year, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. kept new details about its turnaround plans close to the vest Thursday in a very brief annual meeting with shareholders.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden Intel Corp. dove further into the cellular business on Thursday, becoming one of the winners in Sweden's auction of licenses for nationwide wireless broadband.

NEW YORK T-Mobile USA, the fourth-largest wireless carrier in the country, said Thursday it added 981,000 customers in the first quarter, which along with an acquisition brought its total to 30.8 million.