Stories by Jay Alabaster

Panasonic launched a wireless broadband service in Japan this week that is intended to encourage customers to use its coming wave of Internet-ready appliances and services.

Nintendo has slashed its annual sales target for the flagship 3DS handheld, conceding that price cuts and a barrage of software titles were not enough to recover from a weak launch last year.

NEC said it will cut 10,000 jobs, including 3,000 outside of Japan, and it now forecasts a US$1.3 billion loss in the current fiscal year through March.

Toshiba has announced its first dedicated e-reader. It will launch in February in Japan, backed by an online store with 100,000 titles, and the company may also launch the BookPlace reader outside Japan.

Sony said Monday it has developed new technology for the tiny imaging chips that power cameras in portable devices, which will allow for clearer photographs while using less space and cutting manufacturing costs.

"When you've got a lot of angry zombies coming at you, you really don't want to have to look away from the screen..."

People have been very friendly to TVs at the Consumer Electronics Show this week, talking to them, waving at them, occasionally stroking their screens.

A Utah-based company has developed a way to make iPhones and other gadgets waterproof.

Polaroid finds the whole concept of a "camera-phone" a bit insulting. So it is launching a phone-camera, an Android-driven Smart Camera that is mainly for taking pictures, but can also make the occasional phone call.

Sony plans later this year to launch a small device it is calling the SmartWatch, which links to Android phones via Bluetooth and runs a suite of custom mini-apps.

Audi is showing a new dashboard concept at this year's Consumer Electronics Show that projects three separate displays onto the windshield of a car and accepts hand gestures as commands.

Corning is shipping samples of an updated version of its popular Gorilla Glass product, that will allow screens to be 20 percent thinner at the same strength.

Sony CEO Howard Stringer defended the quality of Sony's products at the Consumer Electronics Show on Monday, and said his company would leverage its broad music and video holdings to bolster its electronics.

Samsung Electronics announced a host of new gadgets at the International Consumer Electronics Show on Monday, including smart TVs with face recognition, plus voice and gesture control, and a super-thin ultrabook laptop with a DVD drive.

Samsung on Sunday showed a device that converts standard televisions into smart TVs, providing high-definition Internet access, Skype video conferencing and a small wireless keyboard remote.