Samsung Electronics said Friday its fourth-quarter earnings surged 17 percent from a year earlier on the back of stronger sales in smartphones and flat screens.The technology giant’s net income reached 4 trillion won ($3.5 billion) in the October-December period, registering the largest gain since the third quarter of 2010. Revenue went up 13 percent to an all-time high of 47.3 trillion won and operating profit climbed 75.8 percent to 5.3 trillion won in the same period. The figures were largely

Twitter said Thursday that it now has the ability to block tweets from appearing in a specific country if legally required to do so."As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression," Twitter said in a blog post."So

Tablet-computer shipments more than doubled in the fourth quarter, reflecting demand for Apple Inc.’s iPad and Amazon (AMZN).com Inc.’s new Kindle Fire, according to market-research firm Strategy Analytics. Global tablet shipments rose to a record 26.8 million units in the last three months of 2011,

LG Electronics Inc., South Korea’s leading consumer electronics maker, said Wednesday that it won a patent dispute with Whirlpool Corp. over technology used in refrigerators.In 2009, Whirlpool, a major American producer of home appliances, filed complaints against LG Electronics with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, claiming that it developed technology used to make a water and ice dispenser in refrigerators earlier than LG.The U.S. patent agency did not accept Whirlpool’s claim as it faile

Korea’s top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. and other industry players are ramping up efforts to claim a bigger share of the fast growing long-term evolution market deemed a future money spinner, market watchers say.The LTE service, or the fourth-generation of wireless technology, enables smartphone users to access a stream of data faster than the current 3G network and download and watch movies more quickly.In a country where four out of 10 people use smartphones, SK Telecom and two other carrier

Apple is taking aim at the textbook market.The California-based gadget-maker unveiled a free iBooks 2 application for the iPad on Thursday that brings interactive textbooks to the popular tablet computer."Education is deep in Apple's DNA," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of marke

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest maker of smartphones, said Tuesday that it does not have any interest in taking over Research In Motion Ltd., the BlackBerry maker.The Boy Genius Report, a tech blog, said that RIM is pushing to sell part of its divisions or even the whole company. It said that RIM’s co-chief executive Jim Balsillie has been actively contacting companies and Samsung is the most likely to be interested in the takeover.“The report is groundless, and we’ve not considered

Apple Inc. filed another suit in Germany, seeking to ban sales of Samsung Electronics Co.’s smartphones, including the Galaxy S Plus and the S II, extending the global legal dispute between the two companies.The action targeting 10 smartphone models was filed in the Dusseldorf Regional Court and is based on Apple’s design rights, court spokesman Peter Schuetz said by phone Tuesday. Apple also started a separate suit against five Samsung tablet computers related to a September ruling banning the