AP - Samsung Electronics said Friday that second-quarter net profit surged 51 percent from the same period last year, amid strong performance in flat panels, televisions and mobile phones.

Reuters - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) posted a lower-than-expected quarterly profit and faces a tough second half with a sluggish memory chip market and lower margins in flat screens and mobile phones.

Reuters - Nokia (NOK1V.HE), the world's top cellphone maker, has ended three years of legal battles with wireless chip developer Qualcomm and signed a patent agreement that boosted both companies' shares.

AFP - The number of mobile users in China, the world's biggest cellphone market, now tops 600 million, the government said, as subscribers increasingly abandon fixed lines.

Reuters - The once media-shy Taliban have gone hi-tech with DVDs, mobile phone messages, ring-tones, emails and a website to publicize their exploits and lambast their Afghan and Western enemies, a think-tank said on Thursday.