It's no iPhone-killer, but the launch this weekend of Palm Inc's "Pre" could well become the brightest event this year for a gloomy industry. Palm Inc's smartphone may not attract lines around the block like past Apple Inc iPhone launches. But its launch will be seen as a badly needed shot of adrenaline for Palm

Norway's Opera Software released on Wednesday the first test version of Opera 10, the newest version of its browser, promising faster downloads, new design and new features. Opera is the world's third-largest browser maker, but is far behind Microsoft and Mozilla Foundation. Competition in the browser market has escalated lately after Google launched its own

Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday its new Windows 7 operating system will be generally available on October 22, well ahead of its original schedule and in time for the holiday shopping season. The new operating system, which will replace the unpopular Vista, was originally planned for roll-out at the beginning of next year, but Microsoft

Asian shares rose to fresh eight-month highs on Wednesday, as U.S. home sales data added to optimism that the global economy is through the worst, while the dollar struggled off its latest set of lows for the year. Oil succumbed to profit-taking after a six-day rally which took it to a seven-month high above $69

 Britain's FTSE 100 index fell 1.5 percent in early trade on Wednesday, hurt by weakness in commodity stocks, banks and companies going ex-dividend, including heavyweight Vodafone. By 0752 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 67.39 points at 4,409.63, after slipping 0.7 percent on Tuesday. Oil producers were among the standout losers, with BP, BG Group,

Modest but surprising growth in Australia, a jump in U.S. pending home sales and steadying confidence among global consumers added to evidence the world economy, while not rebounding, has come through the worst of the slump. Stocks in Asia edged up on Wednesday, holding near nine-month highs, but investors were wary about whether recent advances

British consumers were their most upbeat in May since the end of last year as people became more confident about the prospects for the economy, a survey showed on Wednesday. The Nationwide Building Society's consumer confidence index rose to 53 last month from 51 in April, the highest since November. And people were hopeful that