More News Headlines  

• Acer comes back down to earth, Dell rises
  
  Fastest-growing PC company of the last few years stumbles during the second quarter. Observers say it has to do with Acer's reliance on notebook sales as desktops gain.
  
  
• Toshiba recalls 41,000 laptops for overheating
  
  The Consumer Product Safety Commission says 129 cases of Toshiba Satellite laptops melting from overheating have been reported, but no major injuries.
  
  
• Gadget makers show their stuff in Berlin (roundup)
  
  At the huge IFA consumer electronics show, the big names in tech show off their newest wares, including an Android-based tablet from Samsung and a cloud-based music service from Sony.
  
  
• The mystery of the disappearing Facebook-Ping integration
  
  On Wednesday, Apple said users of its music social network could find friends via Facebook. But the feature has vanished, apparently over a tiff between the companies.
  
  
• Road Trip Pic of the Week, 9/2: What is this?
  
  If you know what this is and where it's located, you could win a prize in the CNET Road Trip Picture of the Week challenge.
  
  
• Walkman beats iPod in Japan, if only for a moment
  
  Sony's music gadget surpasses Apple's iPod in sales in Japan for the full month of August, coincidentally just ahead of Apple's annual refresh of its music player line.
  
  
• Steve Jobs on why no Facebook for Ping
  
  Talks with Facebook about Apple's new Ping music social network fizzled, Jobs says, because Facebook wanted "onerous terms that we could not agree to."
  
  
• Is Apple's iPod tune getting old?
  
  Apple's incredible success in the digital music player category puts it in an odd position. Except for a few minor tweaks of design, it's not clear how much more Apple can do with the category.
  
  
• How Apple's Ping dings Twitter, Facebook
  
  Ping picks at the good parts of Twitter and Facebook and builds a social network around something for which everyone has strong feelings. Might Ping teach Facebook something about privacy too?
  
  
• Apple iPod Touch, the best gets better
  
  CNET Senior Editor Donald Bell weighs in with his first impressions of the fourth-generation Apple iPod Touch.
  
  
• Apple teases third-party AirPlay support, but details are scarce
  
  Apple's Web site suggests wider support for AirPlay wireless streaming from third-party vendors, but offers few details.
  
  
• Apple's fall event: iPod refresh; Apple TV reborn (roundup)
  
  CEO Steve Jobs unveils redesigns for every iPod model; iTunes 10 features Ping, a social network for music; and iOS 4.2 to unify iPad and iPhone. Plus: Apple TV goes streaming, including Netflix offerings.
  
  
• Apple TV: Still a hobby after all these years
  
  Apple downsizes the device and the price and adds a few interesting new features, but comes short of introducing a product that will be a category changer.
  
  
• iTunes song-sample plan runs into music publishers
  
  Trade group approaches Apple on the eve of Wednesday's media event to inform company publishing rights must be secured first.
  
  
• Jobs demos iPod, iTunes, Apple TV updates (video roundup)
  
  At its music-focused fall event, Apple CEO Steve Jobs takes the stage to show off refreshes to the iPod Shuffle, Nano, and Touch, as well as its TV device and mobile operating system.
  
  
• Which Apple announcement was best? (poll)
  
  The spiffy touch-screen Nano? Movie rentals on your iOS device? Or do you think today's Apple event was one big snoozefest? Here's your chance to vote!
  
  
• Sony: PS3 3D Blu-ray playback coming in October
  
  Sony plans to bring 3D Blu-ray playback to the PlayStation 3 in October. The announcement was made at IFA.
  
  
• Apple rolls out new iPods, social iTunes
  
  A new version of Apple TV is also coming soon, as Apple follows its usual September playbook in refreshing its iPod lineup and the iTunes software.
  
  
• Welcome to the social, Apple
  
  The Ping social-music feature in iTunes 10 is what Microsoft imagined when it launched the Zune with one critical difference: an addressable user base of more than 100 million.
  
  
• Target to be first to sell Facebook Credits
  
  The megaretailer plans to sell $15, $25, and $50 Credits cards in its brick-and-mortar stores and on its site, the company announces. Sales will start on Sunday.