Samsung to launch next Galaxy phone

Samsung will put the rumours and alleged leaks about its next flagship smartphone to rest when it unveils the handset in London later on Thursday. More than 20 million copies of the existing Galaxy S2 have been sold since its launch in April 2011. Analysts say its success helped Samsung overtake Nokia to become the […]

Manufacturing ends a big slump in Broward

Defying a slump that’s been around for about a decade, Broward factories are suddenly hiring. The 10 percent gain in March could mean a big shift for a battered industry. The latest employment figures continue one of the biggest turnarounds we’ve seen this year on the hiring front. Broward’s manufacturing industry has seen at least […]

Florida: No. 2 in best states to do business

Florida is No. 2 as the “best state to do business.” Gov. Rick Scott probably won’t like that, but Florida did improve from last year. The state rose one spot from 2011 to take the No. 2 ranking in Chief Executive magazine’s annual Best & Worst States survey of chief executives, released Wednesday. Texas was […]

RIM CEO: We’re not abandoning BlackBerry physical keyboards

Research In Motion is not killing off its physical keyboards, according to CEO Thorsten Heins. Heins, who addressed a room full of journalists and bloggers at the company’s BlackBerry World conference here, said he wanted to clear up confusion based on the company’s unveiling of the BlackBerry 10 software. It was widely reported or intimated […]

South Florida businesses blend ideas

Ever wanted to grab a sandwich while mailing out a package? How about grab a cup of coffee and a croissant while waiting for a prescription to be filled? South Florida is home to all kinds of business, including several with two very different concepts under one roof. The idea of blended space isn’t a […]

Android’s new ally against the iPhone: Ubuntu

Strong sales of the iPhone 4S are putting renewed pressure on Android to innovate. Ubuntu for Android could give the platform a key capability iPhone is still missing. Last year was a long time ago for Android. That was when Google’s mobile platform was stealing market share from all the other smartphone platforms — winning […]

Fort Lauderdale-New York among the few routes fliers will find summer deals

In a summer travel season with mostly higher airfares, the Fort Lauderdale to New York route will be one of the few that will cost less this year than last. Travel between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International and New York often ranks among the busiest routes in the nation, and 17.2 percent of the airport’s flights are […]

LG to open up multi-screen cloud streaming service

Apple’s iCloud will soon have a new contender to take on in the sky. LG announced today that its new Cloud offering will launch in beta tomorrow. LG Cloud is designed to work on “three screens” — smartphones, PCs, and televisions — and streams everything from video to photos. In order to access LG Cloud, […]

While others struggle, 1st United Bank of Boca Raton thrives

While many Florida banks have struggled or failed, Boca Raton-based 1st United Bank is thriving. It’s buying other state banks, has plenty of capital and is known for strong, experienced management. Since the financial crisis hit in 2008, 1st United has raised money twice on Wall Street and bought four small Florida banks, including Anderen […]

Samsung overtakes Nokia in mobile phone shipments

Samsung Electronics has overtaken Nokia to become the world’s largest maker of mobile phones, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. Nokia took the top spot in 1998 from Motorola, but in the first quarter of 2012 Samsung shipped 93m phones compared to almost 83m by Nokia. Samsung also reported its highest quarterly profit since 2008. […]

Samsung announces quad-core chip for Galaxy S phone

Electronics heavyweight Samsung will put quad-core silicon in its next Galaxy smartphone, upping the ante for mobile performance. The Exynos 4 Quad integrates four processor cores and is built on the company’s cutting-edge 32-nanometer manufacturing process. The chip will run at speeds above 1.4GHz, the company said in a statement today. As a yardstick, the […]

South Florida incomes growing, thanks to government

New figures show government aid accounts for 23 cents of every dollar of income in Miami-Dade. That’s up from 8 cents in the 1960s. Incomes are on the rebound in South Florida, thanks almost entirely to government aid. New figures show government aid to residents soared about 40 percent throughout the recession, while overall income […]

S. Florida independent jewelers see rise in sales

South Florida area independent jewelry stores are rebounding after weathering several rough years of slow sales. Cutler Altier, owner of Altier Jewelers in Boca Raton, said he expects more ofMother’s Day this year, hopefully marking another year of growth for his 52-year-old company. South Florida jewelers say they have fared better than some other areas […]

Apple’s Tim Cook rejects idea of laptop-tablet hybrids

Apple’s boss has dismissed the idea of mixing laptops and tablets into a hybrid product. Chief executive Tim Cook said the idea of combining the iPad and MacBook Air would “wind up compromising” both. Rival Asus already markets such products in its Transformer series. Intel has also been a vocal advocate of the idea. Mr […]

Did Facebook pay just $83M for that giant pile of IBM patents?

Social-networking giant’s amended S-1 sheds light on how much it plunked down for patents in first quarter. News today that Facebook is spending $550 million to buy 650 patents held by Microsoft came just weeks after it made what seemed to be an even bigger purchase from IBM in which it spent an undisclosed sum […]

Mall could drastically alter South Beach entryway

Developer Crescent Heights will unveil proposed designs Thursday for a large outlet mall and residential complex that could drastically alter the entryway into South Beach. Three firms competing for a contract to design the project around the site of the abandoned South Shore Hospital just north of the MacArthur Causeway will present their visions at […]

Android chief: We didn’t believe we needed a license from Sun

Android chief Andy Rubin wrapped up his testimony this morning in the copyright portion of the Oracle-Google trial at the U.S. District Court here. Google counsel Robert Van Nest picked up from where he left off on Tuesday afternoon, asking Rubin what happened after initial negotiations with Sun Microsystems ended in 2006. Rubin said that […]

Plan to park in South Florida? Raid the piggy bank

Jay Rooney seeks out street spots, takes public transportation and stays away from valet — anything he can do to avoid the high cost of parking. “I love downtown, I love Brickell. I don’t go as often as I would just because parking is too crazy,” said the 27-year-old. “I used to work on the […]

Nokia Lumia 710 and 800 getting Wi-Fi hot spot update

An update that brings with it Internet tethering is reportedly about to roll out to the two Lumia handsets in certain countries. Nokia’s Lumia 710 and 800 phones may be one step closer to gaining the ability to act as Wi-Fi hot spots, though the company itself isn’t confirming or revealing any details on the […]

JetBlue in growth mode in South Florida

JetBlue Airways is adding flights to the Caribbean and Latin America from South Florida, hoping to cash in on South Floridians’ roots in those areas. The New York-based airline operates hundreds of flights across the United States and is now a leading carrier at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International and Palm Beach International airports. Experts say JetBlue […]