The world can be a rough place for independent inventors. They can often find themselves in court, battling big corporations, spending piles of money on lawyers and leaving it up to judges and juries to determine the value of their hard-won patents.

RIM has a commanding 56% share of the $12 billion U.S. smartphone market. And its sales are still accelerating. Thanks to those booming sales, Research in Motion ranks No. 1 on Fortune's 2009 list of Fastest-Growing Companies.

The early days of iPhone applications resemble the early days of the Internet. Media companies know they need to have an app for the iPhone, and so they are creating appealing ones that are loaded with features.  Yet, as with the Web, it is far from clear how much revenue media apps for the iPhone can produce.

Palm says its Pre phone can again connect to Apple's iTunes software again — just a week after Apple shut it out.

T-Mobile USA's follow-up to the first "Google phone" will go on sale in early August, the carrier said Monday.

Stocks snapped a three-day losing streak Thursdayas a trio of encouraging economic reports — the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing report, leading indicators and weekly jobless claims — fueled recovery hopes.

Stocks advanced Thursday as a trio of encouraging economic reports — the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing report, leading indicators and weekly jobless claims — fueled recovery hopes.

Stocks advanced Thursday after an encouraging report on manufacturing from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve.

US stock index futures were flat Thursday as investors digested the Obama Administration’s changes to financial regulation and looked toward key economic reports including jobless claims.

Developers of programs for the iPhone have already managed to make a decent living selling hundreds of thousands of copies of games from their living rooms or garages. But now, a new way to profit from writing software for the iPhone is emerging: Sell the apps, then sell your company.

Analysts tempered their enthusiasm for Palm Inc.'s Pre smart phone, which went on sale this weekend, with limited supplies of the device and a relatively small number of software applications drawing concern.

If it's true that the group that led the last bull market doesn't lead the next one, investors will have to forget about banks and consider a new array of choices.