Microsoft has updated its various Bing apps for Windows 8 in a move designed to make them quicker to use and easier to customize.

The News app now lets you manage the different news categories that appear in the app. You can add or remove categories for world news, technology, politics, business, and entertainment, and sort the order in which they appear. You can also add a particular news source or RSS feed to your featured sources and to the Windows Start screen so that you can more quickly access their stories.

The News app's app bar has also … Read more

I realize it's not Tuesday, but this tablet deal won't wait.

For a limited time, and while supplies last, Walmart is offering a $70 e-gift card when you buy a Barnes & Noble Nook HD+ tablet. The 16GB and 32GB models sell for $269 and $299, respectively.

If you frequently shop at Walmart for things like groceries (meaning you'd spend $70 there anyway), then this effectively works out to $199 or $229.

Contrast that with an earlier Nook HD+ deal, which awarded you a free Nook Simple Touch. That one came from B&N proper, and … Read more

Sharp, the struggling electronics manufacturer, is reportedly looking to sell its stake in another consumer electronics company, Pioneer, to raise the funds needed to pay off 200 billion yen ($2.14 billion) in convertible debt.

Citing unnamed sources, the Japan Times reported yesterday that Sharp is looking to dispose of its 9.2 percent stake, or 30 million shares, in the maker of car navigation systems and home electronics to help finance the payment of its debt due this September. Sharp is Pioneer's top shareholder, the Japan Times added.

The idea of selling off its own shares was mooted … Read more

Dish founder Charlie Ergen is clearly a massive "Seinfeld" fan.

Ergen wasn't shy about providing a shout-out to Jerry Seinfeld's classic situation comedy in discussing Dish's proposed $25.5 billion bid for Sprint Nextel.

In fact, Ergen compared his strategy to an episode of Seinfeld: 28 minutes filled with a lot of scenes that don't make sense, and a final two minutes where everything comes together.

For Dish, Sprint represents that final two minutes. The deal would be the linchpin to a strategy that Ergen said has been in the works for years. Ergen, … Read more

Security firm McAfee is working with the National Institute of Standards and Technology to try to shore up America's defenses against cyberthreats.

McAfee announced today that the company is now part of the the National Cybersecurity Excellence Partnership and will join cybersecurity professionals from both the private and public sector to tackle the escalating problem of computer-based threats.

The partnership is part of the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, which is hosted by NIST in collaboration with the state of Maryland and Maryland's Montgomery County.

Launched in February 2012, the center has a particular slant toward sharing technology … Read more

Anonymous is once again trying to raise the hackles of North Korea by hacking into one of the country's official news sites.

For the second time this month, the North Korean news and information site Uriminzokkiri.com has been taken down. Trying to access the site today delivers an eventual timeout error. In the official Twitter account for Uriminzokkiri, which Anonymous took over earlier this month, the group tweeted that "more of North Korean websites are in our hand. They will be brought down."

North Korean Web sites minjok.com, jajusasang.com, and paekdu-hanna.com had also … Read more

When it comes to compensation, these days it's good to be one of Apple's top executives.

During Apple's 2012 fiscal year, four of its executives landed in the top five for highest compensation at a Standard & Poor's 500 company. But the folks that made it into that list might surprise you.

According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, which collected compensation data from some of the world's top executives, Apple senior vice president of technologies, Bob Mansfield; CFO Peter Oppenheimer; general counsel Bruce Sewell; and operations chief Jeff Williams all made it into the top five for … Read more

Apple's next-generation iPhone has already prompted supplier Foxconn to bump up its ranks.

Also known as Hon Hai Precision, the Taiwan-based supplier confirmed today that it has hired around 10,000 employees for the assembly line at its factory in Zhengzhou since the end of March, the Wall Street Journal has reported. The Zhengzhou plant is a major producer of the iPhone.

A spokesman for Foxconn told the Journal only that the company increased its workforce to meet seasonal demand from customers. But "executives familiar with the situation" said the extra employees were hired specifically to get … Read more

Dish Network has submitted a merger proposal for Sprint Nextel valued at $25.5 billion, putting itself into competition with Japan's Softbank to take over the wireless carrier.

Dish announced this morning that it is offering Sprint shareholders a total consideration of $25.5 billion, consisting of $17.3 billion in cash and $8.2 billion in stock. Sprint shareholders would receive $7 per share, and the cash and stock combination would represent a 13 percent premium to the value of the existing SoftBank proposal, according to Dish.

"The Dish proposal clearly presents Sprint shareholders with a superior … Read more