finance

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

Taxpayers who file the 1040EZ income tax form have always had it easier, at least when it comes to the paperwork. They've long enjoyed the ability to file electronically, for instance. Things just got even easier for 1040EZ users, thanks to TurboTax SnapTax, a free Android app from one of the biggest and most trusted names in tax preparation, especially online tax prep and e-filing. With SnapTax, you can file your 2012 federal income tax returns using your Android smartphone, or tablet, or any device running Android, so long as it has a high-resolution camera. Simply take snapshots of … Read more

TurboTax is big in tax software, so we were interest to see how their online tax service compared to similar services from other big names in the tax prep game. TurboTax Online offers five options: Free, Deluxe, Premier, Home & Business, and the new Military Edition. The Deluxe edition is the most popular. Why? Maybe its mission: Maximize your deductions. TurboTax Deluxe 2012 is ready to help you prepare and file your 2012 taxes. Better yet, it's ready for the IRS: One of the advantages of online tax tools from trusted services is their ability to handle changes in … Read more

TurboTax is big in tax software, so we were interest to see how its online tax service compared with similar services from other big names in the tax prep game. TurboTax Online offers five options: Free, Deluxe, Premier, Home & Business, and the new Military Edition. The Deluxe edition is the most popular. Why? Maybe its mission: maximize your deductions. TurboTax Deluxe 2012 is ready to help you prepare and file your 2012 taxes. Better yet, it's ready for the IRS: one of the advantages of online tax tools from trusted services is their ability to handle changes in … Read more

AT&T has looked at the idea of making consumers pay for their own smartphones in monthly installments, according to CEO Randall Stephenson.

The idea of handset financing runs counter to the current model of subsidizing phones at a lower initial price in exchange for a higher monthly bill. Under handset financing, consumers would pay an upfront fee for the phone, and then steadily pay off the phone's cost over the next few months.

In exchange, the consumer would presumably get a lower rate on their phone bill, and could conceivably leave whenever they want after paying off … Read more

Panasonic says that rising demand for LCD panels will bring the company's display business back to profit in early 2013.

In the three months leading up to March 31, 2013 -- the end of its current fiscal year -- Japan-based Panasonic hopes that its panel display business will result in a profitable quarter due to rising demand from tablet and PC makers.

The ailing firm's display unit is expected to strengthen the fourth-quarter financial report as liquid crystal display (LCD) panels become a hotter commodity. In a change of business tactics, Panasonic is turning away from flat-screen displays … Read more

Spotify is close to closing a $100 million financing round that would value the company at a little more than $3 billion, sources tell The Wall Street Journal.

The capital would come from multiple investors, including Goldman Sachs, although the Journal did not identify who the other investors were.

CNET has contacted Spotify for comment and will update this report when we learn more.

In a funding round last year, the music-streaming service raised about $100 million from venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Russian investment firm DST Global, to give it a $1 billion valuation. More … Read more

This can hardly be encouraging news: Nokia's third-quarter financial results show the number of handsets it sold down by 22 percent compared to last year and 1 percent on the quarter before.

The company said Thursday it sold 82.9 million handsets in the quarter, with revenue from phone sales falling by 34 percent compared to Q3 2011.

Nokia's overall revenue also dropped during the quarter, to 7.239 billion euros ($9.48 billion) -- a decrease of 19 percent year on year, and 4 percent quarter on quarter -- compared with $12.2 billion in the third … Read more

Microsoft's Windows 8 apps are a decidedly mixed bag so far. But one group of apps shows how the new environment can shine with the right software.

I haven't been too impressed with many of the apps Microsoft has created for Windows 8. Some, such as Music and Video, are designed mostly to get you to buy stuff from the company, offering only minimal support for playing your own songs and videos.

Others apps, such as Mail, People, and Messaging, aren't bad but still seem half-baked and in need of further refinements. Mail, for example, still doesn'… Read more