sale

For the first time ever, Android has dominated smartphone sales in several major markets, including the U.S., Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, and Australia, according to data released today by market analysis firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

In all of these countries, Google's mobile OS has taken at least half of smartphone sales, with the lowest being in Italy at 49.6 percent and highest in Spain with 84.1 percent. The data is from sales recorded over the last 12 weeks ending on June 10.

"We are seeing much of the Android sales growth being driven … Read more

Best Buy was quick to discount the newest MacBooks, offering savings up to $140 over the weekend.

The biggest discount is on the $2,799.99 Retina Pro with 8GB of memory and a 512GB solid-state drive (Model: MC976LL/A). That is off $140 to $2,659.99.

The least expensive Retina Pro dropped to $2,089.99 (Model: MC975LL/A), shaving $110 off the regular price (see image below).

New MacBook Airs got cut too. The $999.99 Air (Model: MD223LL/A) fell to $949.99, off $50.

The latest MacBooks feature Intel's new "Ivy Bridge" … Read more

Sales of pricey ultrabooks are up at retailers, a market research firm said, indicating that skinny laptops may be competing directly with Apple's MacBook line.

First, the bad news: the overall Windows market for notebook PC sales at retail fell by 17 percent in the first five months of the year, according to Stephen Baker, an NPD Group analyst, who published a research note Thursday.

The good news: sales of ultrabooks -- thin, light laptops that compete with the MacBook Air -- are up in the premium market segment. Those priced at more than $900 jumped 39 percent compared … Read more

Microsoft seemingly believes tablet sales will outpace sales of desktops next year. But that might not actually be the case.

Speaking today at the TechEd Europe conference in Amsterdam, Antoine LeBlond, Microsoft's vice president of Windows Web Services, said that "next year, tablets will outsell desktop PCs," according to PC Pro, which was in attendance at the event. LeBlond reportedly didn't provide the margin of victory tablets should score next year, but he did say that "touch" functionality will dramatically change the PC market "just like the mouse did."

It's no … Read more

PC unit sales could fall as much as 5 percent to 10 percent in the third quarter from a year ago, according to Jefferies analyst Peter Misek's latest research note, published late last night.

Misek sees a troublesome time ahead for PC builders following a single-digit drop in PC shipments in the second quarter, particularly with Dell and Hewlett-Packard.

The report comes after he estimates what was a low drop in second-quarter PC shipments.

It also follows only a month after the two PC makers saw their target prices cut with analysts suggesting: "Windows 8 will prove to … Read more

The housing market may never get back to where it was in the boom years, but even if you can't flip your condo it could be possible to flip your phone this month with some help from eBay.

eBay's Instant Sale site is offering some pretty big bucks for used flagship smartphones through the end of June, a promotion timed to coincide with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S III later this week. For example, an iPhone 4 with 32GB in working condition could be worth as much as $300 -- that's $100 more than competing buyback site Gazelle is currently offering.

eBay is showing love to existing Android phone owners, too, with a used Galaxy S II fetching up to $220 and a Droid Razr Maxx worth as much as $250. If you're able to work it so you can get a subsidized price on your Samsung Galaxy S III, you could end up upgrading for a net cost of zero, or even make some money on the deal.

Here's some more example trade-in offers that eBay sent along: … Read more

With the Groupon app for Android, you can not only sift through local daily deals, but you can also manage your profile, keep track of Groupons you've already purchased, and sift through rewards from some of your favorite retailers.

If you've used Groupon.com at all, the Android app should feel familiar. The look is the same, the deal categories are all there, and purchasing Groupons is just as simple. The difference, of course, is in the swiping and the ease with which you can zip around.

The app starts you off with a list of featured deals … Read more

Microsoft's $1.06 billion deal with AOL to acquire some 800 patents and related applications has closed.

The two companies today said the deal, which was struck in April, has been completed.

"The closing of this transaction represents another major step for AOL in increasing value for our shareholders," AOL chairman and CEO Tim Armstrong said in a statement.

AOL says the all the proceeds from the patents will be returned to shareholders, and it will offer more specifics on that before the end of June.

In late April, Microsoft announced that it would assign Facebook "… Read more

The Windows 7 platform has hit an important milestone.

Microsoft corporate vice president of OEM Steven Guggenheimer today announced that his company has sold 600 million Windows 7 licenses worldwide. Guggenheimer made the announcement during a keynote address at Computex. Microsoft confirmed his claim in a statement following the event.

The software giant has been discussing Windows 7 sales quite a bit lately. Late last month, CEO Steve Ballmer said that Microsoft expects 350 million Windows 7-based devices to be shipped this year alone.

Windows 7's sales appear to be accelerating. In April 2011, Microsoft announced that it had … Read more