Linux creator Linus Torvalds has publicly stated that he has purchased and likes Google's Nexus One smartphone. It's no small endorsement. With Torvalds' support comes a full Linux community that is ready and willing to take on the iPhone.

Consumers may want to hold off on that iPad purchase. Analysts believe that Apple might soon drop the price of its much-hyped tablet. If sales are not to Apple's liking, the company could cut prices much as it did with the iPhone.

The Obama administration knew that there'd be a lot of interest in the $7.2 billion for high-speed Internet projects it included in last year's huge economic stimulus package. But officials had no idea that the demand for the cash would be so overwhelming.

VoIP uses a series of protocols to essentially create an open, unmediated link between two computers. VoIP applications also provide a way to make sure the packets are ordered quickly and correctly -- and deal with latencies in the network. Information flows more quickly and fluidly. And that's a goldmine for anyone trying to send hidden messages.

Gmail users will soon have more ways to keep up with their friends via a widget that shows quick status updates like Facebook and Twitter do. The move would further turn Gmail, which revolutionized online e-mail, into a comprehensive communications hub.

With the forthcoming rollout of Apple's iPad tablet device, it's necessary for providers of wireless phone and data services to ensure that their networks aren't overwhelmed by demand, according to a blog item by two officials of the FCC.

Comcast and NBC Universal didn't get a whole lot of love at the Senate and House hearings on their proposed merger. But company representatives did get plenty of questions. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) had a lot to say about the past performance of the network in response to deregulation.

A group of consumers in California can proceed with their false advertising lawsuit against broadband satellite provider HughesNet for allegedly delivering Web connections at lower-than-advertised speeds, a court has ruled.

With the impending arrival of digital books on the Apple iPad and feverish negotiations with Amazon.com over e-book prices, publishers have managed to take some control -- at least temporarily -- of how much consumers pay for their content.

For many people, the subscriptions and services for entertainment and communications, which are more often now one and the same, have become indispensable necessities of life, on par with electricity, water and groceries. And for every new device, there seems to be yet another fee.