Apple audaciously seems to think the world actually needs another social network — one that you even need special software to be part of, to boot. With the introduction Wednesday of Ping, a music-centered community that exists only within iTunes, they are probably right — and then some.

EpicMix, a new RFID-based app for skiers, combines performance tracking with real-time, location-based social networking functionality. (Think Nike+ meets Foursquare.) It'll go live at several Colorado ski resorts in November, and we've got an early look.

Verizon Communications Inc., the second-largest U.S. phone company, may increase its quarterly dividend by the smallest amount in four years tomorrow amid slowing sales growth, according to a Bloomberg estimate.

Federal regulators are putting off efforts to regain authority over the nation’s internet providers while they seek renewed public input on net neutrality.

Apple has refreshed its family of iPod products. The iPod Nano, iPod Touch and iPod Shuffle all received some compelling makeovers that should help Apple stay in the lead in the portable media-player market.

The world's top online retailer has approached Time Warner and other studios to start an online video subscription service that would vie with Netflix, Hulu and Apple

As the recently resurrected sci-fi cartoon hits the century mark, executive producer David X. Cohen and voice actors Billy West, Lauren Tom and David Herman look back on their favorite moments.

When Steve Jobs was preparing to introduce the Apple TV, he called it "one more hobby," and based on our first impressions, that's a safe choice of words. The new Apple TV is a major hardware revamp — one quarter the size of its predecessor.

On this leg of his around-the-world drive, our man at the wheel discovers the Wild West is still wild.

The new Apple TV, which will go on sale at the end of September for $100, is a puny box just one-quarter the size of the previous model. It has an HDMI port, a built-in power supply, an optical audio port, an ethernet jack, and built-in Wi-Fi.

Hot water discovered around a giant carbon star requires a new theory for the chemistry around stars to be explained. The new theory could significantly alter our understanding of what materials exist in interstellar space, and where water and life could exist in the universe.

Aston reportedly will offer the gussied-up Toyota iQ in the United States, presumably to help it meet tightening CAFE regs.

The unexpected emergence of complex patterns in an apparently unremarkable dish of muscle cells may give researchers a valuable tool for studying self-organizing systems.

A photo series on Las Vegas casino carpets shows how eye-rending the environments there really are.

The Army was so concerned about the mental health of alleged WikiLeaks leaker Bradley Manning that, prior to the alleged leaks, supervisors removed the bolt from his military weapon, thereby disabling it.

Google and Verizon's proposed rules for Internet traffic face opposition in Washington as they weigh how hard to lobby Congress and the FCC

The U.S. response to the disaster pales in comparison to Haiti, and that could be a huge problem given Pakistan's strategic importance.

A new image of a superwind-blowing galaxy shows a particularly intense fit of star formation.

The federal COBRA subsidy introduced in March of 2009 was designed to cover 65 percent of COBRA health insurance premiums for up to 15 months for persons who lost their jobs as the result of a lay off occurring between September 2008 and May 2010. Each month since June 1, 2010, more COBRA...



Insurance - Health insurance - Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 - Financial Services - Business

The senator wants the Federal Reserve to look more closely at credit-card issuers marketing business cards to consumers