Kindle Cost Cut to $139 as Price War Begins
Amazon.com, the maker of the Kindle e-reader, is introducing two new smaller, lighter versions with high-contrast screens and crisper text.

Telefónica Wins Full Control of Brazil Phone Venture
The $9.75 billion deal should end a dispute between Telefónica and Portugal Telecom over their joint cellphone operation in Brazil.

Monitoring Elderly Parents
New technologies can help adult children keep track of their aging parents.

Congress Is Rethinking Its Ban on Internet Gambling
Under pressure to find new revenue sources, Congress is reconsidering legalizing, and taxing, Internet gambling.

Researcher Releases Facebook Profile Data
A security researcher released a file containing the names, profile addresses and identification numbers of more than 100 million Facebook users.

Tech Talk Podcast: Wikimania and Socks by Subscription
Noam Cohen discusses the recent Wikimania convention in Poland and Samy Liechti explains how his Internet sock-subscription company works.

Have a Question? Ask Facebook.
Facebook introduced Facebook Questions, becoming the latest Web company to start a personalized Q. & A. search engine.

What We're Reading: Tech Heirlooms
Google getting suggestive, tech products as heirlooms and the meaning behind a surge in Bible apps hit the reading list.

Video Technology Added at New Meadowlands Stadium
With the New Meadowlands Stadium set to give fans free applications, enhanced video and the ability to compete against other fans, is the live game no longer enough?

Advertising: Fox Uses Previews to Give ‘Lone Star’ Wide Exposure
A new television series will be seen by Vanity Fair readers, cruise line passengers, hotel guests and iPad owners before its network premiere.

Sprint Nextel Reports Gain in Subscribers
Despite the overall gain in customers, the wireless phone provider posted a quarterly loss because of tax issues.

Corning’s Income Soars 49% on Strong Glass Sales
Strong sales of its glass for flat-panel televisions, computers and mobile devices helped profit rise 49 percent in the second quarter.

G.M. Puts $41,000 Price Tag on the Volt
The carmaker has begun taking orders for the plug-in vehicle, which is expected to be at dealers in November.

Disney Buys Playdom in $763 Million Deal
Disney will initially pay $563.2 million for Playdom and will make $200 million in additional payments if Playdom achieves unannounced growth goals.

Practical Traveler: Avoiding a Big Phone Bill When Traveling
Take the right phone and use the right network. And keep in mind that your smartphone’s apps may rack up huge charges.

Yahoo Japan Teams With Google on Search
Yahoo Japan announced it would use Google technology to power its Internet search engine, putting Yahoo Japan on a divergent path from that of its American cousin.

European Governments Unleash Online Gambling to Help Fill Coffers
Cash-strapped governments looking for ways to narrow budget gaps are embracing a source of revenue they once viewed with wary skepticism: online gambling.

Pushed Along by Wind, Power Storage Grows
Utilities are developing storage batteries to smooth the flow of intermittent sources of power, like wind farms.

Exemption Will Allow ‘Jailbreaking’ of iPhones
Owners of iPhones will be able to run applications that have not been approved by Apple.

Europe Starts Antitrust Inquiries Against I.B.M.
The European Commission says that I.B.M. might have abused its dominant position in the mainframe computer market.

Video Game Review: Dragon Quest IX, a New Game for the Nintendo DS
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies, a role-playing game for the Nintendo DS, features both Western and Japanese flavors.

Fraternity of the Wired Works in the Wee Hours
Members of Nightowls gather in the wee hours with laptops and caffeinated beverages to work on pet projects and side ventures.

Hackers With Enigmatic Motives Vex Companies
Hackers are gathering this week for a conference in Las Vegas, where they will discuss their roles when hunting for security holes.

State of the Art: Nuance Tweaks Its Dictation Software, Wringing Out Errors
The company Nuance offers a new version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking, proving that even near-monopolies like to tinker with their products.

Learning a Language From an Expert on the Web
The Internet is changing the way many people learn languages. Books, tapes and CDs are being replaced by e-mail, video chats and social networks.

App Smart: Seeing the World Through Phone Apps Like Goggles and Layar
The apps work best when analyzing bar codes, labels and other inanimate objects that are easily found in images on the Web.

A Quirk in Samsung's New Phones
What appeared to be a conspiracy by AT&T to raise data plan income, isn't. Here's what it is.

Why Don't More Cameras Offer GPS?
Camera makers are announcing new models this month, but none has added a camera with built-in GPS capabilities.

My So-Called Quantitative Life
Adventures into using mobile applications and the Web for logging personal data in an effort to learn more about habits and tendencies.