Alcatel One Touch readies U.S. invasion with world’s thinnest smartphone and a colorful 5-inch phablet

TCL Communication’s (2618) Alcatel One Touch brand is ostensibly unknown in the United States, but the company is looking to make a name for itself at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. Alcatel One Touch has a number of new devices debuting at CES 2013 and to start things off, the China-based firm has unveiled a trio of intriguing new Android phones.[More from BGR: ‘iPhone 5S’ to reportedly...

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Downton Abbey: 5 Best Moments from Season 3 Premiere

TV Watch TV News By Aaron Parsley 01/07/2013 at 09:35 AM EST Dame Maggie Smith and Shirley Maclaine on the set of Downton Abbey Nick Briggs Downton Abbey is back! Sunday's two-hour premiere was full of developments – upstairs, downstairs and outside of the Crawleys'...

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FDA: New rules will make food safer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration says its new guidelines would make the food Americans eat safer and help prevent the kinds of foodborne disease outbreaks that sicken or kill thousands of consumers each year.The rules, the most sweeping food safety guidelines in decades, would require farmers to take new precautions against contamination, to include making sure workers' hands are...

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"Cliff" concerns give way to earnings focus

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors' "fiscal cliff" worries are likely to give way to more fundamental concerns, like earnings, as fourth-quarter reports get under way next week. Financial results, which begin after the market closes on Tuesday with aluminum company Alcoa , are expected to be only slightly better than the third-quarter's lackluster results. As a warning sign, analyst current...

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Assad "peace plan" greeted with scorn by enemies

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A defiant President Bashar al-Assad presented what he described as a new initiative on Sunday to end the war in Syria but his opponents dismissed it as a ploy to cling to power. Appearing before cheering supporters who packed the Damascus Opera House, it was his first such speech since June and first public appearance of any kind since a television interview in November....

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Barnes & Noble sells fewer Nooks, retail revenue falls

(Reuters) – Barnes & Noble Inc’s Nook unit reported weak holiday season numbers on Thursday as it sold fewer e-readers and tablets at its own stores, and its e-books sales growth slowed, raising questions about the future of its digital business.The Nook, launched in 2009 to compete with Amazon.com Inc‘s market-leading Kindle, has been the cornerstone of Barnes & Noble‘s strategy to counter...

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Bethenny Frankel Divorcing Jason Hoppy

By Sarah Michaud 01/05/2013 at 05:00 PM EST Bethenny Frankel and Jason Hoppy Albert Michael/Startraks It's official – Bethenny Frankel and Jason Hoppy's marriage is over.Having announced a separation over the holidays, the reality star began the divorce process...

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FDA: New rules will make food safer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration says its new guidelines would make the food Americans eat safer and help prevent the kinds of foodborne disease outbreaks that sicken or kill thousands of consumers each year.The rules, the most sweeping food safety guidelines in decades, would require farmers to take new precautions against contamination, to include making sure workers' hands are...

Read More..

"Cliff" concerns give way to earnings focus

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors' "fiscal cliff" worries are likely to give way to more fundamental concerns, like earnings, as fourth-quarter reports get under way next week. Financial results, which begin after the market closes on Tuesday with aluminum company Alcoa , are expected to be only slightly better than the third-quarter's lackluster results. As a warning sign, analyst current...

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Chavez swearing-in can be delayed: Venezuelan VP

CARACAS (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez's formal swearing-in for a new six-year term scheduled for January 10 can be postponed if he is unable to attend due to his battle to recover from cancer surgery, Venezuela's vice president said on Friday. Nicolas Maduro's comments were the clearest indication yet that the Venezuelan government is preparing to delay the swearing-in while avoiding...

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