Urban mining: Recovering $21B a year in gold and silver from discarded devices (infographic)

Every year, we toss out 152 million mobile phones, 52 million computers, and 36 million monitors. That's a massive ecological problem -- but it's also a massive revenue opportunity.

A tinker, a tailor, an arduino board maker: SparkFun sets off on electronics education tour

Online retailer of electronics "bits and pieces" SparkFun sets off an a cross-country tour to bring hands-on electronics education into the classroom.

Silicon Valley’s pioneers gather for screening of PBS’s American Experience documentary

History came to life last night as PBS hosted a screening of Silicon Valley, the latest film in the American Experience documentary series.

Americans could spend $32B this weekend on Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals

Up to 147 million Americans are planning to shake off their turkey dinners, get up early, and visit their favorite retailers this coming Black Friday. And they'll spend almost $30 billion doing it.

FatWallet: Cyber Monday isn’t so “cyber” any more

It's a bit surprising to see what people are looking to buy on Cyber Monday. What it isn't,is technology, at least not primarily.

Panasonic cutting 10K jobs as only half its 88 business units make significant profits

Japanese electronics companies are fighting surging Korean electronics companies such as LG and Samsung -- and losing.

Sony’s worst year ever: reports $5.7B annual loss for 2011

2011 was a dark year for electronics giant Sony: a slew of natural disasters, terrible TV business, and slow sales all around, pushed Sony to its worst annual earnings ever, with a loss of $5.7 billion for 2011.

On the …

Sony axing 10K jobs to slash its way back to profitability, says report

Sony plans to cut 10,000 jobs, or 6 percent of its workforce, in a bid to get back to being profitable, according to a report from Nikkei.

The drastic move makes sense for Sony because it has been unprofitable for …

Apple, Foxconn and the FLA respond to ABC’s “iFactory”

Apple, Foxconn, and the Fair Labor Association have each responded to ABC’s “iFactory: Inside Apple” news special, which aired last night on ABC.

The iFactory Nightline episode told the story of Foxconn, a Chinese factory that produces iPads, iPhones, and …

Solar storm coming Tuesday: Should you let your iPad out of the house?

The sun burped. A big solar flare burst out of the sun on Sunday night, sending a ton of ionized matter towards the Earth at 1,400 miles per second. The resulting solar radiation storm from the ionized blast is expected …

Pepper spray: One more reason to do your Black Friday gadget shopping online

Last night an overzealous shopper at a Walmart near Los Angeles used pepper spray on a crowd in an effort to get at a stash of heavily-discounted Black Friday gadgets.

Around 10:20 on Thanksgiving night, the unidentified woman shot pepper …

Electronics recycler Gazelle raises $22M

Gazelle, an online site that lets individuals trade in electronics for cash and then re-sells them or recycles them, announced today that it has raised $22 million in its fourth round of funding.

Gazelle simplifies electronics recycling by inviting people …