A computer security researcher has built a device for just $1,500 that can intercept some kinds of cell phone calls and record everything that’s said.

Bradley Manning, the prime suspect in the leaking of the Afghan war files, raged against his  Army employers and "society at large" on his Facebook page in the days before he allegedly downloaded thousands of secret memos, a U.K. newspaper reported Saturday.

Google Inc. has spent $1.1 billion during the first half of the year buying up 22 companies, with more than half of the amount going toward its recently completed acquisition of mobile ad service AdMob.

Motorola Inc., the maker of cell phones and other telecommunications equipment, spent $880,000 in the first quarter to lobby the federal government on laws such as those that sought to discourage electronics manufacturers from using minerals from rebel held mines in the Congo, according to a disclosure report.

Nokia Inc., the world’s largest maker of cell phones, spent $150,000 in the second quarter to lobby the U.S. federal government on patents, the use of minerals from rebel held mines in the Congo and other issues, according to a disclosure report.

Already the pace setter in stable updates in the browser space, Google is planning to begin releasing new versions of Chrome twice as quickly.

The head of Facebook’s open source products details how the company delivers social networking to 500 million people.

New improvements, features and big fixes are on tap for users of Productivity Power Tools for Visual Studio 2010.

As it moves gears up for the holiday release of a new crop of mobile devices, Microsoft is accelerating the distribution of test copies of Windows Phone 7 handsets.

The popular, open source configuration management tool receives a handful of enhancements including basic Windows support while its backer, Puppet Labs, gets new financing.