POWAY, Calif. - Ted Waitt had his eureka moment over a baccarat table two years ago at Comdex, the technology trade show in Las Vegas. His computer company, Gateway, was hemorrhaging money and becoming an also-ran against Dell and Hewlett-Packard Co.

NEW YORK - A late spending surge helped boost sales last week for many merchants, according to data released Monday, offering relief to retailers in a holiday season that is still projected to be only modestly better than a year ago.

POWAY, Calif. - In the last year alone, Gateway has become a serious player in flat-panel TVs and entered hot categories like digital cameras, camcorders and music players. Its stores got a $20 million facelift that relegated PCs to the back to make room for the new gizmos.

Ken Colburn: Retailers and manufacturers know that because most consumers can't decipher the technical details when making a decision, most default to the price. In technology especially, often times the price you see advertised is not what it will actually end up costing you.

Do you want to catch ‘‘Saturday Night Live’’ on Sunday, or ‘‘Nightline’’ in the morning? Would you like to watch the football game in a doctor’s waiting room or 2,000 miles from home?

TOKYO - Japanese electronics makers Toshiba Corp. and NEC Electronics Corp. will jointly develop technology to produce next-generation semiconductors that are smaller, faster, more efficient and less costly, the two companies announced Wednesday.

Electronics retailer Ultimate Electronics is running into static.

Christmas this year will have a techie feel for a lot of East Valley families, if the Friday crowds at Best Buy on South Alma School Road in Mesa were any indication.

WASHINGTON - Consumer prices rose modestly in June and manufacturers boosted production by the largest amount since the beginning of the year, a pair of hopeful signs for the economy’s revival.

Consumer electronics aren’t exactly easy on the environment — they consume electricity that contributes to global warming, and toxins leach out of them when they end up in landfills.

January 10, 2005

LAS VEGAS - Bill Gates believes millions of consumers worldwide would live better if a sea of music, movies, video games and television shows were piped into their earphones, laptops, cell phones, cars and living rooms.

Michael E. Flynn owns one of the hottest entertainment systems around.

A new pilot program will allow Medicare beneficiaries in Arizona to choose a private vendor to compile and maintain their health record information electronically.

LAS VEGAS - At the International Consumer Electronics Show, Sharp Electronics Corp. took the crown for introducing the world's largest, a behemoth 108-inch liquid-crystal display that most people probably couldn't fit through their front door.

NEW YORK - Sony, Samsung and other consumer-electronics heavyweights are uniting to support a technology that could send high-definition video signals wirelessly from a single set-top box to screens around the home.

A new stun gun aimed at “personal protection” made its debut in the gambling capital of the United States with mixed reactions.

Our View: Arizonans haven’t heard much lately about methamphetamines and the toxic dangers from users cooking up batches in homemade labs. But that might be about to change, as Attorney General Terry Goddard soon will again ask state lawmakers to adopt a logbook program for some over-the-counter cold remedies.

Television viewers who rely on analog TVs and rabbit ears need not fear Feb. 17, 2009.

The man who was talking on the other end of the telephone line sounded professional to George Gadzik, owner of Arizona Reprographics, a Mesa printing company.

Barry Jaruzelski would have never imagined he’d need to consult a 146-page owner’s manual just to learn how to turn on his new cell phone.

Rest in peace, HD DVD.The battle for next-generation DVD has come to an end with Sony's Blu-ray beating Toshiba's HD DVD. This week, Toshiba announced it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders after nearly all major studios decided to abandon the format for upcoming DVD releases.

BEIJING - Dell announced a deal Monday to launch a retail presence in China by selling computers through the country’s biggest chain of electronics stores as it struggles to capture a bigger share of the booming market.

Q: With all of the “special deals” being offered during the holiday shopping season, is it safe to buy electronics that have been refurbished? - Melody