What is one of the world's most prominent advocates of Internet freedom doing in a country where unregulated access to information is generally either impossible or criminal?

Google chairman Eric Schmidt's "private" visit to North Korea raises many questions, not least because he embodies what regimes in Pyongyang have spent decades resisting with all the considerable power at their disposal.

Reports echoing online Tuesday fueled speculation that Apple is tailoring a low-price version of the iPhone for China and other emerging markets.

DigiTimes.com, which specializes in news about the supply side of the technology industry, cited unnamed sources as saying an iPhone model made with less expensive parts would be rolled out in the second half of this year.

People who don't want to disturb sleeping family members could use a new product from Panasonic that doesn't need speakers or even your own ears: wireless bone-conduction headphones.

The headphones connect to a TV via the Bluetooth wireless standard and attach to your head like a normal set of headphones. But instead of using your ears, the headphones work like hearing aids by transmitting sound waves through your skull.

Sony Corp. is finally pressing its advantage as a conglomerate that owns both high-tech gadgets and the content that plays on them by being the only electronics maker to offer ultra-HD TVs — and a way to get movies to the new super clear screens.

Ultra-high definition TVs, which quadruple the number of pixels of current high definition technology, have been the talk of the International CES gadget show so far. But only Sony has offered a content solution to go with them.

Intel said Monday it would step up efforts to make chips for smartphones and other mobile devices by targeting emerging markets and the rapidly growing "value" segment.

Intel unveiled its plans at the Consumer Electronics Show, the world's biggest tech sector event, highlighting its efforts to get a bigger share of the sizzling mobile market.

Qualcomm chief Paul Jacobs was officially crowned the star of the mobile-centric tech industry Monday, offering a glimpse of the power of new devices to transform people's lives.

But as Jacobs delivered the main keynote for the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show, he briefly ceded the stage to a familiar face: Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer, a longtime keynote speaker himself, who made a surprise cameo appearance.

LG unveiled a 55-inch (1.4-meter) TV that sports "ultrahigh-definition" resolution with four times the sharpness of regular HD television sets, kicking off what is likely to be a mini-obsession with the latest super-clear format at the annual International CES gadget show.

The model announced Monday is the smallest in a 2013 lineup that includes 65-inch (1.6-meter) and 84-inch (2.1-meter) versions. But the smaller size — and smaller price tag — begins the parade of TV makers that are seeking to bring ultrahigh definition to the masses.

South Korean conglomerate LG Group said Monday it would boost investment in its electronics business by more than 30 percent in 2013, stepping up its challenge to rival Samsung.

Of a total 20 trillion won ($18.8 billion) it said had been set aside for investment, 13.4 trillion won is earmarked for LG Electronics, which makes TVs, PCs and smartphones, and LG Display, which makes displays used in everything from TVs to mobile handsets.

Lenovo on Sunday unveiled a home tabletop touch-screen computer aimed at turning typically solitary online activities into family affairs.

The Chinese computer colossus proclaimed the arrival of the "interpersonal PC" with the debut of the IdeaCentre Horizon Table in Las Vegas, where the Consumer Electronics Show gadget gala is set to start.

The global tech industry has become a tale of two sectors, with mobile devices surging at the expense of older electronics that are struggling, a forecast showed Sunday.

A survey presented ahead of the International Consumer Electronics Show, the biggest trade show of its kind, projects modest growth of four percent for the industry expected to generate 2013 sales of $1.1 trillion.