Technology Top Stories from Associated Press (AP)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) , Strong sales of Galaxy phones propelled Samsung's quarterly profit to a record high, but its shares dropped Friday on the prospect its growth will slow in an increasingly crowded smartphone market.

CHICAGO (AP) , The federal government is quietly removing full-body X-ray scanners from seven major airports and replacing them with a different type of machine that produces a cartoon-like outline instead of the naked images that have been compared to a virtual strip search.

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (AP) , It's scratchy, lasts only 78 seconds and features the world's first recorded blooper. The modern masses can now listen to what experts say is the oldest playable recording of an American voice and the first-ever capturing of a musical performance, thanks to digital advances that allowed the sound to be transferred from flimsy tinfoil to computer.

NEW YORK (AP) , Apple has a new iPhone, two new iPads and three new PCs as it heads into the holiday quarter, the biggest selling season of the year. But, paradoxically, it expects these new gadgets to bring down its profits compared to last year.

Microsoft launched a radical redesign of its world-dominating Windows operating system Thursday, introducing a touch-enabled interface that attempts to bridge the gap between personal computers and fast-growing mobile devices powered by the company's fiercest competitors.

NEW YORK (AP) , Amazon reported third-quarter results below Wall Street's expectations on Thursday , including a large loss, weighed by its stake in online deals service LivingSocial and continued spending on its Kindle business and distribution centers. Though expected, it was Amazon's first loss since July 2003.

NEW YORK (AP) , For a company that has launched products with Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and Jay Leno , and has even paid to light up the Empire State Building in its signature colors , Microsoft's unveiling of Windows 8 on Thursday was a subdued affair.

NEW YORK (AP) , With Friday's release of the touch-centric Windows 8 software, Microsoft continues more than three decades of making operating systems for personal computers. Microsoft Corp. got its start on PCs in 1981 through a partnership with IBM Corp. Microsoft made the software that ran IBM's hardware, and later machines made by other manufacturers.

NEW YORK (AP) , One of the biggest changes with Windows 8 is the disappearance of the familiar start button at the lower left corner of the screen. There will be a new screen filled with a colorful array of tiles, each leading to a different application, task or collection of files.

NEW YORK (AP) , Battered shares of Zynga Inc. soared in after-hours trading Wednesday after the social gaming company posted stronger-than-expected revenue for the third quarter and said it will enter the gambling business.

NEW YORK (AP) , Corning said Wednesday that it will likely cut costs, which may include "modest" job cuts, to support profit in a weakening economy. It's the latest manufacturer to warn that the slowing global growth is hurting its business.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) , Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer can't afford to be wrong about Windows 8. On Thursday, Microsoft will unveil a dramatic overhaul of its ubiquitous Windows operating system. If...

NEW YORK (AP) , Facebook's stock gained the most in a single day Wednesday since it began trading in May, a sign that the social media company's complicated relationship with Wall Street may be getting brighter. It's been a rough five months since the social network's initial public stock offering, and it's too early to tell whether investors' optimism is here to stay.

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. (AP) , Google and its street-view cameras already have taken users to narrow cobblestone alleys in Spain using a tricycle, inside the Smithsonian with a push cart and to British Columbia's snow-covered slopes by snowmobile.

NEW YORK (AP) , The flow of customers into AT and T's wireless stores slowed further in the latest quarter, putting the company far behind rival Verizon Wireless. AT and T Inc. on Wednesday said it added a net 151,000 new customers on contract-based plans from July through September, the lowest number for that period since at least 2003.