First Meteor Shower of 2012 Dazzles
The Quadrantid meteor shower, the first major show of shooting stars in 2012, peaks in the hours before dawn on Wednesday. The best seeing should be after the moon sets around 3 a.m. Astronomers say you may see 60-200 shooting stars per hour if the weather is clear.

A look at recent tech-industry earnings
Here is a summary of recent earnings and reports for selected technology companies and what they reveal about the state of spending and the overall economy:

HP to lay off about 27,000, profit slides 31 percent

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett Packard Co plans to lay off roughly 27,000 employees or about 8 percent of its workforce over the next couple of years to jumpstart growth and save up to $3.5 billion annually, sending its shares 11 percent higher. The company said the layoffs would be made mainly through early retirement and would generate annual savings of $3 billion to $3.5 billion as it exits fiscal year 2014, when the layoffs are expected to the completed. The world's No. ...

Samsung’s Galaxy S III smashes preorder records in U.K.

Samsung’s Galaxy S III hasn’t even launched yet and it’s already setting records. News of the high demand among carriers for the upcoming flagship Samsung smartphone emerged last week, and now U.K. carrier Vodafone has confirmed that it has received a record number of end-user preorders for the Galaxy S III ahead of its launch later this month. A Vodafone spokesperson wouldn’t confirm numbers while speaking with The Inquirer, but the company did say preorders of Samsung’s latest Galaxy phone have been off the charts. “With over a week to go until launch, it’s already the most pre-ordered Android device we’ve brought into our smartphone line-up to date and our limited time offer of 2GB of mobile data and 100

Pandora Media raises outlook as more people tune in

(Reuters) - Online streaming music service Pandora Media Inc reported better-than-expected revenue and raised its full-year guidance as more people tuned in. The stock climbed 17 percent in extended trading after closing at $10.33 on Wednesday. "We are making excellent progress on all fronts - consumer adoption continues at an extraordinary pace," Pandora Chief Executive Joe Kennedy said in an interview with Reuters. Pandora raised its full-year revenue outlook to a range of $420 million to $427 million from a previous forecast of $410 million to $420 million. ...

Hewlett-Packard's employment count over the years

Hewlett-Packard Co.'s payroll has grown over the past decade, partly because of its purchase of computer maker Compaq in 2002 and technology-services provider Electronic Data Systems in 2008.