Microsoft Corp. is expected to announce new Surface tablet computers, including a version with a smaller screen to compete with Google's Nexus 7 and Apple's iPad Mini.

The company has an announcement event scheduled in New York on Monday.

As Apple pitches its newest smartphones, users may find something lacking compared with last year's model: They could break more easily.

SquareTrade, a provider of protection plans for gadgets, tested five smartphones, including Apple's new iPhones, to see if they could withstand drops, dunks and other common hazards. Its finding: The latest models aren't as durable as last year's iPhone 5.

One of BlackBerry's co-founders has held talks with private equity firms about making a joint bid for the struggling Canadian smartphone maker, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

Former Blackberry co-CEO Mike Lazaridis has talked to firms including Blackstone Group LP and Carlyle Group LP, the paper said. It quoted people familiar with the matter.

Two people were arrested Friday in scuffles outside an Apple store in California, as fans scrambled to get their hands on the new iPhone 5S and 5C handsets.

Tempers flared after a group of homeless people were bussed in by an enterprising businessman to buy more of the coveted phones, but were then not paid for queuing up all night.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook joined Twitter on Friday, as huge crowds formed around the world to buy up the California giant's two new iPhones.

In his first tweet, Cook described his visit to customers waiting for iPhones near the company's headquarters.

BlackBerry Friday said it would cut 4,500 jobs as the struggling Canadian smartphone maker retrenches in the face of hefty losses and weak sales of its new handsets.

BlackBerry said it expects a loss of $950 to $995 million in second quarter mostly due to writedowns linked to poor sales of its Z10 smartphone, the device aimed at reviving its fortunes in a market dominated by Android and Apple.

Apple fans clamoring for the two new iPhones formed a kilometer-long queue in Tokyo Friday, but high prices in Asia and the lack of a new tie-up in the vast China market dampened the global roll out.

The once-unbeatable smartphone has secured a lucrative new deal with Japan's biggest mobile carrier that lent some celebrity glitz to the opening day in Tokyo, and guaranteed a lively welcome from a nation of gadget-lovers.

The Wall Street Journal, part of Rupert Murdoch's media empire, said Thursday it would split with the technology news website AllThingsD by the end of the year.

The news comes amid a major reorganization in Murdoch's holdings, following a split of his News Corp into two separate groups.

Russia on Thursday threatened to block Facebook for allegedly publishing ads for illegal designer drugs on its website.

The state media watchdog said it had added Facebook to a blacklist and that the social network would be blocked within three days if the violations were not resolved.

Outgoing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Thursday his biggest regret is missing the boat on smartphones -- but he said the software giant should not admit defeat just yet.

"I regret that there was a period in the early 2000s when we were so focused on what we had to do around Windows that we weren't able to redeploy talent to the new device called the phone," Ballmer said in a conference with analysts.