Nokia

Google is solving a problem that many of us have, but that of few us suspected would be dealt with by a smartphone: It's taking its popular mapping platform indoors with interior floor plans of select buildings, among them major airports and large retailers.

Amazon has become an surprising gadget rock star. Skeptics bet against the original Kindle, which became a blockbuster, and the Kindle Fire is the first non-iPad tablet to sell well. Next stop for Amazon's gadgeteers: smartphones.

Nokia smartphone users starving for app extras may finally get some new toys for their handsets. App developers who previously stuck to iOS and Android are probably going to branch out, thanks to Nokia's Windows 7 deal.

Microsoft's next quarterly report arrives Thursday, and it's hard to get too excited. It's still the world's largest software company, and it's growing. It just happens to be as sexy as Abe Vigoda. But Microsoft could still innovate its way out of its slump. Here are four things we'd love to hear Microsoft say on Thursday.

This week, Research In Motion's Blackberry network suffered a massive outage that spanned continents and cut off the cellular oxygen to millions. Competing phone carriers and handset makers are certain to jump on the chance to woo some of those frustrated customers.

Stephen Elop may be thrilled to have his first year as CEO of Nokia out of the way. After all, in the past 12 months, the struggling mobile-phone maker has seen its share price and market share plummet, and the bad news just keeps coming. But it's too soon to count Elop out.

The market wasn't exactly blown away by Apple's iPhone 4S announcement yesterday: Shares of Apple bucked the trend on a day when the general market rallied. Where were the special features already beginning to appear on Android smartphones? And where was the salesmanship of former CEO Steve Jobs, sorely lacking in Tim Cook?