Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) posted a stronger-than-expected profit for its fiscal first quarter and said business was recovering as customers are buying more network equipment again. Its revenue outlook for the current quarter also exceeded Wall Street expectations. Shares rose over 3.5 percent in premarket trade.

Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) posted a surprise profit last quarter -- its first after three losing quarters -- and trimmed its projected red ink for the year. Toyota said results were due to government measures around the world designed to boost sales of environmentally friendly cars and other vehicles. Shares were 2 percent higher ahead of the bell.

My Apple (AAPL) iPhone recently started delivering voice-mail messages a day late. But sometimes, I don't get them at all. Calls have been dropping more frequently and I find that surfing the Web using my iPhone, which operates on the AT&T data network, is a drag.

Growing more frustrated with my iPhone, I got on my work phone and called a few telecommunications analysts to ask: When are Verizon and Apple going to get together to provide the much-anticipated, long-awaited Apple/Verizon iPhone? I was particularly interested in their answers given that Verizon (VZ) announced last week that it would be launching an array of phones based on Google's (GOOG) Android operating system. My big fear was that their answer would be never.

Antitrust and International Trade Commission probes in the U.S. tend to focus on tech companies such as Microsoft (MSFT), Qualcomm (QCOM) and IBM (IBM), and now the Justice Department is making another visit to IBM to investigate whether it has employed monopolistic practices in its mainframe business. IBM is said to have invented the mainframe; the company launched its System 360 line in 1965 and many of today's most powerful computers are decedents of that product.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association, which is operated primarily by IBM competitors, received investigative requests from the Justice Department recently -- most probably asking for data about IBM's practices in the mainframe industry. As The Wall Street Journal points out, "Antitrust lawsuits often hinge on how a judge construes the relevant market." The paper goes on to say that servers may be considered direct competitors to mainframes, which muddies the waters.

Some of the companies making headlines today:

eBay (EBAY) may finally announce on Tuesday the anticipated deal to sell its Skype Internet calling division to a group of private investors, according to the New York Times. The paper, which cited two sources, said a price was not disclosed, but in the past eBay CEO Donahoe said he wants around $2 billion for Skype, which is expected to make more than $600 million in revenue this year. EBAY shares climbed on the news.

Bank of America (BAC) is looking to pay back some of the $45 billion in federal bailout aid it has received in an effort to get out from underneath the government's thumb as it awaits pay czar Feinberg's approval of its 2009 executive pay packages, according to the Wall Street Journal.

For smaller companies trying to plant a stake in the ground of larger, more established companies, one strategy is simply to team up. That's what three small well-known players in mobile phones could soon announce in Japan, as NEC, Hitachi (HIT), and Casio Computer discuss combining their mobile-handset operations.

In the deal, NEC could take a stake of more than 50 percent in Casio Hitachi Mobile Communications, a joint venture created in 2004. The result would be a cell-phone manufacturer second to Sharp Corp. but still dauntingly competitive. As of the end of March, the three had a combined market share of 20.2 percent in Japan, according to research firm BCN -- compared with Sharp's 21.8 percent share.