The European Union's support of Oracle's $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems didn't come as a big surprise, but it is a key moment for the industry -- especially for Sun, the fourth largest maker of server computers.

There's been a lot of fuss at the Las Vegas electronics show over tablets and 3-D TVs, but Intel's new platform for mobile devices is a big deal. Long the leader in computer chips, Intel sees a market for its chips in mobile devices with the blurring of boundaries between computers and smartphones.

A slew of new gadgets will be introduced this week at the Consumer Electronics Show, but the device generating the most anticipation so far is the one that won't be seen in Vegas: Apple's soon-to-be unveiled tablet computer, rumored to be named iSlate.