AP Technology NewsBrief at 2:16 p.m. EST

(AP Online Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Web startup to offer foreign news as papers cutNEW YORK (AP) _ As budget cuts force many U.S. newspapers to retrench on their foreign coverage, veteran journalist Charles Sennott saw virtually no chance of getting another assignment abroad. So Sennott left The Boston Globe to start his own news organization, GlobalPost.com. It launches Monday with 65 journalists, including veterans of major news organizations such as CNN, The Washington Post, Time magazine and The Associated Press.

Dell touts luxury brand but offers few detailsLAS VEGAS (AP) _ Computer maker Dell Inc., trailing Hewlett-Packard Co. in worldwide sales, could have used a home run at the International Consumer Electronics Show. Instead, it came to Vegas with a model and a mirage. At a news conference Friday, Dell executives said the company would launch a luxury line of computers under the brand name Adamo. A model stood and removed a thin, black laptop from a bag and posed “Project Runway” style for a scrum of photographers. She did not turn on the computer, and Dell gave no details about what’s under the hood.

New TV trends: Internet movies, 3-D, power savingLAS VEGAS (AP) _ TV makers are adding sexy new features like streaming Internet movies and 3-D capabilities this year, betting that they can keep consumers away from basic, no-frills sets, even in a weak economy. The manufacturers are fighting an unhappy trend. DisplaySearch, a research firm, forecasts that global sales of LCD TVs, the most popular kind, will fall 16 percent in 2009 to $64 billion. That would be the first sales decline since the technology debuted in TVs in 2000.

HP says it will stop distributor’s sales in IranSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Hewlett-Packard Co. said late Thursday that it would stop a distributor from selling its products in Iran. The computer and printer maker acknowledged that it knew the sales were occurring despite trade sanctions on Iran, but maintained it did nothing illegal and was halting the practice “to go beyond the letter of the law.” The Boston Globe reported last week that HP could be in violation of U.S. export laws because of an arrangement it had with Redington Gulf, a technology distributor in the Middle East, to sell HP printers in Iran.

Broadcasts to mobile devices to start in 22 citiesLAS VEGAS (AP) _ TV stations in 22 U.S. cities announced Thursday that they will start broadcasting their signals this year in a format designed to be received by mobile devices like cell phones, MP3 players, GPS units and in-car entertainment systems. Unlike current mobile TV services, the broadcasts would most likely be free, and would provide access to local news, weather and traffic updates. The broadcasts could also fill an important role in emergencies like hurricanes, since they can be received by portable devices and don’t jam up under load like cell-phone networks.

Ford shows newest Sync in-car technology featuresLAS VEGAS (AP) _ In the shadow of the U.S. auto industry’s troubles, Ford Motor Co. on Thursday showed off the latest version of its voice-activated in-car entertainment and communication service, which it hopes will lure more car buyers. Speaking at the International Consumer Electronics Show, Ford executives said that starting this spring the Ford Sync service will use GPS technology built into cars to include features like traffic, news, sports and weather information, turn-by-turn directions and local business information.

Review: The Polaroid camera is back, in digitalLAS VEGAS (AP) _ A strange little ritual used to go along with Polaroid cameras. The shooter would grab the print as it came out of the camera and wave it in the air, as if that would stimulate the chemicals and make the picture appear faster. It didn’t. Yet it felt dumb to just stand there, waiting for the picture to develop. Polaroid stopped making film packs last year, so this little piece of tech culture will soon be just a memory. But just as the film-based Polaroid camera is fading away, along comes its digital replacement.

Palm unveils new smart phone, operating systemLAS VEGAS (AP) _ Palm Inc. unveiled a new touch-screen smart phone and operating system Thursday, marking its latest attempt to catch up with competition from Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry and Apple Inc.’s iPhone. At the International Consumer Electronics Show, Palm executives touted their Pre, which looks similar to the iPhone, with a face dominated mostly by a 3.1-inch touch screen and single button. The body of the Pre is black and slightly curved, with a full QWERTY keyboard that slides out from the bottom.

Free calls from Skype could come soon to iPhonesLAS VEGAS (AP) _ Free calls over Skype, the Internet communications service, could be coming soon to the iPhone. Skype, a subsidiary of eBay Inc., said Thursday at the International Consumer Electronics Show that a version of its Internet calling and instant-messaging software is available for Google Inc.’s Android cell phone platform as a free download. And it indicated an iPhone Skype program isn’t far behind.

Nonprofit laptop maker forced to cut staffCAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) _ In another sign of the growing financial strain on nonprofit groups, the One Laptop Per Child program is cutting its work force in half. The project, a spinoff from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that sells durable, green-and-white laptops to developing countries for use in grade schools, will be left with just 32 employees at reduced salaries.

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