Rovio, the maker of Angry Birds, said Tuesday it’s planning for an initial public offering to raise about $36 million so it can keep up its growth and develop new games. The Finland-based company, which was founded in 2003, became well-known for its Angry Birds mobile games, and even expanded into a movie franchise. It plans …

Apple on Thursday sent out invites for its latest event, to take place on Sept. 12 at the new Steve Jobs Theater. This one is widely expected to be the launch for the newest iPhone. Plus, we may see some updates to the Apple Watch, Siri and AirPods. For today’s show, we run through expectations, wish list items and potential disappointments. …

The launch of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 was by far the biggest tech news of the week. To mark that important occasion, we wanted to offer up the extended cut of our podcast from Thursday. This edition delves deeper into the hardware and software features of the new device and includes our viewer Q&A from the postshow. The 3:59 gives …

Following Samsung’s big launch event Wednesday for its Galaxy Note 8 phone, we invited CNET mobile reviewer Jessica Dolcourt to dig into more specifics about the device. It’s a hugely important launch for the tech giant, since Samsung badly botched the release of the Note 7 last year. With the Note 8, Samsung fans will be getting a souped-up dual …

It’s Amazon Prime time for Whole Foods shoppers. Amazon said Thursday it expects to complete its $13.7 billion deal for Whole Foods on Monday, with plans to slash prices on a handful of popular items at the high-end grocer immediately after closing. “We will lower prices without compromising Whole Foods Market’s long-held commitment to the highest standards,” Jeff Wilke, CEO …

Google and Walmart both just got a valuable partner in their fight against Amazon: each other. The companies said Wednesday that Walmart in late September will start selling hundreds of thousands of items on the Google Express app and website, as well as the Google Home through voice shopping. Additionally, Google Express is killing off its annual $95 membership fee, …

The Essential Phone is here, but it may get overshadowed by a bunch of other hot phone launches from Samsung, Apple and Google that are expected to hit very soon. Despite that, there’s plenty to discuss about the first device from this startup, which was created by Android father Andy Rubin and has raised loads of funding already. Also on …

A new Nokia flagship phone has arrived, marking yet another turnaround attempt for the brand. The gadget is sleek; it’s got three 13-megapixel cameras; and it’s ready to take split-screen videos. But is that enough for the Nokia 8 to break through in the tough phone market? We also talk about the new Essential Phone, another smaller player trying to …

People who bought the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 ended up with a raw deal, having to give up a phone they really liked for something less impressive (though obviously much safer). Considering that situation, shouldn’t Samsung offer incentives to past Note 7 owners for their purchase of the Note 8, which is expected to be revealed next week? Also on …

It’s kind of like a store, if the store was a self-service locker and you needed to use an app to buy something. Amazon on Tuesday launched Instant Pickup, a new program for its Prime members that lets people order from hundreds of items including snacks, cold drinks, personal care items and (obviously) Amazon devices — and then pick them up …