It’s Black Friday, the busiest day of the shopping year, and Ask Maggie is here to help you with questions about holiday shopping. In this edition, I offer some advice to one mother considering substituting an Amazon Kindle Fire for an iPad as gift for her son. And I suggest a game console for a …

AT&T’s chances of closing its $39 billion deal to buy T-Mobile USA are looking pretty slim as the FCC chairman officially expresses opposition to the deal. But how long will AT&T fight to keep the merger alive? On Tuesday, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski began circulating a draft order recommending to the other four FCC commissioners that the agency …

It will be a white Christmas for T-Mobile USA subscribers looking to buy the Samsung Galaxy S II. Samsung Galaxy S II for T-Mobile USA in white. T-Mobile USA On Tuesday, the carrier announced that it will soon offer the smartphone in a second color: white. It started selling the black version of the slick smartphone in October. T-Mobile said …

Amazon and Barnes & Noble have made e-readers and now tablets so inexpensive that almost anyone can get them, even poor students. But are these tablets up to the task of replacing those big, heavy college textbooks? In this edition of Ask Maggie, I try to answer that question. I help one mother who is considering getting either the Amazon …

Rumors of a “Facebook phone” are back in the news with a story from the technology Web site AllThingsD, which reports that the social-networking company is working with a cell phone manufacturer to build it. The rumor of a Facebook phone, or a smartphone with deeply integrated Facebook social-networking tools in it, first emerged a little more than a year …

The first Google Android phone sporting Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich has hit store shelves in the U.K. And now every other Android owner is wondering when they’ll get to taste this yummy new OS. Google released the source code for Ice Cream Sandwich earlier this week, which is good news for these Android enthusiasts. This means that device makers …

The dizzying pace of Google Android OS upgrades may leave many consumers scratching their heads in confusion and others pulling out their hair in frustration. The first smarpthone sporting the new Ice Cream Sandwich software, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, hit the market today in the U.K. The hotly anticipated device will be available in other markets around the world by …

Visa has officially launched its new brand for its digital wallet, called V.me, as the credit card company also works to court app developers to help further is mobile payment platform. Early next year, Visa will start marketing its digital wallet as V.me, a brand that is differentiated from its Visa credit card brand. The new digital wallet, which works …

Cox Communications is shutting down its wireless phone service, the company announced late Tuesday. The cable provider said that it will stop selling its wireless service to new customers starting Wednesday, November 16. But it will continue offering the service to current customers until March 30, 2012. The company is offering current customers a $150 credit for every line that …

Looking to buy a Kindle Touch this holiday season? Well, Amazon.com won’t be the only place the new device will be available. The 6-inch Kindle Touch is an E Ink e-reader with no buttons on the front. It has a mult-touch screen and a speaker for audio books. The Wi-Fi version costs $99. The Wi-Fi/3G version is $149. Amazon.com Starting …