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By Jennifer Ablan and Liana B. Baker NEW YORK (Reuters) – Samsung Electronics recently offered to buy BlackBerry Ltd for as much as $7.5 billion, seeking its valuable patents as it battles Apple in the corporate market, according to a person familiar with the matter and documents seen by Reuters. South Korea's Samsung proposed an initial price range of $13.35 to $15.49 per share, representing a premium of 38 percent to 60 percent over BlackBerry's current trading price, the source said on Wednesday. …

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By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday will announce a renewed push for cybersecurity legislation after recent headline-grabbing hacks against companies like Sony Pictures and Home Depot. Obama will throw his support behind efforts to give liability protection to companies that quickly share information about attacks, but will require strict protections for personal information, the White House said in a statement. The White House first proposed cyber legislation in 2011. …

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By Devika Krishna Kumar (Reuters) – Audio equipment maker Monster LLC has sued Beats Electronics LLC, owned by Apple Inc , over alleged “fraud and deceit” in the way that Beats acquired control of the rights to the popular “Beats by Dr. Dre” headphones. Under a partnership formed in 2008, Monster and Beats developed “Beats by Dr. Dre”, a line of colorful, high-end headphones that vie with the likes of Skullcandy Inc and Bose Corp. According to the suit filed in San Mateo (Calif. …

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By Noel Randewich SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Intel Corp Chief Executive Brian Krzanich showed off a computer built into a jacket button and a wristband that transforms into a selfie-snapping flying camera, as the chipmaker extends its push into smart wearable gadgets. Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Krzanich also announced a five-year, $300 million investment in math-related education and other programs to help employ more women and minorities in the technology and the video game industries. …

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By Ritsuko Ando LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Sony Corp Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai on Tuesday said he does not expect the November cyber attack on the company's film studio to have a significant financial impact, two weeks after the studio rolled out the movie at the heart of the attack. The studio, Sony Pictures Entertainment, said separately that the film, “The Interview,” has generated revenue of $36 million. Hirai told reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that he had signed off on all major decisions by the company in response to the attack, which the U.S. …

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By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc acquired a company that makes voice recognition technology for wearable devices and Internet- connected appliances, the latest sign of its ambition to extend its reach beyond computers and smartphones. Facebook said it acquired wit.ai on Monday, without providing a price for the deal. The 18-month old company, based in Palo Alto, California, makes software that can understand spoken words as well as written text phrased in “natural language. …

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SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Fast-growing Chinese tech firm Xiaomi Technology Ltd Co booked 74.3 billion yuan ($11.97 billion) in pre-tax sales last year, up 135 percent from 2013, the firm's chief executive Lei Jun said on his official microblog account on Sunday.

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By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) – A federal judge rejected Uber Technologies Inc's bid that it not be required to disclose emails from Chief Executive Travis Kalanick in a California lawsuit accusing the popular ride-booking service of deceiving customers about how it shares tips with drivers. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen's order in San Francisco was the latest setback for Uber, which has drawn criticism around the globe over whether its service complies with local licensing and safety laws and whether its drivers have been adequately vetted. Chen said a Nov. 26 ruling by U.S.

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SEOUL (Reuters) – Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Thursday that all its new smart television products launched in 2015 will be powered by the Tizen operating system, marking a fresh effort by the company to increase the usage of the software platform. Smart TVs offer additional software and connectivity functions, such as video streaming and web browsing capabilities. Samsung demonstrated TV sets powered by Tizen at developer conferences last year. “We are focusing our efforts on Tizen right now,” Kim Hyun-suk, Samsung's president of visual display business, told Reuters in an interview. …