With the rise of the tea party one might expect gun sales to rise in parallel. You would be wrong with that assessment and guilty of what some pundits claim is a gross simplification and stereotype of the grass roots movement.

Advertising research group Nielsen Company has just published the results of their Mobile Apps Playbook survey, the data paints an intriguing portrait of what trends are fueling the skyrocketing sales of smartphones like the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: APPL) iPhone and Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid powered by the Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android operating system.

Boeing has officially launched plans to connect commercial space flights to the International Space Station in their new CST-100 commercial passenger spacecraft.

Battling back criticism about slow or faulty networks, AT&T (NYSE: T) is on a PR blitz of late, struggling to tout the expensive updates made to its services. But for all the billions being poured into its upgrades, customers say they’re just not seeing the results.

In a move that doubles as a healthy menu addition and a gain for thrifty consumers, Wendy’s (NYSE: WEN) is adding half-sized versions of its new premium salads, luring customers looking to spend less in a tough economy.

AAPL may have started to meet demand for the iPad but with the holiday season coming up, they may need to ramp up production in a big way. Speaking of the iPad, video game developer Epic Games will bring their widely licensed Unreal 3 Engine to Apple's mobile platforms in the near future.

Discount carriers JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU), Southwest (NYSE: LUV) and Frontier – a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings (NASDAQ: RJET) rank among the top airlines in terms of quality and service, despite their small size – showing these medium airlines are proving formidable foes to traditional carriers.

Just two weeks before the end of its 2010 fiscal year, Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE: BZH) has warned that the company's target for new home orders for the full fiscal year is in jeopardy.

Fifteen years ago, AOL (NYSE: AOL) controlled the display ad market with an iron fist. How times change. Even with online ad purchases on the rise for the first time in two years, AOL's search and contextual advertising revenue fell by -27% year-over-year in their fiscal first quarter in addition to a drop of -29% for their display advertising.

Carol Bartz hopes to redefine Yahoo! but investors should stay cautious.

When Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) launched its Bing search engine in 2009, there were a host of naysayers. Microsoft has been partially vindicated this week as the latest numbers show that Bing is now the #2 search engine in the U.S – knocking Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) from its perch.

Nintendo (PINK: NTDOY) video game icon Super Mario turned 25 this week. And while the famous plumber is still wildly popular, he should worry about his employer’s future. Nintendo is used to sales challenges, but things are bleak for the entire video game business as consumer spending woes and a surge in portable electronics threatens to reshape the industry.

GoDaddy.com, the Internet domain register site well known by the Superbowl-watching public for its racy ads, is on the sales block for $1 billion – and companies are surely plotting their bid strategies.

A new survey shows that Apple may be on its way to dominating the portable video game market. Also, Apple.com introduces a new personalized customer service option and AAPL takes steps to stop dastardly iOS developers from registering fake apps just to secure their names.