Global smartphone shipments topped 300 million units for the second quarter in a row, propelled by new phones and emerging markets.

Vendors shipped 327.6 million smartphones during the third quarter, an increase of 25.2% when compared with the same quarter a year earlier, according to new IDC data.

"Despite rumors of a slowing market, smartphone shipments continue to see record-setting volumes," said Ryan Reith, program director of the research firm's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. "We've finally reached a point where most developed markets are experiencing single-digit growth while emerging markets are still growing at more than 30% collectively."

Reith noted that the challenge now is how manufacturers can make money on the devices, which are "quickly becoming commodity products."

"Outside of Apple, many are struggling to do this," he said.

Samsung remained the leader in the worldwide smartphone market but was the only company among the top five to see its year-over-year...

With smartphone buyers increasingly choosing iPhones or lower-cost options over its devices, Samsung Electronics has been hammered this year.

The latest news on Wednesday showed operating profit fell more than 60% to $3.9 billion in the third quarter compared with the same period last year, its lowest mark since the days of the iPhone 4 in 2011. Shares of the electronics maker have fallen more than 23% during the last three months as the company forecast gloomy days ahead for its smartphone business.

The stumble comes despite the South Korean company’s attempt to do more than any of its competitors to offer freebies to high-end customers in hopes of maintaining their loyalty. Samsung packages free trials and subscriptions to apps and periodicals with some of its phones. Galaxy phone owners can get upgraded to luxury suites at more than 40 venues in the U.S., and users in Asia can get discounts on lodging or food. There’s also been early access to content, such as music and movie clips....

Reddit launched a crowdfunding tool Wednesday that gives users of the popular online forum a tailor-made alternative to Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

Called Redditmade, the platform is initially optimized to help Reddit users sell T-shirts to their peers in the forum's different groups, such as lovers of books or fans of a specific sports franchise.

As is typical in crowdfunding, a user submits a project design, sets a funding a goal and then seeks small sums of money from a large group of people to reach the goal. If the project is funded within a month, the money is transferred over to the project leader.

Reddit said it expects Redditmade to flourish as a place for anyone in the Reddit community to turn product ideas into reality. A portion of proceeds can also be directed to a charity.

As crowdfunding has grown over the past couple of years, projects have expanded beyond hobbyist gadgets to include professionally driven content, including films and video games.

Redditmade appears to be...

Former Panama dictator Manuel Noriega’s lawsuit against Activision Blizzard Inc., alleging the video game publisher wronged him by including his likeness in the blockbuster game “Call of Duty: Black Ops II,” has been thrown out by a Los Angeles County judge.

The video game constitutes speech protected under the 1st Amendment, the ruling by L.A. County Superior Court Judge William H. Fahey says.

Noriega, now 80 years old and imprisoned in Panama on a murder conviction, had argued that he was entitled to compensation from the Santa Monica company because his name and image appear in the game without his consent.

In addition, the depiction of Noriega is not the essence of the “complex and multi-faceted game” Activision made, the ruling says. His character appears in only two of 11 missions, speaks fewer than 30 lines, cannot be controlled by players and was not used in marketing the game, it says.

The ruling also says Noriega provided no evidence his reputation was harmed by the game....

The Federal Trade Commission is suing AT&T Wireless, saying it is seeking millions of dollars in restitution for customers who were promised unlimited data plans by the wireless carrier, only to have their mobile network speeds slowed in a practice known as data throttling.

According to a federal complaint filed in San Francisco, in October 2011, AT&T began reducing speeds for customers who surpassed a threshold of monthly data usage, determined by AT&T. Those customers would see their network speeds diminished for the rest of the billing cycle, regardless of whether there was actually any congestion on the network at the time, the FTC alleges.

“The company has misled millions of its mobile customers … with so-called unlimited data plans that were in reality not unlimited at all,” FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez told reporters. Ramirez said the practice of data throttling cut speeds for some unlimited data customers by 90% or more, often making Web browsing or GPS navigation...