Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates here for the launch. Acer, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard and Toshiba are among the companies making the new tablet PCs, which are similar to notebook PCs. Most of the devices ...

Sony will close its once-proud optical PC drive subsidiary by early next year, as part of its efforts to refocus on the connected world of smartphones, tablets and netbooks, a spokesman said Tuesday.

Optical drives no longer come pre-installed in most PCs and laptops, yet they’re still indispensable for many users. Whether for playing old DVDs, installing ancient software from CDs, or burning data ...