Ten years after its launch, YouTube has become a household name for online video but faces an array of rivals in the market and lingering questions about its business model.

The first video uploaded April 23, 2005 -- an 18-second clip of co-founder Jawed Karim at the San Diego Zoo -- offered little indication the service would become the leader in Internet video and a key part of the Google empire.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill aimed at improving the sharing of information about cybersecurity threats between the government and the private sector.

The measure, passed on a 307-116 vote, would give President Barack Obama's administration most of what it sought, but the bill has raised objections from civil liberties activists.

The Apple Watch goes on sale on Friday but Chinese factories are already churning out cheaper alternatives, to the delight of local consumers.

"Our product has all the functions Apple Watch has, and even surpasses them," said Zheng Yi, founder of a firm whose electronic watches can make phone calls, browse the Internet and play movies.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter will head to Silicon Valley on Thursday in a bid to recruit tech gurus for the Pentagon, even if just on a part-time basis.

After giving a speech at Stanford University, Carter will meet with Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and then with employees of the social network giant who used to work for the military. 

Facebook said Tuesday it was reconfiguring its News Feed, in a move aimed at giving people more information about what is happening to "the friends you care about."

The world's biggest social network unveiled changes which decrease reliance on "referral" traffic -- or the sharing of news articles or other content.

Self-driving vehicles hold the key to reducing traffic fatalities and will transform the automobile industry, a top Google executive predicted Tuesday.

Ray Kurzweil, a leading expert in artificial intelligence who joined Google in 2012, told the annual conference of the Society of Automotive Engineers that the rapidly declining cost of computing power and the advances in artificial intelligence will make autonomous driving a reality.

Alerts about hit-and-runs and kidnappings in Los Angeles will soon pop up on traffic app Waze, along with road closure information, the West Coast city's mayor said Tuesday.

The agreement is part of a data-sharing partnership between LA and the Google-owned tech company announced by Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Twitter said Monday it was making it easier to take direct messages private, carving out a bigger space for targeted exchanges on the popular microblogging service.

Previously, direct messaging could only occur between two Twitter users "following" each other, which basically allowed both parties to see whatever they posted publicly.

Microsoft on Tuesday said it will open its first flagship store outside the United States in Sydney, as the technology giant expands its physical footprint to take on global rivals Apple and Samsung.

Microsoft Australia's managing director Pip Marlow said the shop, to be located in Sydney's main Pitt Street shopping district, was a "significant development" for the American firm.

Japan's state-of-the-art maglev train set a world speed record Tuesday in a test run near Mount Fuji, clocking more than 600 kilometers (373 miles) an hour.

The seven-car maglev -- short for "magnetic levitation" -- train, hit a top speed of 603 kilometers an hour, and managed nearly 11 seconds over 600kph Central Japan Railway said.