A Nazi-hunting group urged Twitter and other social media Wednesday to step up efforts to remove online "hate speech," citing a surge in incitement to attacks like the recent Boston bombings.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center said Twitter has spawned nearly 20,000 hashtags and handles this year that are linked to terrorism and extremism, up 30 percent in the past year.

A satellite that will map the world's forests has been chosen for the seventh mission in Europe's Earth Explorer project, the European Space Agency (ESA) said Tuesday.

Dubbed "Biomass", the satellite will use sophisticated radar technology to map and monitor living matter -- plants and animals -- as well as inorganic carbon contained in forests, one of the world's most precious resources.

Lawyers for Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom accused the U.S. government Wednesday of launching a flawed prosecution against their client with "frightening" implications for all Internet users.

The New Zealand-based Internet tycoon's legal team released a "white paper" to coincide with a visit to Auckland by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, which argues that online piracy allegations against Dotcom are baseless.

Computer files to create a handgun almost entirely from parts made with a 3D printer went online Monday, alarming gun control advocates after it was successfully test-fired by its inventor.

The single-shot .380-caliber Liberator bears a vague resemblance to its namesake, the FP-45 Liberator pistol that the United States developed during World War II to be air-dropped to French Resistance fighters.

YouTube is set to announce within a few weeks a series of channels that will require payment, a person familiar with the matter said Monday.

The content on the new pay channels will be in addition to the millions of videos viewers watch for free on YouTube. It's not clear whether the paid videos will come with advertising.

Microsoft is retooling the latest version of its Windows operating system to address complaints and confusion that have been blamed for deepening a slump in personal computer sales.

The tune up announced Tuesday won't be released to consumers and businesses until later this year. The changes, part of a software package given the codename "Blue," are a tacit acknowledgment of the shortcomings in Windows 8, a radical overhaul of Microsoft Corp.'s ubiquitous operating system.

China is engaged in widespread cyber espionage in a bid to extract information about the U.S. government's foreign policy and military plans, said a Pentagon report issued Monday.

China kept up a steady campaign of hacking in 2012 that included attempts to target U.S. government computer networks, which could provide Beijing better insight into America's policy deliberations and military capabilities, according to the Pentagon's annual assessment of China's military.

Intel Corp. on Monday unveiled a new line of computer chips as part of the tech giant's efforts to gain traction in the fast-growing mobile sector.

The Silicon Valley giant said its new, low-power, high-performance Silvermont chip design could be used in segments ranging from smartphones to the data center.

German sports gear maker Adidas said Monday it is encouraging workers in factories of some of its Asian suppliers to anonymously share possible grievances directly with the company via text message.

The new hotline service will help bridge the communication gap between management and workers, enabling employees to "simply send an SMS when they feel their rights are breached," Adidas AG said.

EU anti-trust officials said Monday that Google-owned Motorola was abusing its leading position in Germany's mobile phones market by filing a patent injunction against Apple over certain core smartphone functions.

A statement said that the European Union had reached a "preliminary view" on a competition investigation opened in April 2012 and decided that Motorola Mobility's action "amounts to an abuse of a dominant position prohibited by EU anti-trust rules."