U.S. regulators said Wednesday they closed an investigation into Facebook's billion-dollar deal to buy the startup behind photo-sharing smartphone application Instagram, taking no action.

The Federal Trade Commission said in a statement that Facebook's bid to buy Instagram "may now proceed as proposed."

Google set out Wednesday to take users of its free online mapping service on an Arctic adventure with help from an Inuit community in the Canadian tundra.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper joined the effort as the Internet titan's Street View team arrived in the hamlet of Cambridge Bay in the Northwest Passage for one of its most remote projects to date.

A U.S. government-funded program on Tuesday launched a test of Wi-Fi technology to help reduce road accidents.

The Transportation Department said the program in Ann Arbor, Michigan, will enable vehicles and infrastructure to "talk" to each other in real time to help avoid crashes and improve traffic flow.

The mammoth Apple-Samsung patent trial went to the jury Tuesday, setting the stage for a verdict that could have huge implications for the hot market in smartphones and tablet computers.

Apple, which accuses the South Korean electronics giant of copying the iPhone and iPad too closely, is seeking damages of up to $2.75 billion and an injunction that could knock some Samsung products off the U.S. market.

Around six percent of the U.S. population, or 19 million people, lack access to high-speed Internet even though deployment has improved in recent years, a government study said Tuesday.

Around 14.5 million of those without access to broadband are in rural areas, the Federal Communications Commission report said. And in native American tribal areas, about 30 percent do not have access to high-speed Internet.

A firm that tracks the pathways of the Internet says a Chinese company is keeping war-torn Syria connected to the Internet as other telecommunications companies withdraw.

The Syrian government ultimately controls Internet connection to the outside world but it's a major route for rebel communications and news from the country as the civil war intensifies.

San Francisco startup Yap.TV on Monday went international with a hit service that helps people mine gems from junk in the growing mountain of shows, films and videos.

Versions of Yap.TV software released in the United States early last year for Apple iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch devices have been customized for 19 more countries and in four languages other than English.

Barnes & Noble on Monday announced it will release Nook tablets in Britain in the first move by the world's largest book seller to sell the e-readers outside the United States.

Nook tablets and digital content will become available in October at a new online shop at nook.co.uk.

Apple on Monday dethroned longtime rival Microsoft as the most valuable company in history based on the value of its stock, which climbed to around $623.51 billion.

Apple's stock began a steady rise late last week and hit a new high of $665.15 a share when the Nasdaq exchange closed amid rumors the tech giant is poised to release new versions of iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV devices.

If you bought Facebook shares in the May IPO and held onto them, by Monday morning you would have lost more than half your investment -- and not see any encouraging signs of making your money back.

Three months after the largest tech share issue ever on U.S. markets, Facebook fell to a new low below $19 a share, compared to the $38 underwriters charged for the 421 million shares they sold.