Apple has agreed to throw open its doors to labor monitors after a spate of suicides at the firm's Chinese plants, a rights group said Friday.

The Fair Labor Association said Apple will let it "independently assess facilities in Apple's supply chain and report detailed findings," which will be posted on the association's website.

The annual Consumer Electronics Show ended Friday, leaving gadget lovers with visions of a "Matrix"-like world in which the Internet surrounds them no matter where they go.

Makers of everything from cars and refrigerators to televisions, smartphones and software pitched innovations heralding the arrival of connected lifestyles made possible by "smart" devices.

For the first time, Indian prosecutors are taking Google, Yahoo, Facebook and other networking sites to court for refusing to remove material considered insulting to Indian leaders and major religious figures.

Government officials are upset about material insulting to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, ruling Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi and major religious figures. Some illustrations have shown Singh and Gandhi in compromising positions and pigs running through Mecca, Islam's holiest city.

The world's obsession with tapping into the Internet is being played out on the biggest screen in the house, with software startups, TV makers, and technology titans such as Google and Microsoft adding momentum to the trend.

Even the beloved firm behind iPads and iPhones is expected to weigh in soon with a revamped version of an Apple TV system that it has long called a hobby.

You're at work when you get word of unexpected dinner guests. No problem. Smart appliances to the rescue.

In a world made possible by innovations unveiled this week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, you could whip out your smartphone on your bus or train ride home.

A California startup out to change the world shined at the Consumer Electronics Show on Thursday with a light bulb blending beauty and efficiency with love for the Earth.

Switch Lighting executives Tracy Bilbrough and Brett Sharenow glowed as they showed off new-generation LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs that they believe will transform the more than $30-billion global market.

U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama quickly snapped up tens of thousands of Twitter followers Thursday, as she joined the social network and opened a new front in her husband's reelection campaign.

"Hi, everyone, and thanks for the warm welcome. Look forward to staying in touch with you here," @michelleobama said in a tweet authenticated by her initials "mo."

Cyber-environmentalists said Thursday they aim to mobilize millions of people around the world for a mass waste clean-up, saying they had to step in because governments had failed to do so.

Tiina Urm, spokeswoman of the Estonian-piloted "Let's Do It!" campaign, told Agence France Presse that anti-waste activists hoped to see numbers spiral this year thanks to projects in 82 countries, five times more than in the successful 2011 edition.

A New York-based company has developed an iPhone lens attachment that turns video shot by the smartphone into panoramic footage.

The Internet was strapped to wrists at the Consumer Electronics Show on Wednesday in the form of Android-powered "smart watches" that serve up online content along with telling time.

Japanese consumer electronics titan Sony and venture-backed Italian startup i'm Watch were each sporting spins on timepieces that use the Google software to connect wearers with email, music, websites or other online content.