EBay's name is synonymous with auctions, but that's created an image problem for the online marketplace.

These days, most of the things people purchase on the site aren't sold through auctions; they have fixed prices. And, the majority of items for sale are new —not musty antiques or old collectibles.

Here's a consumer electronics riddle: What's the opposite of the iPad?

Answer: the Livescribe Echo "smartpen." It's as if Livescribe and Apple both looked at the old pen-and-pad combination, but completely disagreed on how to take it into the digital age.

A startup little known outside Japan that offers games for cellphones is emerging as the new star at this year's Tokyo video game exhibition, usually dominated by big-name console makers like Sony and Microsoft.

Gree Inc., a social networking service that began just seven years ago in the founder's living room, had its first booth ever at the sprawling Tokyo Game Show, which previewed to media Thursday ahead of its opening to the public later this week at a hall in this Tokyo suburb.

A French anti-racism group has threatened to sue Apple over an iPhone application called "A Jew or Not a Jew?" that allows users to consult a database of celebrities and public figures to determine whether they are Jewish or not.

SOS Racisme said the application, sold for 0.79 euro cents ($1.07) on the Apple Store France, violates France's strict laws banning the compiling of people's personal details without their consent.

Following smartphones and tablet computers, motorists look set to be the next big market for connected devices as automakers wow crowds with the latest Internet-enabled models at the IAA motor show.

The times are long past when car shows reeked of motor oil and fans were obsessed with engine power and sleek designs.

It's a modern-day dilemma: You really want your Facebook friends to see that wild party photo of you wearing bunny ears. But you're not so keen on explaining it to your mother-in-law.

Well, Facebook aims to make life easier.

Google Inc.'s search results for airline tickets are finally getting a lift from a key piece of technology that it bought earlier this year.

The Internet search leader's revised approach to airfare queries appeared Tuesday in a newly opened "flights" section of Google.com. The new look at http://www.google.com/flights arrived with little hoopla. The low-key debut might have reflected Google's desire to avoid attracting too much attention to the service, which has raised fears that the Internet's most powerful company will trample the competition in online travel — one of the biggest markets in electronic commerce.

Sony's upgraded portable video game machine PlayStation Vita is going on sale in Japan on Dec. 17 with 26-game software going on sale on the same date, but it's still not available overseas until next year.

The competition in portable gaming is almost certain to intensify in Japan, ahead of the rest of the world, during the year-end shopping season.

Gary Stern has a quick answer for anyone who says he runs the last pinball machine company in the world: it's not the last -- it's simply the only pinball company.

Stern, 58, was born into the pinball business and is determined to keep it alive.

U.S. Internet users are spending nearly a quarter of their online time at blogs and social networks, with Facebook the most popular destination, according to a survey released Monday by Nielsen.

"Social media's popularity continues to grow, connecting people with just about everything they watch and buy," Nielsen said in a quarterly state-of-social-media report.