When it comes to emojis, the future is very, very ... Face with Tears of Joy.

If you don't know what that means then you: a) aren't a 14-year-old girl. b) love to hate those tiny pictures that people text you all the time. Or c) are nowhere near a smartphone or online chat.

Online lodging service Airbnb is allowing travelers from around the world to book stays in private homes in Cuba after the San Francisco-based company received a special authorization from the Obama administration, Airbnb announced Sunday.

Airbnb was the first major American company to enter Cuba after Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro declared detente on December 17, 2014. The service handles online listing, booking and payments for people looking to stay in private homes instead of hotels. Cuba has become its fastest-growing market, with about 4,000 homes added over the last year.

New iPhone and iPad models likely to be unveiled Monday are aimed at helping Apple keep momentum in the fast-evolving mobile device market.

The media gathering at the company's intimate Town Hall auditorium in Silicon Valley will also give Apple a chance to restate its case for fighting a U.S. government demand that it break into an attacker's iPhone.

From ready-to-wear knits manufactured instantly to customized dresses produced on inkjet printers, Japan's apparel industry is turning to state-of-the-art technology in a bold bid to cut labor costs and secure its future.

At manufacturing giant Shima Seiki's factory in western Japan, garments materialize in minutes, thanks to digitally-programmed automated machines that can turn out a sample seam-free pullover in half an hour with a push of a button.

Pope Francis posted his first photo on Instagram on Saturday, a picture showing him kneeling down praying, on the third anniversary of his inauguration as Holy Father.

"I want to walk with you along the way of God's mercy and tenderness," he wrote on the photo-sharing platform, under the account name franciscus.

Google's parent company Alphabet is seeking to sell its Boston Dynamics subsidiary specialized in developing and manufacturing robots, the Financial Times reported Friday.

"The move is part of an effort to refocus robotics efforts under its Google X unit", the newspaper said quoting sources familiar with the plans.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took a mask-free jog through Beijing's Tiananmen Square on Friday, smiling through thick smog as he seeks greater access for his company to China, where its service is banned.

The social media executive was in the capital ahead of an economic forum that gives some of the world's top business and finance leaders the opportunity to hobnob with senior Chinese politicians.

Nintendo on Thursday rolled out its first smartphone game after years of refusing to stray from a consoles-only policy as it tries to better compete with rivals. 

The Japanese company has struggled as Sony and Microsoft outpaced it in console sales, while the three companies are also fighting off a trend toward cheap -- even free -- downloadable games for smartphones and other mobile devices.

Google's artificial intelligence (AI) program AlphaGo has been awarded the highest Go grandmaster rank, reserved for those whose ability at the ancient board game borders on "divinity", South Korea's Go Association said Tuesday.

The association announced the award before the final game of AlphaGo's five-match series with South Korean grandmaster Lee Se-Dol, with the computer currently holding an unassailable 3-1 advantage.

President Barack Obama made a pilgrimage Friday to SXSW -- the tech world's Davos and Woodstock rolled into one -- making a government recruitment pitch even as he fanned a row over encryption.

Obama traveled to Austin, Texas, ostensibly to open a "pipeline" of programmers, developers and other tech whiz kids to enter government service.