Samsung announced Thursday that its eagerly-anticipated Note 4 "phablet" will be released on October 17.

The South Korean consumer electronics titan credited with being the first major manufacturer to blend tablet and smartphone features said it will begin taking orders for the coming model on Friday, the same day rival Apple launches its new-generation iPhone 6.

Twitpic is being acquired in a deal that will give renewed life to the widely used service for sharing pictures on Twitter.

It is a stark reversal in fortunes after Twitpic said in a blog post early this month that it would be shutting down on September 25 because its bid to trademark its name was being opposed by San Francisco-based Twitter.

It's easy to dismiss Apple's new iPhones as merely catching up to Android.

After all, phones running Google's Android system long have had larger screens. In addition, many Android phones already have the wireless chips that iPhones are getting for making credit card payments without pulling out a card at retail stores.

The scores of new features in Apple's software update for mobile devices can be boiled down to one word: unity.

Many iPhone owners also have iPads and Mac computers, and family members are likely to have Apple devices, too. With the new iOS 8 software for iPhones and iPads, those devices start to act like one. Apps on those devices start to unite, too.

"NBA 2K15" is angling for a slam dunk with an innovative new way to put players in the game.

The developers of the interactive basketball franchise are adding the option for gamers to digitally graft lifelike 3-D renditions of their faces onto virtual players in the series' latest installment, set for Oct. 7. The process uses the camera for either the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One game consoles to create faces for wannabe Kobe Bryants and Kevin Durants.

Control over Alibaba Group will stay in the hands of founder Jack Ma and other company veterans after the Chinese e-commerce giant goes public on the New York Stock Exchange in a record busting share sale.

A group of 27 managers dubbed the "Alibaba Partnership" will have the power to nominate a majority of board members, a structure that was unpalatable to Hong Kong's stock market and resulted in Alibaba deciding to list in New York.

Amazon.com on Wednesday expanded its array of tablets and Kindle e-readers, capping its line-up with a new flagship Fire HDX model boasting 'stunning' display and Dolby Atmos sound.

“The team has packed an incredible amount of technology and innovation into the new Fire HDX...and it’s still startlingly light,” Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos said in a release.

The number of websites has burst above one billion and is growing apace, according to figures updated in real time Tuesday by online tracker Internet Live Stats.

Tim Berners-Lee, considered the father of the World Wide Web, touted the milestone on Twitter -- one of the most prominent websites in the mushrooming but sometimes murky Internet world.

New-generation Apple software for powering its coveted mobile devices is set for release on Wednesday, two days ahead of the arrival of its latest iPhones.

The iOS 8 mobile operating system will be available free for download to many iPhone and iPad models and will be pre-installed on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which hit the market on Friday.

Early reviews of Apple iPhone 6 models to be released on Friday sang praises of the large-screen handsets, proclaiming that bigger truly is better.

"The public asked for bigger and Apple delivered not only bigger but better, too," tech news website Slash Gear said in its review.