A federal judge handed Google Inc. a victory in a long-running legal battle on Thursday, tossing out a lawsuit claiming the Internet giant was violating copyright laws by scanning books without the writers' permission to create the world's largest digital library.
The 28-page decision by U.S. District Judge Denny Chin in New York is the latest twist in a circuitous journey that began nine years ago when Google set out to make digital copies of all the books in the world.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called Thursday for stronger Southeast Asian cooperation against cyber threats after his own website was hacked by critics demanding greater Internet freedom.
"I do not think any country has been spared. So we have to strengthen our defenses and cooperate to deal with these common threats," he told a conference of regional telecommunication and information-technology ministers.

Sony unleashes its powerful new PlayStation 4 video game console on Friday, seeking to win over consumers with immersive, realistic game worlds and easy online sharing with friends.
The successor to the PlayStation 3 makes its debut in North America, hitting Europe later in the month.

How much does Samsung Electronics owe Apple for copying vital features of the iPhone and iPad? Apple says $380 million. Samsung counters with $52 million.
It's possible a jury presiding over a patent trial in a San Jose courtroom will find somewhere in between.

Apple began selling a new iPad Mini on Tuesday without the usual fanfare.
Apple usually announces the availability date in advance, allowing loyal customers to line up at stores overnight to be among the first to buy one. This time, Apple quietly issued a news release on its immediate availability.

The latest round in Apple and Samsung's bitter global battle for supremacy in the more than $300 billion smartphone market begins Tuesday in a courtroom a few miles from Apple's Silicon Valley headquarters.
In courts, government tribunals and regulatory agencies around the world, Apple Inc. has argued that Samsung's Android-based phones copy vital iPhone features. Samsung Electronics Co. is fighting back with its own complaints that some key Apple patents are invalid and Apple has also copied Samsung's technology.

You may never need to memorize another password. That's the goal of researchers at Purdue University's International Center for Biometrics Research.
Stephen Elliott is the director of international biometric research at Purdue University in Indiana. He says iris and fingerprint scans as well as facial and voice recognition are just a few of the tools that improve security while making lives easier. His basement lab is a place where emerging biometric technologies are tested for weaknesses before they can go mainstream.

Most mobile phone users have never heard of Tizen. Neither have car owners or anyone with a fridge.
Samsung Electronics Co. wants to change that.

The number of smartphones is forecast to triple to 5.6 billion globally by 2019, accounting for more than 60 percent of cellphones.
Sweden's Ericsson AB, the world's largest maker of telecommunications networks, says in a report Monday it expects smartphone traffic to grow tenfold in the next six years, with service providers increasing high-speed networks to deal with the surge. Total mobile subscriptions are predicted to reach 9.3 billion by 2019.

Like a stubborn family member or insubordinate employee, Xbox One owners might need to tell their fancy new console what to do more than once.
In flashy commercials that began airing last week to promote Microsoft's upcoming video game system, an array of users verbally command their Xbox Ones to do stuff like answer a Skype call, fire up a "Titanfall" match or play the latest "Star Trek" film. The ads leave out one detail: They probably had to repeat themselves a couple of times for it to work.
