Move aside Facebook and Skype. Asian social networks, already hugely popular on their continent, have set their sights on Europe where they could prove stiff competition for their U.S. rivals.

China's WeChat and Japan's Line, which let users make free calls, send instant messages and post funny short videos and photos, take attributes from Facebook, Skype and messenging application WhatsApp and roll them all together.

The collapse of negotiations for Alibaba's listing in Hong Kong, which sees the lucrative initial public offering set to head to New York, has prompted sharp criticism of the city's stock exchange from the Chinese online trading giant and some investors.

Talks between the Hong Kong bourse and Alibaba, looking at ways to grant founder Jack Ma and its senior management some control over the board of directors ended in vain, according to a blog post by Alibaba's co-founder Joe Tsai on Thursday.

Augmented reality glasses that can translate a menu in real time were unveiled at a Japanese gadget fair Monday, with promises they could be ready for visitors to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

NTT Docomo was showing off its latest development where cameras, computers and know-how combine to give the wearer a whole different view of what they are looking at.

Britain's defense secretary says it is recruiting hundreds of experts for a new cyber force designed to protect the nation's vital data — and stage cyberattacks if necessary.

Philip Hammond says the Joint Cyber Reserve Unit aims to boost Britain's offensive and defensive capabilities in an age of increasing threats from cyberespionage and cybersabotage.

To the chagrin and worry of Alaska transportation officials, Apple reactivated maps app directions Friday that guide drivers to the edge of a runway instead of a terminal at the Fairbanks airport.

Apple had notified Fairbanks International Airport officials that the faulty directions had been disabled.

Seven midsize vehicles earned the top rating in a new insurance industry test of high-tech safety features designed to prevent front-end collisions.

The Cadillac ATS and SRX, Subaru Legacy and Outback, Mercedes C-Class and Volvo S60 and XC60 won "superior" ratings in tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

France said Friday it will fine Google up to 300,000 euros ($402,180) for breaking rules on data privacy.

The French agency that regulates information technology says Google Inc. hadn't satisfactorily responded to its June decision giving the company three months to be more upfront about the data it collects from users.

More and more Canadians are tuning into online movie streaming websites such as Netflix, but it has not impacted traditional television viewing as feared, according to a report published Thursday.

The percentage of Canadians that subscribed to Netflix grew from 10 percent in 2011 to 17 percent in 2012, while the number of Canadian basic television subscribers increased by one percent to 12 million, according to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)'s annual report.

An Austrian artist on Thursday drew three pictures simultaneously in three European capitals thanks to two robots copying his every movement in real time in Britain and Germany.

Alex Kiessling worked in Vienna while a pair of orange industrial robots in London's Trafalgar Square and Berlin's Breitscheidplatz drew exactly the same picture of three human faces with the help of satellite transmissions.

The head of Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. said Wednesday he has every intention of completing the acquisition of BlackBerry, despite doubts that the $4.7 billion deal for the troubled smartphone maker will go through.

BlackBerry announced earlier this week that Fairfax signed a letter of intent that "contemplates" buying BlackBerry for $9 a share. Fairfax, BlackBerry's largest shareholder, is trying to attract other investors.