Smart phones that respond to signals from plants? Laptops that coordinate irrigation at dozens of vineyards? Remote weather stations programmed to text frost alerts?

Many commercial growers are using laptops, tablets or smart phones to keep costs down and production up. Home gardeners too, if they can afford it.

With its masters required to hone their skills over decades, sushi in Japan is steeped in tradition. But it is also often a high-tech operation where robotic precision steals the limelight from the chef's knife.

The country is dotted with thousands of "kaiten" (revolving) sushi restaurants where raw fish slices atop rice balls travel on conveyer belts along counters waiting to be picked up by diners.

North Korea, one of the most isolated and censored societies on the planet, has unveiled what it says is a domestically-produced smartphone.

Industry analysts say the "Arirang", built around Google's Android OS, is likely manufactured in neighboring China, however.

With cartoony posters plastering the walls and toy figures standing at attention on nearly every flat surface, a once ordinary conference room on Disney's Glendale campus has been transformed into the colorful war room for "Disney Infinity," the ambitious project from the company's interactive division that combines real-life toy figures with virtual worlds.

"This is like being in my bedroom," says "Infinity" executive producer John Vignocchi while bouncing around the space, gleefully showing off concept art, prototypes and a mock-up of a store display. "This is really the most comfortable place where you could talk to me. It's where every massive fight and every major decision concerning 'Infinity' has gone down."

A judge on Friday refused a request by Apple to temporarily suspend her ruling that it violated antitrust laws by conspiring with publishers to raise electronic book prices in 2010, and she said it appeared collusion was continuing even after her findings.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote, ruling from the bench in Manhattan, declined to withdraw the effect of last month's ruling while Cupertino, California-based Apple Inc. appeals.

The U.S.International Trade Commission on Friday blocked imports of some older model Samsung mobile devices following complaints by Apple that the South Korean company had violated its patents.

The ruling by the Washington-based trade body was the latest in a long-running and bitter global battle over alleged patent infringement between the two smartphone and tablet computer giants.

Germany's three biggest email providers announced Friday a partnership to bolster the security of messages sent between them in the wake of revelations of U.S. online surveillance.

Telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom as well as GMX and Web.de, both subsidiaries of Germany's United Internet, will automatically encrypt their email traffic from now on.

Samsung Electronics Co. has applied for U.S. and South Korean trademarks for a watch that connects to the Internet in the latest sign that consumer technology companies see wearable devices as the future of their business.

Samsung described "Samsung Galaxy Gear" as a wearable digital electronic device in the form of a wristwatch, wrist band or bangle in its July 29 application with U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. A month earlier, it applied for a "Samsung Gear" trademark in South Korea.

Pakistan's cash-strapped government has promised to sell 3G mobile telephone licences to raise revenue, match regional rivals and drive prosperity, but the process has been beset by delays.

Even Afghanistan, Pakistan's far less developed western neighbor with a weaker economy and more fragile state, has the technology.

Amazon unveiled yet another business line Tuesday as it works to expand its appeal: Art.

The 19-year online retail juggernaut, which began as a bookseller but now does everything from groceries to patio furniture, launched "Amazon Art" to market works from galleries in Miami, San Francisco, New York and other U.S. cities.