Mobile messaging giant Line on Thursday launched a digital music streaming service in Japan, stepping into a largely untapped market still dominated by sales of compact discs.

The new business -- which comes weeks before Apple is expected to enter the Japanese market with its own streaming service -- offers unlimited access to a collection of more than 1.5 million songs for 1,000 yen (U.S.$8) a month.

Apple said Wednesday that it is cruising streets in specially equipped cars to gather pictures and other data for its free online mapping service.

For years, a Street View team has been ranging the world for Google Maps. Following in its tracks, Apple promised to safeguard privacy while gathering mapping data on the road.

US hedge fund Elliott said Thursday it would file a lawsuit against a proposed stock sale aimed to facilitate the merger of two Samsung Group affiliates.

The fund said it would apply for a court injunction against Samsung C&T's move to sell treasury shares to chemicals maker KCC Corp., one of its friendly shareholders, to bolster its hand in confrontation over its controversial merger with Cheil Industries.

Twitter on Wednesday launched a tool that takes into account what apps are on a smartphone or tablet when targeting pitches for other mini-programs people might want.

"Installed app category targeting" lets advertisers aim marketing messages at people based on what applications they already have, according to the popular one-to-many messaging service based in San Francisco.

Google on Wednesday unveiled a company devoted to making a thriving business out of solving big-city problems such as overpriced housing and traffic-snarled streets.

Sidewalk Labs based in New York City was described as an "urban innovation" firm with a mission to develop technology that makes living and running big cities better.

Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled an Xbox One console with double the memory space that will hit the market as the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) video game extravaganza gets under way next week.

The new Xbox One model boasts a terabyte of space that will likely appeal to players who are increasingly installing games as digital downloads instead of opting for disks.

Facebook crowed Tuesday that an Android version of its Messenger app has been downloaded more than a billion times from the Google Play store.

"Happy to make it to the very exclusive Android 1 billion+ downloads club," the head of the Messenger team David Marcus said in an online post.

Chinese search engine giant Baidu plans to develop a driverless car, according to domestic media reports, following in the footsteps of fellow technology firm Google.

Several Chinese technology firms, including e-commerce company Alibaba and WeChat messaging app provider Tencent, have announced plans for cars, shaking up the traditional industry in the world's largest auto market.

The recent epidemic of cyberattacks has led to greater investment and spending on security, but fears are rising that hackers are gaining the upper hand, a study showed Wednesday.

A Rand Corporation study based on a survey of company chief information officers said rising concerns from high-profile incidents have made cybersecurity a priority for many organizations.

U.S. hedge fund Elliott Associates LP said Tuesday it was taking legal action to block the proposed merger by Samsung Group of two major affiliates.

The planned merger, which would see Cheil Industries acquire Samsung C&T Corp through an all-stock deal, is the latest in a series of moves by Samsung's founding Lee family to boost control over the conglomerate ahead of a generational power transfer.