Smartphone dating app Tinder launched a premium paid subscription version on Monday, but drew criticism over a pricing system that charges older users more.

Tinder Plus, which has been tested since late last year, has subscription fees varying by age and country.

Forget about old economy and new economy. Everything is now part of the tech economy, a prominent US research panel said Monday.

New technologies ranging from cloud computing to data analytics are transforming virtually all industries, including old-economy sectors like manufacturing, said the report by the National Academy of Engineering.

U.S. video streaming service Netflix on Tuesday said it will launch in Australia and New Zealand this month, with access to season three of hit political drama House of Cards a key drawcard.

The move comes amid an increasing shift to Internet-based on-demand television globally, with the California-based company leading the field.

Phone and Internet firms are rolling out cheaper handsets and may turn to hot-air balloons to boost network coverage in developing countries, where sales of smartphones are booming.

Even though mobile network coverage is generally weaker in the developing world, firms are mining a gold rush of new clients in China, India and beyond, as smartphone demand slows in the rich world.

Twitter said Monday it was working with law enforcement officials on unspecified threats, amid reports that the social network had been targeted for blocking accounts linked to the Islamic State.

"Our security team is investigating the veracity of these threats with relevant law enforcement officials," a Twitter spokesman said, without elaborating.

Defying skepticism and geek-stigma, mobile phone firms are determined this year to sell you a wristwatch wirelessly connected to your mobile phone.

Numerous models have hit the market over the past year but 2015 will see an explosion, analysts say, with manufacturers making their watches and other wearable connected devices more elegant and useful.

China's official news agency Xinhua has re-launched its English-language presence on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, it announced -- all of which are blocked in China.

Like many official Chinese bodies, Xinhua is an avid user of Western social media despite their illegality in the country, and by January Xinhua had 30 accounts in different names across the three platforms, it said. 

Samsung has unveiled a stylish new flagship phone that ditches its signature plastic design for more stylish metal and glass.

The South Korean phone manufacturer also unveiled a premium model with a display that curves around the left and right edges so that information can be quickly glanced at on the side. The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge will both include technology for mobile payments, though Samsung isn't unveiling a service to rival the iPhone's Apple Pay until this summer.

It's Milan fashion week, you've got tickets to the catwalk shows and an outfit to die for, but which watch to wear? A chunky smartwatch or chic ticker that can't tell the time?

Ahead of the hotly-anticipated Apple Watch launch this year, expected to revolutionize tech wearables, there are already watches you can use to check emails, Facebook or the weather, play games or even get your kettle to boil.

Google unveiled plans Friday for a new campus headquarters integrating wildlife and sweeping waterways, aiming to make a big statement in Silicon Valley -- which is already seeing ambitious projects from Apple and Facebook.

The design also includes lush public gardens, looping covered bikeways and futuristic-looking buildings that can be moved about like toy blocks.