The first undersea fibre-optic cable between China and Taiwan is set to begin operating this week, official media reported Wednesday, the latest sign of closer links between the Cold War rivals.

Yang Yi, spokesman for Beijing's State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said the cable would enhance communications and was "good news" for the two sides, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Britain's Guardian newspaper will launch a new online edition in Australia, where the print media is struggling with the rapidly changing digital landscape, hoping also to expand its reach in Asia.

The Guardian announced the expansion of its global reach on Tuesday, saying deputy editor Katharine Viner would be relocating Down Under to launch the Australian operation some time this year.

From navigation systems serving as game consoles to sound systems doubling as amplifiers and nail polish matching a paint job, automakers are trying new tricks to lure fickle young buyers.

Connected consoles that sync with smartphones to stream music and even read incoming text messages aloud seemed to be almost standard features on most of the cars on display at the Detroit auto show.

Facebook on Tuesday launched a search engine for shared content described as a way to find things liked by friends on the huge social network.

"We look at Facebook as a big social database," chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in announcing the so-called "graph search" function. "Just like any database, you should be able to query it."

Kaspersky Lab said Monday it had identified a new computer virus it dubbed "Red October" targeting eastern European countries that appeared to be collecting classified files using NATO and EU encryption.

"The primary focus of this campaign targets countries in Eastern Europe, former USSR Republics, and countries in Central Asia, although victims can be found everywhere, including Western Europe and North America," said the maker of anti-virus software in a statement.

Oracle on Monday was distributing a patch for Java software flaws deemed so dangerous that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said that people should stop using it.

"Oracle recommends that this Security Alert be applied as soon as possible because these issues may be exploited 'in the wild' and some exploits are available in various hacking tools," Oracle's Eric Maurice said in a blog post.

Google on Monday launched a competition that will let a U.S. student "doodle" his or her way to cash for college along with landing grant money to fund technology education at their grade school.

The California-based Internet titan announced its sixth annual "Doodle 4 Google" contest in which students from kindergarten to 12th grade vie to create a winning "doodle," a creative design playing off the search page logo.

Organizers unveiled the first-ever smartphone app for a U.S. presidential inauguration on Monday, allowing users to track Barack Obama's swearing in, sign up for events and check maps for the closest toilets.

The Presidential Inaugural Committee's debut application for iPhone and Android users provides a front-row seat for people not in Washington on January 21, while offering tips to attendees on how to navigate the vast security apparatus set up for the big day.

Apple shares fell in premarket trading Monday after The Wall Street Journal reported that the company has cut its orders for iPhone 5 components due to weaker than expected demand.

The newspaper said two people it did not identify by name told it that Apple's first-quarter orders for iPhone 5 screens have dropped to about half of what the company had planned.

Luxury and sports cars will be in the spotlight when the Detroit auto show opens Monday amid booming sales and renewed optimism as the U.S. economy rebounds from a deep downturn.

"The mood is going to be pretty good," said Dave Sergeant, an analyst with JD Power. "The industry is coming off a reasonably good year and this year should be even better."