The iPad mini got off to a low-key start Friday with little of the hype-fuelled razzmatazz of earlier Apple launches, as analysts said the costly creation may have come too late to the 7-inch market.

Around 300 people queued up outside Apple's flagship store in Tokyo, some wearing fancy dress, to get their hands on a device the company insists is more than just a shrunken version of its popular tablet.

Russia on Thursday put into force a new law on the Internet that allows the government to block websites with banned content, prompting fears that it will be used to suppress free speech.

The law, which was hastily voted in by the parliament despite opposition from major Internet companies, is officially intended to protect children from viewing unsuitable content.

Megaupload boss Kim Dotcom Thursday revealed plans to relaunch his file-sharing empire in January on the anniversary of his arrest in New Zealand on online piracy charges.

Dotcom is free on bail but still fighting extradition to the United States following a raid on his Auckland mansion on January 20, when New Zealand police arrested him as part of a major U.S. investigation into alleged copyright theft and shut down his website Megaupload.

Japan began imploring people to wrap up for its "warmbiz" winter energy-saving campaign on Thursday, despite Tokyo basking in warm sunshine.

Citizens of energy-hungry Japan, where all but two nuclear reactors are idle after last year's Fukushima disaster, are being given tips on how to stay warm without cranking up the heater -- such as eating hot food.

Death is no longer the fusty business it once was: from swipeable bar codes on headstones to designer urns, webcam-based ceremonies and virtual memorials, funerals have shot into the 21st century.

Can't make it to a faraway funeral? No problem. A growing number of undertakers will let you take part via the web, with mourners hooking up to join the ceremony via a secure Internet connection.

Superstorm Sandy knocked out a quarter of the cell towers in an area spreading across 10 states, and the situation could get worse, federal regulators said Tuesday.

Many cell towers that are still working are doing so with the help of generators and could run out of fuel before commercial power is restored, the Federal Communications Commission said.

Zac Vawter considers himself a test pilot. After losing his right leg in a motorcycle accident, the 31-year-old software engineer signed up to become a research subject, helping to test a trailblazing prosthetic leg that's controlled by his thoughts.

He will put this groundbreaking "bionic" leg to the ultimate test Sunday when he attempts to climb 103 flights of stairs to the top of Chicago's Willis Tower, one of the world's tallest skyscrapers.

Panasonic Corp.'s losses ballooned to 698 billion yen ($8.7 billion) for the fiscal second quarter as sales plunged in flat-panel TVs, laptops and other gadgets, and restructuring costs to turn itself around were proving bigger than initially expected.

The red ink, announced Wednesday, proved far worse than the 105.8 billion yen loss racked up for the July-September period last year.

Google is cramming a few more gadgets on to already crowded holiday shopping lists.

The devices announced Monday include the latest in Google's line of Nexus smartphones and a larger version of the 7-inch (17.78-centimeter) Nexus 7 tablet, which the company began selling in July. It's also adding cellular capabilities to the Nexus 7 and doubling the capacity of existing models.

Nokia says its Windows 8 phones will hit stores in Britain and France this week, before reaching Russia, Germany and other select markets in November.

The Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 are the ailing company's first handsets to use Microsoft's Windows 8 software, launched last week.