Major technology firms are racing to infuse smartphones and other internet-linked devices with software smarts that help them think like people.

The effort is seen as an evolution in computing that allows users to interact with machines in natural conversation style, telling devices to tend to tasks such as ordering goods, checking traffic, making restaurant reservations or searching for information.

Germany said Saturday it was still investigating the operation of the autopilot system on cars made by electric automaker Tesla, as German media reported an internal ministerial report called it "dangerous."

Facebook on Thursday worked to ramp up enthusiasm for its virtual reality line, unveiling new gear including a lower-end wireless headset prototype.

The company's Oculus virtual reality division is set to release in coming months a new "Touch" controller and a more affordable computer for powering virtual experiences using Rift headsets.

Yahoo on Wednesday rejected allegations of mass email surveillance amid an outcry from privacy activists over a report that it created a special scanning program at the behest of U.S. intelligence.

The report, which said the U.S. internet giant secretly scanned hundreds of millions of email accounts to help American intelligence, was "misleading," Yahoo said.

A Southwest Airlines flight leaving Louisville, Kentucky was evacuated Wednesday after a passenger's Samsung phone began emitting smoke. 

Flight 994 was evacuated on the runway prior to takeoff after a passenger's Samsung Galaxy Note 7 -- described as a replacement in Samsung's global recall of the device -- apparently caught fire, the airline said.

US internet giant Google on Tuesday challenged heavyweight rivals including Apple and Amazon with an array of new gadgets aimed at digital lifestyles. Coming products to watch for:

- Smartphone 'Made by Google' -Pixel is the first smartphone designed by Google, with the Silicon Valley powerhouse dictating the hardware, software and services the way Apple does with its iPhones.

Google on Tuesday unveiled its new Pixel smartphone with artificial intelligence built in as it directly takes on the iPhone with its own branded, premium-priced handset.

"We are building hardware with the Google Assistant at its core," said Rick Osterloh, head of a new hardware division at the California-based internet giant.

Five years after the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, the Silicon Valley tech giant is bigger and stronger, despite lingering doubts over its future without the visionary leader.

In financial terms, Apple has been an unstoppable juggernaut: Its profit for the 2015 fiscal year was a whopping $53 billion on revenues of $234 billion -- both figures doubled since the final year of Jobs's reign before he died of pancreatic cancer on October 5, 2011.

Facebook on Monday launched a new online "Marketplace" allowing members of the huge social network to buy and sell with each other.

The new feature puts Facebook squarely in competition with local online selling platforms led by Craigslist, and offers an alternative to marketplaces like eBay.

Almost 80 years old, the deodorant Old Spice is learning new tricks for finding customers in the era of smartphones and social media.

The Procter & Gamble product, having spoofed itself for years with advice on how to become more "mantastic," posts to its 2.6 million Facebook followers a steady stream of video games, prize entries, and advertisements as short as two seconds.