Nintendo said Tuesday its operating profit soared, as it pointed to strong demand for Wii U console games including shoot-em-up hit "Splatoon", but holiday sales fell and the positive impact of a weak yen hit its bottom line.

The Japanese videogame giant kept its annual profit forecast in place as it also benefited from upbeat demand for its "Amiibo" figurines, which feature characters from some of its videogames.

Encrypted communication is making law enforcement and counterterrorism investigations more difficult, but fears of "going dark" are overblown, a study said Monday.

The report by Harvard University's Berkman Center said that despite efforts to boost encryption in smartphone and online services, investigations still can gain access to data in many circumstances.

The global market for tablet computers ended 2015 with a whimper, as the once sizzling market showed further signs of cooling, a market tracker said Monday.

Research firm IDC reported a 13.7 percent year-over-year drop in worldwide tablet sales in the fourth quarter, with 65.9 million units shipped.

A Japanese firm said Monday it would open the world's first fully automated farm with robots handling almost every step of the process, from watering seedlings to harvesting crops.

Kyoto-based Spread said the indoor grow house will start operating by the middle of 2017 and produce 30,000 heads of lettuce a day.

A modern metropolis rising from Israel's Negev desert stands on the frontline of a global war against hacking and cyber crime, fulfilling an ambition of the country's founding father.

David Ben Gurion famously said he wanted to make the Negev bloom.

Under new owner Jeff Bezos, The Washington Post is no longer just a newspaper. It's reinventing itself as a "media and technology company" that hopes to blaze a trail for newsrooms struggling to transition to a digital era.

The transformation may not be apparent on the surface, but the Internet billionaire has ripped up and revamped the technology underpinnings at the Post since buying the storied daily in 2013, while investing in the newsroom with more journalists, video offerings and tools for digital storytelling.

Facebook on Friday set out to block people from using the leading social network and its Instagram photo-sharing service for private gun sales.

Although Facebook doesn't participate in outright gun sales, it has been a forum for negotiations, and it intends to put an end to that.

As the digital advertising market booms and demand for smartphones wanes, Alphabet Inc. could soon dethrone Apple as the world's most valuable company.

If it happens, Alphabet will move to the head of the class just five months after Google reorganized itself under the holding company.

Italy is demanding Google pay over 200 million euros ($218 million) in back taxes following an inquiry into its tax arrangements by the financial police, a judicial source said Thursday.

The technology giant is accused of failing to declare 100 million euros in income and pay 200 million euros in royalty taxes, the source said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron defended the tax deal struck with U.S. Internet giant Google as he came under fire in parliament on Wednesday.

Google is to pay £130 million ($185.4 million, 172 million euros) in back taxes to Britain following a government inquiry into its tax arrangements, a company spokeswoman said Friday.