The European Union said Thursday it had filed anti-trust charges against Google to speedily resolve allegations that the tech titan abuses its search engine's market dominance.

EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Google's preferential use of its own shopping product in its search engine could be harmful to consumers and competitors.

Netflix is enthralling viewers and investors alike as popular original programming such as "House of Cards" lure subscribers at a quickening pace.

Netflix said Wednesday that it gained 4.9 million subscribers in the first three months of the year, more than any other quarter since the video streaming service's debut eight years ago. About 2.3 million of the new customers were in the U.S., where Netflix's subscriber count surpassed 40 million for the first time.

On the one hand, or wrist, there may be an eye-catching Apple Watch, while the other will sport with more discreet jewelry packed with Internet Age smarts.

Jawbone had that vision of the wearable computing trend in mind late Wednesday when it ramped its UP family of lifestyle-tracking bands and teased a coming model that enables American Express users to tap and pay at shop checkout counters.

The same Internet access now available on most commercial flights makes it possible for hackers to bring down a plane, a government watchdog warned Tuesday.

The finding by the Government Accountability Office presents chilling new scenarios for passengers. The report doesn't suggest it would be easy to do, or very likely. But it points out that as airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration attempt to modernize planes and flight tracking with Internet-based technology, attackers have a new vulnerability they could exploit.

Google dismissed European Union charges that it abused its dominant position as Europe's top search engine, downplaying its role as gatekeeper of the Internet.

The European Commission, whose formal charges could impose a fine in excess of $6 billion against the Mountain View, California-based company, also plans to open a separate anti-trust investigation into Google's Android operating system, which dominates the global mobile phone market.

Washington is "aggressively" warning Beijing over the repercussions of its demand that U.S. tech firms should hand over their encryption keys if they want to do business in China, a top U.S. official said Tuesday.

The statement by U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker comes one month after President Obama rebuked Beijing over a new anti-terror law that would require companies to give Beijing details of their encryption methods or be denied access to the Chinese market.

The quandary for those who run social networks is how to monetise activity on them without antagonising and thus losing users through distracting ads?

The answer, for Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, is to slip in some stealthy ads camouflaged to look like posts from listed contacts.

Apple gave consumers their first hands-on look at its smartwatch Friday pushing into wearable tech just as rival Samsung rolled out its new flagship smartphones.

With the world's two biggest gadget makers vying for consumer attention, Apple scored points by apparently selling out of the Apple Watch as quickly as it opened pre-orders.

LinkedIn is buying Lynda.com for about $1.5 billion in a cash-and-stock deal, adding the online learning and professional development company to its professional networking offerings.

Mountain View, California-based LinkedIn said Thursday that it will pay for the Carpinteria, California-based company with a combination of 52 percent cash and 48 percent stock. The deal is expected to close during the second quarter. It is by far LinkedIn's largest acquisition so far, and one that should help the 12-year-old company expand its audience and the market it serves.

The body that regulates Internet addresses is checking to see if it can crack down on a Canadian company accused of using the new ".sucks" domain name to extract exorbitant sums from celebrities and companies seeking to protect their public brands.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, on Thursday sent a letter to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Canada's Office of Consumer Affairs to see if the actions of company Vox Populi Registry Ltd. are illegal.