In what it described as a world first, the city of Brussels on Friday launched a hi-tech system that enables tourists or anyone else with a smartphone to scan tags for information at 600 sites.

Developed by a Belgian firm, the system called "TagTagCity" enables visitors to scan a code on a tag. These tags appear on the walls and windows of museums, monuments, restaurants and shops.

There's no screen, it was built in 1976, and the clunky design does not exactly recall today's iPads, but the first Apple computer is expected to fetch up to $180,000 in New York.

Sotheby's in New York is auctioning the rare piece of computer history, which actually still works, on June 15.

Ubisoft flexed its muscles, embracing new trends in digital play while rolling out blockbuster titles for consoles and handheld gadgets at the E3 industry extravaganza that ended Thursday.

The France-based videogame titan's creations took center stage before the big three console makers -- Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony.

Videogame play is becoming a spectator sport.

"It is the next evolution in gaming," said Matthew DiPietro of TwitchTV, an online platform that enables people to stream play live online.

Facebook on Thursday began rolling out an App Center for mini-programs that plug offerings such as Pinterest or Draw Something into the leading social network.

The App Center feature opened its virtual doors in the United States with 600 programs geared for Web browsers as well as those for Apple and Android smartphones or tablet computers.

Apple agreed Friday to a Aus$2.25 million (U.S.$2.22 million) fine for misleading Australian customers about the local 4G capability of its next-generation iPad, in a case brought by regulators.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) told the Federal Court that the U.S. tech giant had agreed to the penalty for implying in advertising that the 4G function on its latest iPad worked in Australia.

Google unveiled a revamped maps program Wednesday that allows mobile users to use the service without an Internet connection as the Internet giant geared up for a possible competing service.

"You will no longer need paper maps," said Google's Rita Chen at an event unveiling the upgrades.

Twitter unveiled a new "Twitterbird" Wednesday which will be the new trademark symbol for the fast-growing company.

"Over the past six years, the world has become familiar with a little blue bird. The bird is everywhere, constantly associated with Twitter the service, and Twitter the company," said creative director Doug Bowman.

South Korea-based WeMade Entertainment went shoulder-to-shoulder Wednesday with titans at the E3 videogame extravaganza in Los Angeles with games designed to bring computer-quality play to smartphones or tablets.

The 12-year-old company behind massively-multiplayer-online-role-player-game (MMORPG) "Legend of Mir" planned to ride into the U.S. market on the back of the mobile gadget lifestyle.

South Korea's Samsung Electronics vowed Thursday to press ahead with the U.S. launch of its newest smartphone this month, despite a fresh lawsuit filed by rival Apple seeking to block the cutting-edge model.

Apple has asked a court for the Northern District of California in San Jose to ban sales of the Galaxy S III on grounds of patent infringement, Samsung said.