The European Commission opened on Tuesday two antitrust investigations against Google's Motorola Mobility following complaints from Apple and Microsoft in a patent war between the technology giants, the Agence France Presse said Tuesday.

The EU competition watchdog said it would check whether Motorola had abused a dominant market position on patents by seeking court injunctions against Apple and Microsoft from selling their iPhone, iPad, Xbox and Windows products.

A trio of console videogame stars joined the online social play revolution with a free-to-play title that lets folks at Facebook virtually live out celebrity fantasies, the Agence France Presse said Tuesday.

CelebrityMe was available at the world's leading social network on Monday as the first offering from Seismic Games, a startup launched by veterans of Activision, Vivendi Universal and Pandemic Studios.

First Lady Michelle Obama said Tuesday that Google is opening doors to the White House on the Internet by letting users pay virtual visits to all the public rooms.

The US president's home at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is part of a Google Art Project that lets online visitors step into museums, galleries and other famous spaces and look around as though they were there.

Rights activists say a Palestinian university lecturer has been detained on accusations that her Facebook page insulted President Mahmoud Abbas.

Hadeel Hneiti of the al-Haq rights group said Monday that Palestinian security forces arrested Ismat Abdul-Khaleq after they found writing on her Facebook page accusing Abbas of being a traitor and demanding he resign.

Dutch electronics and medical equipment giant Philips said Monday it had completed the spin-off of its television division to Hong Kong-based LCD screen and computer maker TPV Technology, the Agence France Presse said Monday.

Philips retains a 30-percent stake while TPV Technology holds 70 percent in the joint venture called TP Vision, which will design, manufacture and sell Philips brand televisions throughout most of the world.

Arabnet digital summit was wrapped up on Saturday following five days of excessive talks, panels and workshops at Habtoor Hotel in Beirut.

During Forum Day 2, a panel was organized to discuss building a digital hub in Lebanon. The panel, moderated by Cleartag CEO Tarek Dajani, included Dr.Saad Andary, Vice Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Salam Yamout, National ICT Strategy Coordinator at the Presidency of Council of Ministers, Fares Abi Nassif, Advisor to the Minister of Telecom, Diana Menhem, UNDP economic officer at IDAL and Tarek Sadi, managing director at Endeavor Lebanon.

Consumers probably won't have to pay more for iPads, iPhones and other popular consumer electronics despite a Chinese company's pledge to trim work hours and raise wages for its hardscrabble assembly workers.

The paychecks have already been steadily growing even before this week's pledge, and labor expenses remain a small portion of the total bill for most gadgets made in China.

China has shut down websites, made a string of arrests and punished two popular microblogs after rumors of a coup linked to a major political drama that led to the fall of a rising star.

Authorities closed 16 websites for spreading rumors of "military vehicles entering Beijing and something wrong going on in Beijing," the official Xinhua news agency said late Friday, citing the state Internet information office.

French videogame titan Ubisoft said Thursday that pre-orders for the next version of its blockbuster "Assassin's Creed" videogame are on a record-setting pace.

So many copies of "Assassin's Creed III" have been reserved in advance of its October 30 release date in North America that it is on track to become the most pre-ordered title in the company's history, according to Ubisoft.

Google is teaming with Asia-based hardware makers on a low-priced, 7-inch tablet computer to challenge offerings by Amazon.com and Apple, reports said.

Android software backed by the California Internet giant will power hardware built by partners including Samsung and Asustekto compete with iPad and Kindle devices, according to Digitimes and the Wall Street Journal.