The sails of one of the world's most iconic buildings, the Sydney Opera House, were lit up with images shot by ordinary Australians Tuesday for the glitzy "blue-carpet" launch of Samsung's new phone.

Samsung announced that Australia would be among the first countries to get the new Galaxy S4, which goes on sale globally this weekend in the latest high-tech salvo of its smartphone battle with Apple.

Yahoo! on Monday released an iPhone app that weaves in story summarizing software bought from a London schoolboy last month for a sum reported to be around $30 million (£20 million).

The Yahoo! app that was made available in the United States for use on iPhones and iPod touch devices uses natural-language algorithms and machine learning from freshly-acquired Summly "to deliver quick story summaries."

The U.S. International Trade Commission on Monday tossed out a Motorola Mobility patent claim that threatened to block the import of some Apple iPhone models into this country.

The commission dismissed a complaint by Google-owned Motorola Mobility accusing Apple of infringing on patented technology that makes touch screens ignore fingers when people are holding smartphones to their ears for calls.

German authorities said Monday they had fined Google for illegally collecting massive amounts of personal data including emails, passwords and photos while setting up its disputed Street View service.

The data protection office in the northern city of Hamburg said it had slapped the U.S. Internet giant with a 145,000-euro ($189,000) penalty for privacy violations on what it called a nearly unprecedented scale.

Some illuminating books already have been written about Google's catalytic role in a technological upheaval that is redefining the way people work, play, learn, shop and communicate.

Until now, though, there hasn't been a book providing an unfiltered look from inside Google's brain trust.

Yahoo! on Friday announced it is getting rid of coupon service Deals and the "Yahooligans" Internet guide for children while it cleans house.

"Today, we are shutting down a few more products," Yahoo! platforms executive vice president Jay Rossiter said in a blog post.

European Space Agency scientists have developed a smartphone app that turns a toy drone into a virtual spacecraft on a mission to dock with the International Space Station, and uses crowd-sourced data from its manoeuvres to improve artificial intelligence on future missions.

The free AstroDrone app for the iPhone and iPad allows owners of the French-built Parrot A.R. -- an advanced mini drone that flies around with the aid of four rotors -- to simulate a docking with the ISS, a task until now only done by astronauts.

Yahoo's China arm will shut down its email service later this year, state media reported Friday, in a move illustrating the brand's diminishing profile in the country.

Yahoo China announced it will close its email service by August 19, a move the China Daily said will leave it with just its web portal business in the country.

Japan's parliament on Friday lifted a ban on Internet electioneering, permitting candidates and their supporters to tweet, use Facebook and update their websites on the campaign trail.

The upper house unanimously approved the bill to revise the public offices election law, ending a long-running debate on the strict ban, criticised by its detractors as an anachronism.

A U.S. judge dismissed for the second time Thursday a billion-dollar lawsuit by entertainment giant Viacom accusing Google-owned website YouTube of knowingly profiting from pirated video clips.

U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton firmly stood by his original decision in the case after being instructed by an appellate court to take another look.