Google on Thursday began construction of a new data center in Hong Kong, the first of three planned for Asia as the Web giant expands to meet the region's growing thirst for information technology.

The facility, Google's first outside the United States and Europe, will cost US$300 million and is being built on 2.7 hectares (6.7 acres) in the Tseung Kwan O industrial estate in Kowloon, the firm said.

Internet-streamed video will overtake cable to dominate home video viewing within three to five years, Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings predicted Tuesday, with stiffer competition to come.

Hastings said that the rapid growth in high-volume home internet links over fiber optic cables will boost consumer use of on-demand viewing services over traditional cable viewing.

One of the world's largest Apple stores is opening at the landmark Grand Central Terminal.

The 23,000-square-foot (2,140-square-meter) personal electronics business will start selling to the public on Friday.

A U.S. adversary would currently be unable to bring down the entire U.S. electrical grid using cyber weapons but such a scenario is conceivable within two to five years, the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday.

"Today, the likelihood that a nation-state or any actor is going to knock down the entire electrical grid of a country, of the United States let's say, is very remote," retired General James Cartwright said.

Microsoft on Tuesday began wooing developers for a February opening of its first "app store" for computers powered by the U.S. technology giant's Windows software.

The Windows Store will open in late February when Microsoft releases a test version of its next-generation Windows 8 operating system.

Crayola allows tots to doodle on the iPad using its iMarker just as they would a crayon on a coloring book. Tweens are able to belt out their favorite Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez tunes on a Disney microphone that turns the tablet into a karaoke machine. And technology accessories company Griffin enables teens to fly its toy helicopter by using the iPhone as a remote control.

This holiday season, toy makers have turned Apple Inc.'s pricey tablet and smartphone into playthings for kids. They figure in this weak economy, parents will be willing to splurge on toys for their children that utilize devices they already have — or want — themselves.

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chip maker, said Tuesday it would build a new production line in China for flash memory chips used in tablets and smartphones.

Samsung plans to start construction of the NAND flash chip plant in 2012 for operation the following year if the South Korean government approves it.

The Indian government has asked Facebook, Google, Yahoo! and other Internet networks to screen user content to cut out defamatory and offensive material, officials said Tuesday.

Communications Minister Kapil Sibal met with representatives of the companies in New Delhi and requested that all content was checked before it was uploaded onto social websites.

Dell said Monday it would halt sales of its Android tablet computer in the U.S. market, as rival Amazon's new Kindle Fire has heated up in a market dominated by Apple's iPad.

A message on the Texas-based computer's website said that the seven-inch (17.8-centimeter) Streak tablet powered by Google's mobile operating software would no longer be sold in the United States.

German engineering giant Siemens said Monday it has agreed to buy eMeter, a U.S.-based data management specialist, in a bid to enhance its position in the field of so-called smart grids.

Both parties had agreed not to disclose the purchase price and expected to close the deal in "mid-to-late December," Siemens said in a statement.