Times have changed in Bollywood from the days when all that was required to promote a film was a giant, hand-painted poster, a television or cinema trailer and the pulling power of a star actor.

Now, the popular Hindi-language film industry is harnessing the latest technology, hoping that the explosive increase in mobile phones and rapid take-up of the Internet will draw in much-needed audiences.

Microsoft on Monday began letting Bing search results reflect "likes" of people's friends at Facebook as the social networking star and the software colossus grew closer.

"The best decisions are not just fueled by facts, they require the opinions and emotions of your friends," Bing senior vice president Youssef Mehdi said in a release.

Two leading makers of lighting products are showcasing LED bulbs that are bright enough to replace energy-guzzling 100-watt light bulbs set to disappear from stores in January.

Their demonstrations at the LightFair trade show in Philadelphia this week mean that brighter LED bulbs will likely go on sale next year, but after a government ban takes effect.

Just a fifth of Iraqis have bank accounts, but 70 percent have mobile phones, so Baghdad is hoping to close the gap by getting people to open accounts, make payments and transfer cash -- all via mobile.

In a country that is one of the most corrupt and violent in the world, the initiative is aimed at securing Iraqis' funds, and strengthening the banking sector as higher revenues resulting from a greater number of transactions boost profits.

Is it worth life in a wheelchair to take a funny photo to impress somebody you don't know on the Internet?

This is the question police in Australia have posed after a man died on Sunday taking part in the latest craze going viral on the Internet -- "planking".

Yahoo Inc. and Chinese Internet company Alibaba Group tried to present a united front Sunday as they worked on a dispute that has caused tension in their already strained relationship.

But the two tech giants offered few details, releasing only a one-sentence statement saying they were in "productive negotiations" to resolve "outstanding issues related to Alipay," which is Alibaba's online payment service.

Google on Friday began letting U.S. Smartphone users stay abreast of local news wherever they happen to be.

"News near you" lets iPhones or Android-powered Smartphones display stories relevant to people's locations at any given moment, according to product manager Navneet Singh.

Pioneering Swiss solar-powered aircraft Solar Impulse, which holds a 26-hour record for flight duration, took off from Switzerland on Friday on its first international flight to Belgium.

The experimental emissions-free aircraft is expected to take about 12 hours to complete the journey to Brussels Airport, the team said.

Dictators in the Arab world could crush uprisings against their iron-fisted rule using the same social media that have been credited with boosting the revolts, Amnesty warned in a new report Friday.

In its annual analysis of the world's human rights, Amnesty International praised the role of websites such as Twitter and Facebook in fomenting the biggest revolt against repressive regimes since the end of the Cold War.

YouTube on Thursday began publishing a chart that tracks top music videos at the popular Google-owned website.

A YouTube 100 chart online at youtube.com/music will be updated weekly based on the popularity of videos whether works are amateur or professional, according to YouTube product manager Chris LaRosa.