The ABC's of Google's Alphabet announcement

When Ruth Porat, Google's chief financial officer, addressed analysts on a conference call for the first time in July, she preached one thing: balance.

"A key focus is on the levers within our control to manage the pace of expenses while still ensuring and supporting our growth," she said at the time.

If only they knew the half of it. Balance was at the center of a bombshell announcementMonday, when the company created Alphabet, a holding company for Google's many businesses.

Samsung looks to get a head start on Apple with its next jumbo smartphone

Samsung hopes to get the jump on Apple. But will it be enough?

On Thursday, Samsung will host its second Unpacked event of the year to introduce its newest phablets, the jumbo-sized hybrids between smartphones and tablets. The company is expected to release the Galaxy Note 5, which will include a metal back instead of plastic and an improved stylus, as well as the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, which is believed to have a 5.7-inch screen that curves over the sides of the device.

Astronauts taste space lettuce, become zero-g food critics

Astronaut Scott Kelly poses with the lettuce before harvest

Decades of astronauts have had to make due with freeze-dried, vacuum-packed foods. They probably dream about things like crisp salads packed with gorgeous leafy greens harvested from a field.

Dream no more, dear astronauts. Fresh lettuce in space is now official. Astronauts on the International Space Station got their first taste of space-grown greens Monday.

Windows 10 update triggers reboot glitch for some users

Microsoft has rolled out a major new update for Windows 10 that's causing headaches for some users.

Pushed out last Wednesday, a major update for Windows 10 dubbed KB3081424 is designed as a cumulative update, which means it incorporates all of the bug fixes previously released for the new OS. But KB3081424 is proving itself to be buggy.

Nvidia Shield recall impacts 'vast majority' of tablets it sold, CEO says

Nvidia's Shield tablet recall includes the "vast majority" of devices the company has sold, CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said.

Nvidia on Friday announced that 8-inch Shield tablets sold between July 2014 and July 2015 have a battery that is susceptible to overheating and could pose a fire hazard. The company said that no other Shield products, including the Shield Android TV set-top box and the Shield gaming portable, are part of the voluntary recall.

Yahoo is trying to become one of the smartphone cool kids

When Marissa Mayer became CEO of Yahoo three years ago, the former Google executive staked her reputation on one thing: bringing Yahoo, an ailing pioneer of the early Internet, into the smartphone age.

To that end, Mayer made one of her biggest moves just over a week ago, unveiling a mobile app called Livetext, a video-chatting service aimed at teens. It's only the second brand-new mobile app the company has introduced during her tenure.

Regulators shut down T-Mobile's push for more wireless spectrum

All five commissioners on the Federal Communications Commission unanimously voted Thursday to stick with a "spectrum reserve" it adopted last year for the auction, tentatively scheduled for March. The FCC's move comes as little surprise since FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler signaled in June that the agency had not planned to increase the amount of spectrum it was setting aside for smaller players.

Tesla Model S owners, take heart: Hack requires physical access to car's onboard computer

File this one under hacks that are technically possible -- but may be more trouble than they're worth.

Two security researchers have discovered a way to hack a Tesla Model S and bring the vehicle to a stop. However, the hack requires physical access to the inside of a Model S, making it difficult for any malicious hackers to pull off.

Apple denies report it's getting into wireless business

Apple on Tuesday shot down a report that it's in talks to introduce its own wireless network in the US and Europe.

Business Insider, citing unnamed sources, on Monday reported that Apple was working on a mobile network similar to Google's Project Fi.The publication said Apple's wireless service would allow customers to pay the company directly for data, calls and texts, while automatically switching between carriers to give users the best service. Business Insider said it would be at least five years before Apple's service would launch.

Acer unveils low-cost Windows 10 Cloudbooks as rival to Chromebooks

Looking for an inexpensive laptop that runs Windows 10? Acer has a couple of new devices up its sleeve.

Announced Tuesday, Acer's Aspire One Cloudbook 11 and Aspire One Cloudbook 14 are cloud-oriented laptops geared toward people who don't mind limited storage and midrange hardware specs if that means they'll pay less money. Acer is calling them "cloudbooks" because they tap into the cloud: You get a one-year subscription to Microsoft Office 365, access to Microsoft's OneDrive to store and sync your files online, and use of Acer's own cloud-enabled apps.

Intel ups referral bonus to achieve more diversity in its workforce

Intel will offer thousands of dollars in cash bonuses to employees who refer women, minorities, and veterans to its workforce.

The chipmaker will pay up to $4,000 in bonuses to employees who refer a woman, minority, or veteran to its workforce, the company confirmed in a statement to the Wall Street Journal on Monday. The fee is double Intel's current referral bonus and viewed by the company as a way to increase chances of having women and minorities receive more representation in a job applicant pool that has disproportionately consisted of white men.

What you need to know about artificial intelligence, and the imminent robot future

Do androids dream of electric sheep? That's unclear, but I know for sure that every kid dreams of intelligent, thinking robots -- certainly every kid who goes on to work at CNET, in any case.

Today, my sci-fi-fuelled childhood fantasies of a bot with a "brain the size of a planet" are closer than ever to being realised. Artificial intelligence, or AI, the practice of making a machine behave in a smart way, is already changing our world and is, by my reckoning, the most fascinating field of technology right now.

The truth about Ultra HD 4K TV refresh rates

There's a simple rule of thumb for companies that market electronics: When it comes to specs, a higher number usually preferred. Sure, there are exceptions -- you want things like response time, load times and mobile device weight to be low -- but generally, more equals better. It comes down to the "speeds and feeds" aspect that still dominates a lot of tech shopping: when you line up a bunch of similar TVs, phones, laptops or tablets, the ones with the higher numbers get the edge. Think about battery life, display resolution, screen size, processor speed, memory and storage capacity -- just to name a few.

Uber to spend $1B over nine months for India expansion

Car-hailing service Uber is looking to dramatically broaden its presence in India.

The company will invest $1 billion over nine months to expand across India, Uber said on Friday. The cash will be used to bring its service to more cities across the country, as well as to let the firm offer new products and payment options to customers, Uber said.

Windows 10 now running on over 14 million devices

Microsoft's brand-new Windows 10 operating system is now running on millions of computers and tablets around the world.

Windows 10 is now running on over 14 million devices, Microsoft announced in a blog post on Thursday. According to Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Windows and the Devices Group Yusuf Mehdi, that number will only continue to grow over time as Microsoft makes Windows 10 available to more users in the coming days and weeks.

Nvidia recalls 88,000 Shield tablets over possible fire hazard

If you have an Nvidia Shield tablet and it feels a little warm, you may want to turn it off and request a replacement.

Nvidia on Friday announced that 8-inch Shield tablets sold between July 2014 and July 2015 have a battery that is susceptible to overheating and could pose a fire hazard. The company said that no other Shield products, including the Shield AndroidTV set-top box and the Shield gaming portable, are part of the voluntary recall.

Nokia jumps into virtual reality market with 360-degree Ozo camera

Nokia Technologies plans to return to the consumer market, focusing on virtual reality rather than the cell phones that made it famous.

The Finnish company -- what was left of the former cell phone giant after Microsoft bought its handset division last year -- on Tuesday night unveiled Ozo, a next-generation camera for capturing 360-degree video and audio. Unveiled at an entertainment industry event in Los Angeles, the orb-shaped camera is designed for professional content creators rather than consumers.

The many faces of Cortana: How Microsoft's virtual assistant wants to woo the worl

We live in a world where we're starting to talk to our computers, but it still feels like the device on the receiving end is a machine. Microsoft believes it's begun solving that with Cortana.

The Internet-connected service, which lives inside Microsoft's new Windows 10 software out Wednesday, will be the first assistant at the beck and call of PC users across the globe. It's based on the advanced artificial intelligence character in the Microsoft-owned video game saga Halo, but it's widely available to anyone with the company's new operating system.

Qualcomm invents way to wirelessly charge mobile devices with metal bodies

Mobile phones that sport metal bodies or cases will soon be able to wirelessly charge themselves courtesy of a new technology created by Qualcomm.

Qualcomm subsidiary Qualcomm Technologies Inc. (QTI) announced on Tuesday that it's the first company to enable wireless charging of mobile devices with metal exteriors. Until now, mobile devices with metal exteriors haven't been compatible with existing wireless charging technologies.

Square files for IPO, say reports, in new wrinkle for Dorsey, Twitter

Mobile-payments company Square, the other firm dreamed up by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, has filed confidential paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell stock to the public, according to several major news outlets, which cited unnamed sources.

Schooling Vietnam: How tech companies are training the next wave of workers

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam -- I was late to the 5:30 p.m. class, and the air-conditioned room was packed when I arrived. I slipped off my sandals, customary when visiting Vietnamese homes and businesses, and joined two dozen men crammed into rows of workstations in the sparse, white-walled space.

F-U-N-D-E-D: The crowd wants their robots at home -- and under the covers

The masses have been speaking with their cash this year, donating hundreds of millions of dollars through crowdfunding sites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter.

And this week, Silicon Valley's venture capitalists answered with theirs, giving the crowds what they, apparently, really want: robots at home that anticipate thoughts, read stories to the kids and help grandma -- or that live under the sheets.

Fire Phone one year later: Why Amazon's smartphone flamed out

There are times when being the first person with a new gadget will elicit cheers and envy -- like outside New York's Fifth Avenue Apple Store, surrounded by applauding salespeople, curious fans and gawking media.

Then there's buying the Amazon Fire Phone.

Marlena Solomon learned first-hand the hazards of being an early adopter when she jumped at the chance to buy Amazon's first-ever smartphone a year ago.

Motorola accidentally leaks Moto G Maker

If there was any doubt that Motorola's Moto G is coming soon and boasts a new design tool allowing for more customization, consider it over.

Motorola on Thursday accidentally posted its "Moto Maker" page to its website, allowing would-be Moto G buyers to design their own device and order it from the site. The Moto Maker is designed to allow people to customize in precise detail exactly how they would like their Moto G to look. For instance, customers will be able to pick whether they have a black or white front device housing, and choose a color for the back of their handset.

Microsoft rolls out more Windows 10 updates as July 29 launch looms

Microsoft has pushed out a few more updates to Windows 10 as it rushes to prep its new OS for launch next Wednesday.

On Thursday, Gabe Aul, the engineering general manager for Microsoft's operating systems group, tweeted: "Another update now available on Windows Update for Windows 10 PC build 10240." Build 10240 is the latest and final build for Windows 10 before the official launch. As such, Microsoft has been focused on pushing out updates for that build to ensure that it's as solid as possible.

The two updates released late Thursday include a security update with the Microsoft Knowledge Base number of KB3074679 and a new driver for Intel HD graphics. The security update description says little other than the generic: "A security issue that been identified in a Microsoft product that could affect your system." The one for Intel HD graphics updates the driver for PCs with Intel's integrated graphics processor. I also caught an update for Windows Defender, Microsoft's built-in antimalware software, which is updated on a regular basis with new definition files.

Microsoft needs to hit a home run with Windows 10, not just to make up for the debacle of Windows 8 but also to prove that it can still create an OS that generates appeal, excitement and demand among users. The company has been constructing and enhancing Windows 10 since October, with feedback from people who joined the Windows Insider Program to download and test each new build and offer their comments, suggestions and criticisms.

But even if Windows 10 isn't 100 percent bug-free and rock-solid come next Wednesday, that doesn't spell doom and gloom for the latest version. With Windows 10, Microsoft has adopted a new rollout approach. Members of the Windows Insider Program will get the upgrade on Wednesday so they can keep testing and offering their feedback. Based on that testing and feedback as well as its own findings, Microsoft will continue to update Windows 10 to address any new issues. It will then start pushing the OS out to Windows 7 and 8.1 users who reserved the free upgrade.

And even after the upgrade is installed by potentially millions of Windows 7 and 8.1 users, Microsoft can continue to update the product as necessary through the Windows Update process. So in some ways, Windows 10 may always be a work in progress. That's not much different than previous versions of Windows, which continually required updates. Still, the new OS needs to be as stable and user-friendly as possible during the rollout period if it's to catch on with users, especially those jaded with Microsoft after Windows 8.

The latest Windows 10 updates should download automatically as long as you've enabled Automatic Updates. To do so, click the Start button and choose Settings. From the Settings screen, click the category for Update & security. In the Windows Update pane, click the link for Advanced options. And under Advanced Options, make sure the option under Choose how updates are installed is set to Automatic.

You can also check for new updates manually from the Windows Update pane. Click the Check for updates button. If any updates are found, click the View details button and then click the Install button to install them.

AT&T creates mobile and video giant after sealing DirecTV deal

The Dallas telecommunications giant confirmed Friday that it has closed its acquisition of satellite television provider DirecTV for $49 billion.

Combining AT&T's broadband and wireless services with DirecTV's nationwide satellite TV service will create a powerhouse of broadband, entertainment and communications services. AT&T gets access to DirecTV's content deals, such as its package of National Football League games, as well as the ability to deliver those services to everyone across the country. (AT&T only offers its video service to a few states.) DirecTV's video relationships could become key as more content is delivered on mobile devices.

EU launches antitrust probe against Disney, other film studios

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Disney and several other US film studios are under investigation by the European Union for possible antitrust violations.

On Thursday, the EU's European Commission announced that it sent a Statement of Objections to pay-TV provider Sky UK and six US film studios: Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros. The EC is charging that the studios and Sky UK have jointly set up contracts that prevent Sky UK from offering access to films to Europeans outside of the UK and Ireland.

Apple eyes remote control personalized via fingerprint, retinal scan

Apple has envisioned a TV remote that can access your personal profile and settings based on your fingerprint or retina.

A patent application called "Device Configuration for Multiple Users Using Remote User Biometrics" published Thursday by the US Patent and Trademark Office lays out the technology for personalizing remote controls. The idea would be to let each person in a household access a personal profile on a TV, set-top box or other device based on biometric information, such as a fingerprint, picked up by the remote control.

Amazon's handyman service expands to new cities

Amazon's handyman service is getting a spit-shine.

The e-commerce company said Wednesday that Amazon Home Services -- its hub for hiring plumbers, painters and electricians through its website -- has expanded to 11 new US cities, including Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. The new service is also introducing an option to let users request custom contract jobs, such as paving a driveway or rewiring an old home.

Microsoft feels the pain of a failed mobile-phone business

Microsoft is hurting after shifting its smartphone strategy -- leading it to report the biggest quarterly loss in company history.

The company reported fourth-quarter earnings Tuesday that reflected a $7.5 billion writedown related to its failed acquisition of Nokia's phone and services business. Microsoft also said it will incur additional charges, for combined writedown costs of $8.4 billion.

UCLA Health hacked, 4.5 million victims

Hackers broke into the massive hospital network of the University of California, Los Angeles, accessing computers with sensitive records of 4.5 million people.

Names, medical information, Social Security numbers, Medicare numbers, health plan IDs, birthdays and physical addresses -- all were potentially stolen, according to the university.

Don't share secrets online. You will be hacked.

The news: Cheat-on-your-spouse website Ashley Madison got hacked. Hackers are threatening to reveal the names of its 37 million cheating users.

The lesson: If you give a company your name, credit card number, photo -- don't expect it to stay secret forever.

How Apple could make a $53 billion profit this year

In the last three months of 2014, Apple posted the biggest quarterly profit -- $18 billion -- in corporate history. For Apple's fiscal year, which ends in September, the company is set to rake in $52.5 billion in earnings, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Facebook is taking on Amazon with shopping pages

To do this, the social network will help businesses transform their Facebook pages into e-commerce sites.A retailer, for example, could list and sell products directly through its Facebook (FB, Tech30) page. People who visit the page would be able to browse, shop and pay without ever leaving Facebook's mobile app, or Facebook.com.

Apple updates iPods for first time in 3 years

On Wednesday, Apple (AAPL, Tech30) released its latest version of the iPod touch, giving it better cameras, the same A8 chip as the newest version of the iPhone, and a fresh coat of paint.

The new iPod touch's rear camera is now 8 megapixels, up from 5 MP in the previous version. It can now take time-lapse video, pictures in slow motion, burst photos and panoramas.

Amazon changes Europe tax practices amid ongoing probe

Amazon will begin paying taxes in individual European countries instead of funneling sales through low-tax Luxembourg amid ongoing investigations into the tax strategies of American tech companies in Europe.

Amazon's new tax practices went in to effect on May 1, with local divisions in the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain already recording their own revenue, an Amazon representative said. The strategy shift, which was first reported by The Guardian, could result in a larger tax charges in certain countries.

In 200 years, rich humans will be cyborgs, says professor

Humanity is currently privileged to have choices.

We can watch every sci-fi movie and TV series ever made and decide which character we'd like our future selves to play when we become robots.

It's a lovely game.

However, one historian seems to believe that we'll be partial to becoming bad guys in "Doctor Who."

Yuval Noah Harari of the University of Jerusalem thinks that humans will choose to become cyborgs.As the Telegraph reports, he offered a rather chilling view of social progress.

oneBoard to rule them all? This smart keyboard PC runs Windows or Android

SHANGHAI -- As manufacturers turn almost every device into something smart and connected, Beijing-based AC000 has come up with a smart keyboard that actually makes sense. oneBoard has three versions available, one family, one office and one gaming. The game-centric model is the oneBoard Pro+, an 86-key finger tapper using Cherry MX Plum mechanical keys with either an ARM or an Intel Atom processor.

So you think you can't sing? Science says otherwise

Fox recently announced that "American Idol" won't get another season. Good riddance, I say. The show may have produced a few names with actual talent, but it felt like one of those reality shows where viewers get their jollies watching judges crush people's dreams like grapes in a stomping vat.

Etsy may face 'Handmade' rival from Amazon

A decade into its run on the Web, the crafts marketplace Etsy may soon face its biggest challenge yet.

E-commerce titan Amazon has been putting out feelers to sellers on Etsy, pointing them to an online form thanking them for their interest in "Handmade at Amazon." They're asked to fill out the form with information about their business and the items they sell -- from jewelry to gourmet goods to toys and games -- with a promise to keep respondents updated "while we set up shop."

Mozilla overhauls Firefox smartphone plan to focus on quality, not cost

Mozilla has revamped its Firefox OS mobile software project after concluding that ultra-affordable $25 handsets aren't enough to take on the biggest powers of the smartphone world, CNET has learned.

The nonprofit organization rose to prominence with the success of its Firefox Web browser a decade ago, but it's having trouble achieving the same success with its Firefox operating system for smartphones. According to a Thursday email from new Chief Executive Chris Beard, Mozilla has changed its strategy to a new "Ignite" initiative that emphasizes phones with compelling features, not just with lower price tags. It's also considering letting its operating system run apps written for its top rival, Google's Android.

NSA's collection of phone-call data could be cut off for a time

The National Security Agency's access to phone-call data may well be cut off -- at least temporarily -- after the US Senate failed to reach a compromise about a controversial NSA surveillance program prior to a crucial deadline.

The Senate failed Saturday to pass an extension of provisions of the USA Patriot Act that expire June 1 and have served as the legal justification for the NSA's current, wholesale collection of telephone data. The spy agency has said such collection is crucial in fighting terrorism.

Earlier in the same session, the Senate had killed a reform bill -- the USA Freedom Act -- passed by the House and backed by the Obama administration. That legislation would have allowed collection to continue, but in a newly restricted way designed to safeguard constitutional rights regarding privacy, while protecting national security.

The heated back-and-forth over the agency's surveillance programs has been going on for two years, since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked details of the programs to journalists. The Freedom Act would require the agency to seek a court order on a case-by-case basis to obtain call data from telephone companies -- rather than scooping up data itself in bulk and examining it with an OK from the special, secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Critics have said a new legal process would be too slow and would hamper the NSA's counterterrorism efforts. Reform supporters, however, have challenged claims about the current program's effectiveness in preventing terror attacks and have said the reform bill would help ensure individual liberties.

The Senate is set to reconvene after its Memorial Day recess for a rare Sunday session -- on May 31 -- to vote again on a Patriot Act extension, and possibly reconsider the Freedom Act. But any extension would need to be approved by the House, which isn't scheduled to meet again until after the June 1 expiration deadline. That means the NSA's phone-data collection could lapse altogether for a time.

Members of the surveillance community say a failure to renew the Patriot Act would threaten national security. The US would face "considerable risk and uncertainty," Bloomberg quoted unnamed officials as saying. And while advocating, Saturday, for a last-minute extension to the Patriot Act, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pointed to terrorism.

"This is a high threat period," McConnell said, according to blog Politico. "We better be ready next Sunday afternoon to prevent the country from being in danger by total expiration of the program that we're all familiar with."

Meerkat arrives on Android ahead of Twitter's Periscope

Meerkat, the popular service that lets users live-stream video to their Twitter followers, is now on Android, ahead of Twitter -- its top competitor and the very company it relies on to drive its service.

Meerkat brought its app to the Google Play store on April 30. The free app supports Android 4.2 and up and is currently in beta, so it might need to have some issues worked out before it sheds its beta tag. Meerkat hasn't said when it will launch an update to the app, but it has already proven somewhat popular, tallying between 100,000 and 500,000 installs, according to Google Play's wide-ranged tracker.

There is a bitter battle between Meerkat and Periscope to be the live-streaming option of choice for users. By getting to Android first, Meerkat is going for a first-mover advantage to nab users and keep them put.

In March, Twitter announced the launch of its own livestreaming platform, called Periscope. Like Meerkat at the time, Periscope was only available on iOS and Twitter said that an Android version was "in the works."

In the month or so that Periscope has been available, it's proven popular, according to Twitter. The company said on Wednesday during an earnings call that the livestreaming service had nabbed 1 million users within its first 10 days of availability. It's unknown how that has translated to Meerkat usage, but the tide seems to be turning against the livestreaming startup.

Apple, IBM to give 5 million iPads to Japanese seniors

Apple, extending its partnership with IBM, will also collaborate on apps to improve the wellness and connectivity of elderly people, starting in Japan.

NEW YORK -- Apple and IBM are getting into the senior care business.

The two companies said Thursday that they plan to give 5 million iPads to seniors in Japan over the next five years. The iPads will come with special software designed to help the elderly manage health care and other needs.

"We will dramatically improve the lives of millions of people," Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said an event here. "Sooner or later almost every country on the face on the earth will encounter this same issue."

Bezos' space company tests suborbital rocket

Blue Origin, a spacecraft startup owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, carried out an unmanned maiden test flight of its New Shepard suborbital rocket Wednesday, the company revealed early Thursday.

A dramatic video posted on the Blue Origin website showed the squat rocket being erected on a launch platform at the company's west Texas development facility followed by a brief countdown -- with Bezos looking on -- then a smooth liftoff and a vertical climb to an altitude of 58 miles.

After a string of losses, Sony sees good times ahead for profit

The company lost 126 billion yen ($1.05 billion) in the fiscal year ended in March, but it expects to turn that around with a 140 billion yen profit next fiscal year.

Sony might have posted a loss for the fiscal year ended in March, but the company says that the future looks much brighter.

Sony said (PDF) on Thursday that it expects to post a profit in the fiscal year ended March 2016 of 140 billion yen ($1.2 billion), more than making up for the loss of 126 billion yen the company suffered for the fiscal year ended in March. That profit would be the first the company would tally since the fiscal year ended in 2013 and its biggest profit in seven years. It would also mark an important turnaround for a company that has been facing its fair share of troubles over the last couple of years.

Looking even further ahead, the company is predicting a $4.2 billion profit by the end of its 2017 fiscal year, ending in March 2018.

Nokia denies reports it plans to return to smartphones

Nokia Technologies said Sunday it has no plans to resume smartphone manufacturing, denying recent reports it would return to a business it famously abandoned not so long ago.

"Nokia notes recent news reports claiming the company communicated an intention to manufacture consumer handsets out of a R&D facility in China," the company said in a statement. "These reports are false, and include comments incorrectly attributed to a Nokia Networks executive."

Xiaomi's plan to be No. 1 in India begins with the Mi 4i

NEW DELHI -- There's no denying that Xiaomi's new Mi 4i looks familiar, with its cute and colorful rounded plastic frame. But while the Chinese smartphone maker is likely to take flak for its Apple-ish emulations, Hugo Barra, the company's global vice president, says he had this phone in his head when he joined up with the company two years ago, after leaving Google.

"I came on board thinking that Xiaomi needed a flagship phone for emerging markets," said Barra here at the launch of the Mi 4i. "I've spent plenty of time in these markets and thinking a lot about this stuff in my previous job. I do think that price really matters and everyone should have a flagship."

Twitter launches 'Highlights,' to help users cut through the chaff

Twitter seems to be taking a cue from Facebook.

The company announced on Thursday a feature called Highlights that -- like Facebook's News Feed -- is designed to draw on a user's information to deliver relevant content and keep people from becoming overwhelmed.

"While your home timeline is a great place to browse through and engage with Tweets, we know it can be challenging to find the time to get through everything," Twitter said in a blog post Thursday.

For Microsoft, catching the future is an uphill battle

Microsoft's plan for the future is still costing it profit today.

The company that once dominated the computer industry is making the transition to a world where software lives on many devices, all managed online in the cloud. As Microsoft makes that shift, its commercial division -- which sells its Windows operating system and Office productivity apps to businesses -- continues to take a hit.

New version of Google Glass coming soon, says Luxottica CEO

The new version of Google Glass, the search giant's Web-connected eyewear, may be here soon.

The chief executive of Italian eyewear company Luxottica, Massimo Vian, said his company is working on the new product, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. He said it's coming soon, but did not give a specific timeline.

Luxottica, the company behind Ray-Ban and Oakley, has partnered with Google since last May to make frames for the device. Vian was speaking at Luxottica's general meeting in Milan, Italy, the Journal said.