Spain's data protection watchdog said Monday it has slapped Facebook with a fine of 1.2 million euros ($1.4 million) for failing to prevent its users' data being accessed by advertisers.

The most popular "streamripping" site, in which millions of users have converted YouTube videos into audio files, shut down Thursday faced with a legal campaign by the music industry.

YouTube-mp3.org, a site in Germany started in the bedroom of computer science student Philip Matesanz, was inaccessible on Thursday with no further message.

German IT security experts said Thursday that they had found "serious flaws" in the ballot software being used for the September 24 elections in which Chancellor Angela Merkel is seeking a fourth term.

Despite promises that self-driving cars are in the fast lane, it could be a long haul before they merge with everyday lives.

Fizzing with boyish exuberance, Saudi programmer Zainalabdin Tawfiq could be mistaken for a college freshman, but the popularity of his "honesty" app has shone a spotlight on the conservative kingdom's nascent tech scene.

Former hi-tech executive Dotan Goshen carefully arranges some melons at the bottom of a crate, followed by courgettes, tomatoes and lettuce.

Walmart, the world's biggest retailer, and Google, the internet's predominant search engine, are teaming up in an attempt to challenge Amazon's growing dominance in online shopping. 

The deal will make the retailer's products available on Google Express, and follows Amazon's announcement that it plans to acquire supermarket chain Whole Foods.

Japan on Saturday launched the third satellite in its effort to build a homegrown geolocation system aimed at improving the accuracy of car navigation systems and smartphone maps to mere centimetres. 

The potential move of Apple into streaming video could reshape an industry which is already feeling the impact from new players like Netflix.

While Apple has not revealed any plans publicly, a report that the iPhone maker could spend a billion dollars on its own shows suggested more disruption for a sector seeing rapid changes.

Facebook's sneaky launch of a photo-sharing app in China, where its social network is banned, gives it a small taste of the massive market's potential, but it may have to settle for just that for now.