Technology
Latest stories
Instagram Website Frames Users' Pictures

Facebook-owned Instagram on Tuesday began letting a freshly launched website serve as a gallery for images taken by users of the smartphone photo-sharing service.

"Instagram, at its core, is about seeing and taking photos on-the-go," company co-founder Kevin Systrom said in a blog post.

W140 Full Story
Pioneering Videogame Firm Atari Gets Lifeline

Atari, the pioneering video game company mired in bankruptcy proceedings in both France and the U.S., said on Tuesday it had found a last minute buyer after the latest leading shareholder gave up on turning the company around.

Atari SA "supports the proposed acquisition of the BlueBay Funds' interests in the Atari group by a longtime videogame professional and a fund advised by Alden Global Capital," the videogamer said in a statement.

W140 Full Story
N. Korea Video Shows U.S. City Under Attack

North Korea, poised to conduct a nuclear test any day now, has posted a video on YouTube depicting a U.S. city resembling New York engulfed in flames after an apparent missile attack.

The footage was uploaded Saturday by the North's official website, Uriminzokkiri, which distributes news and propaganda from the state media.

W140 Full Story
Court again Blocks Philippines Cybercrime Law

The Philippine Supreme Court has again stopped the government from enforcing a controversial cybercrime law, officials said Tuesday, amid concern it would severely curb Internet freedoms.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said a fresh "temporary restraining order" (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court meant the law passed last year could not take effect.

W140 Full Story
New BlackBerry to be Released in U.S. in Mid-March

The chief executive of Research In Motion said he's disappointed the new BlackBerry won't be released in the United States until mid-March, but he said early data suggests sales in the U.K. are above expectations.

Thorsten Heins said in an interview Monday with The Associated Press that he was disappointed in the mid-March U.S. release date. But he said the U.S. and its phone carriers have a rigid testing system.

W140 Full Story
Study: Online Search Ads Expose Racial Bias

Ads pegged to Google search results can be racially biased because of how certain names are associated with blacks or whites, according to a new study.

Harvard University professor Latanya Sweeney found "statistically significant discrimination" when comparing ads served with results from online searches made using names associated with blacks and those with whites.

W140 Full Story
Somali Islamist Insurgents Return to Twitter

Somalia's al-Qaida linked Shebab insurgents have returned to Twitter with a new account, less than two weeks since they were suspended after posting photographs of a French commando they had killed.

"For what it’s worth, shooting the messenger and suppressing the truth by silencing your opponents isn’t quite the way to win the war of ideas," read one of the messages on the new account, which opened late Sunday.

W140 Full Story
Report: U.S. May Use Preemptive Cyber Strikes

A secret legal review has concluded that the U.S. president has the power to order preemptive cyber strikes if the United States discovers credible evidence of a major digital attack against it is in the offing, The New York Times reported Monday.

Citing unnamed officials involved in the review, the newspaper said the new policy will also govern how the intelligence agencies can carry out searches of overseas computer networks for signs of potential attacks on the United States and, if the president approves, attack adversaries with a destructive code -- even if there is no declared war.

W140 Full Story
Hackers Attack Embattled Iraq PM's Website

Hackers attacked the official website of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Saturday, posting a message critical of the leader who has faced weeks of protests demanding he quit.

The message, posted by a group calling themselves "Team Kuwait Hackers", described Maliki as a "tyrant" and warned him that he would end up like Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has been grappling with a 22-month uprising.

W140 Full Story
New BlackBerry Scalped Online

Though yet to be launched in North America, BlackBerry's new smartphones were already for sale online Friday, stirring bidding frenzies.

Sellers claimed they obtained the sleek new handsets at launch events in New York, Toronto, Dubai, London and Johannesburg. Journalists and analysts who attended the events were given a BlackBerry Z10, which retails for $599.

W140 Full Story