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Facebook's Oculus Pushes Virtual Reality with New Gear

Facebook on Thursday worked to ramp up enthusiasm for its virtual reality line, unveiling new gear including a lower-end wireless headset prototype.

The company's Oculus virtual reality division is set to release in coming months a new "Touch" controller and a more affordable computer for powering virtual experiences using Rift headsets.

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Yahoo Denies Surveillance Claims amid Privacy Outcry

Yahoo on Wednesday rejected allegations of mass email surveillance amid an outcry from privacy activists over a report that it created a special scanning program at the behest of U.S. intelligence.

The report, which said the U.S. internet giant secretly scanned hundreds of millions of email accounts to help American intelligence, was "misleading," Yahoo said.

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US Flight Evacuated after Another Samsung Phone Fire

A Southwest Airlines flight leaving Louisville, Kentucky was evacuated Wednesday after a passenger's Samsung phone began emitting smoke. 

Flight 994 was evacuated on the runway prior to takeoff after a passenger's Samsung Galaxy Note 7 -- described as a replacement in Samsung's global recall of the device -- apparently caught fire, the airline said.

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Google Announcement: Pixel Phones and Smart Machines

US internet giant Google on Tuesday challenged heavyweight rivals including Apple and Amazon with an array of new gadgets aimed at digital lifestyles. Coming products to watch for:

- Smartphone 'Made by Google' -Pixel is the first smartphone designed by Google, with the Silicon Valley powerhouse dictating the hardware, software and services the way Apple does with its iPhones.

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Google Launches Pixel Smartphone in Hardware Push

Google on Tuesday unveiled its new Pixel smartphone with artificial intelligence built in as it directly takes on the iPhone with its own branded, premium-priced handset.

"We are building hardware with the Google Assistant at its core," said Rick Osterloh, head of a new hardware division at the California-based internet giant.

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Apple Still a Star without Steve Jobs, but Doubts Linger

Five years after the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, the Silicon Valley tech giant is bigger and stronger, despite lingering doubts over its future without the visionary leader.

In financial terms, Apple has been an unstoppable juggernaut: Its profit for the 2015 fiscal year was a whopping $53 billion on revenues of $234 billion -- both figures doubled since the final year of Jobs's reign before he died of pancreatic cancer on October 5, 2011.

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Facebook Launches Buy-and-Sell 'Marketplace'

Facebook on Monday launched a new online "Marketplace" allowing members of the huge social network to buy and sell with each other.

The new feature puts Facebook squarely in competition with local online selling platforms led by Craigslist, and offers an alternative to marketplaces like eBay.

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Advertising on Mobile: It's All about 'Stopping the Thumb'

Almost 80 years old, the deodorant Old Spice is learning new tricks for finding customers in the era of smartphones and social media.

The Procter & Gamble product, having spoofed itself for years with advice on how to become more "mantastic," posts to its 2.6 million Facebook followers a steady stream of video games, prize entries, and advertisements as short as two seconds. 

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Software Star Google Expected to Flex Hardware Muscle

A high-profile Google event Tuesday is widely expected to show a new emphasis on hardware, challenging rivals Apple and Amazon and launching a new strategy for the online giant.

While the company has offered no official preview, it is expected to unveil a new line of Google-branded smartphones, a tablet and a home virtual assistant.

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U.S. Government Cuts Cord on Internet Oversight

The US government on Saturday ended its formal oversight role over the internet, handing over management of the online address system to a global non-profit entity.

The US Commerce Department announced that its contract had expired with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which manages the internet's so-called "root zone."

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