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Firefox Browsers Switch to Yahoo for Online Search

Firefox maker Mozilla announced Wednesday that it is switching to Yahoo as the default service for online searches done through the Web browser in the United States.

Google has been the default option for Firefox searches since 2004, but beginning next month that role in the U.S. will go to Yahoo, according to Mozilla Corporation chief Chris Beard.

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Apple, Xiaomi Trade Smartphone Barbs in China

Top executives from U.S. technology giant Apple and Chinese smartphone upstart Xiaomi traded light-hearted barbs on Thursday at a Chinese Internet conference, acknowledging the fierce competition between the rivals.

Apple's iPhones and iPads are wildly popular in China, encouraging smuggling and crowds at the company's stores as consumers try to lay their hands on the latest products.

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Study: Video Games, E-Commerce Booming in Mideast

Video game and e-commerce markets are growing "exponentially" across the Middle East and North Africa, driven by the mobile revolution and new youth-produced content, according to a study.

The gaming market is expected to nearly triple in size, from $1.6 billion in 2014 to $4.4 billion in 2022, said the study conducted by consulting firm Strategy& and the Abu Dhabi media regulatory body twofour54.

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Facebook Launches Tech News Page

Facebook on Tuesday launched FB Techwire, billed as a showplace for technology talk shared by influential sources.

"The goal of FB Techwire is to aid in the discovery of original content including breaking news, first-person analysis, photos and videos for journalists that care about and cover tech," Facebook said in an email to Agence France Presse.

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Nokia Plans Comeback with 2015 Tablet Launch in China

Finnish telecom equipment group Nokia announced an unexpected return to mobile devices Tuesday with a tablet aimed at the Chinese market.

"We are pleased to bring the Nokia brand back into consumers' hands with the N1 Android tablet, and to help make sophisticated technologies simple," Nokia's head of products Sebastian Nystroem said in a statement.

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WiFi Hubs to Replace New York Pay Phones

Thousands of high-tech terminals offering free WiFi and other services will soon replace New York's remaining fleet of seldom-used pay phones, the city mayor said Monday.

Mayor Bill de Blasio called the "LinkNYC" system "the fastest and largest municipal WiFi network in the world."

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Amnesty Feels 'Chill' from China Internet Meeting

Rights group Amnesty International on Tuesday described a major Chinese-organised Internet conference as chilling, calling it an attempt to have a greater say in the rules that govern the web.

The Chinese government has set up the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen this week with the theme "An Interconnected World Shared and Governed by All", according to its website.

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Snapchat Lets Friends Send Cash in a Snap

Smartphone app Snapchat on Monday began letting users in the United States send money to friends by simply typing dollar amounts into new "Snapcash" messages.

The new feature came from a first collaboration between Snapchat and Square, a mobile payments company headed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.

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Samsung to Slash Number of Smartphone Models

Samsung Electronics has announced plans to slash the number of smartphone models it issues next year by up to one-third as it tries to cut prices in the face of intense Chinese competition.

The strategy, confirmed by a company spokesman Tuesday, was unveiled during a presentation in New York by the South Korean conglomerate's head of investor relations, Robert Yi.

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3 Florida Guys Find a Career Playing Video Games

From nine to five, seven days a week, Robert Schill plays video games while sitting on a plush, brown sofa in central Florida.

Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people watch. His web channel has more than 35 million hits in one year.

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