The surge into social networks is gaining pace among Americans, with Facebook dominating but with many people using multiple platforms, a study showed Monday.

A Pew Research Center survey found 73 percent of Americans over age 18 on the Internet use at least one social network -- or about 63 percent of the total adult population.

The Authors Guild is appealing a U.S. judge's decision in a long-running case that cleared legal obstacles for Google's massive book-scanning project, court documents showed Monday.

The group filed a notice of appeal in the case following a November 14 ruling by Federal Judge Denny Chin.

Apple said Tuesday it had no "backdoor" in its products after a security researcher and a leaked document suggested the US National Security Agency had unfettered access to the iPhone.

Apple said in an email to Agence France Presse that it "has never worked with the NSA to create a backdoor in any of our products, including iPhone."

The Philippines' civil aviation authority said Tuesday it would allow passengers to use mobile phones and laptops to make calls and access the Internet during flights.

Civil aviation director general William Hotchkiss said the order covered "transmitting portable electronic devices".

Samsung said Monday a 110-inch TV that has four times the resolution of standard high-definition TVs is going on sale for about $150,000 in South Korea.

The launch of the giant television set reflects global TV makers' move toward ultra HD TVs as manufacturing bigger TVs using OLED proves too costly.

Most stores were closed but Americans still managed to shop on Christmas Day -- increasingly on their smartphones.

An IBM survey showed Christmas Day online sales were up 16.5 percent over last year, with a strong boost from smartphones and tablets.

For those old enough to remember console games like "Asteroids" or "Red Baron," from the 1970s and 1980s: the games are back.

The Internet Archive this week launched its "Console Living Room," offering browser emulations of pre-Internet era video games which used to be played on consoles from firms like Atari, Coleco or Magnavox.

Twitter shares tumbled Friday after a brokerage analyst warned the popular messaging network was overvalued following a meteoric rise since its initial public offering in November.

Twitter shares closed down 12.99 percent at $63.79. But the stock has more than doubled from its offering price at $26 on November 7.

Taiwanese prosecutors on Friday indicted a chief designer and five employees at leading smartphone maker HTC for allegedly leaking crucial trade secrets to China and breach of trust.

Chien Chih-lin, vice president of product design, was charged with leaking information relating to "highly valuable" designs for a yet-to-be-launched smartphone interface to unidentified individuals in Beijing in an attempt to set up a joint new company in China, prosecutors said.

Mix blatant bigotry with poor spelling. Add a dash of ALL CAPS. Top it off with a violent threat. And there you have it: A recipe for the worst of online comments.

Blame anonymity, blame politicians, blame human nature. But a growing number of websites are reining in online commentary. Companies including Google and The Huffington Post are trying everything from deploying moderators to forcing people to use their real names. Some sites, such as Popular Science, are banning comments altogether.