Automobile giants at the world's biggest mobile fair are showing off a new technology that turns a car into a smartphone accessory, allowing a driver to use cutting-edge apps without veering off the road.

Called MirrorLink, and adopted by 85 big manufacturers from Ford to General Motors, Chrysler, Nissan, Honda, Hyundai, BMW, VW, Fiat or Renault, it connects a smartphone and car entertainment system with a two-way audio, video and data link.

Jimmy Buchheim is behaving oddly.

On the floor of the world's largest cellphone trade show in Barcelona, Spain, he's looking at the screen of his iPod Touch, taking a few steps, and then looking again. Now and then he backtracks or turns, and looks again. Slowly, he confines his movements to a smaller and smaller area. Then he drops to his knees, and checks the screen again. He scrabbles forward.

On a sunny day at a picnic table in Silicon Valley, Eric Migicovsky glanced down at his wristwatch. He wasn't checking the time, he was checking his email. Glancing up, he grinned. The message was from yet another journalist.

In this corner of a world obsessed with the latest tech gadget, Migicovsky is this week's hotshot as his start-up company rolls out its new, high-tech Pebble smart watches. The $150, postage stamp-sized computer on a band is tethered wirelessly to a wearer's Android or iPhone.

A Japanese court Thursday rejected a claim by Samsung that Apple stole its technology, in the latest round of a global legal battle between the smartphone giants over patents.

The Tokyo District Court ruled that Samsung has no rights over data transmission technology used in some of Apple's iPhone smartphones, said a spokesman for Samsung's Tokyo office.

Jonathan Coon turned heads Wednesday with iPad software that lets people try on sunglasses by manipulating 3-D images of themselves from the neck up.

The founder of discount prescription lens company 1-800 Contacts used a TED Conference known for luring the technology savvy to introduce a service intended to let shoppers see themselves in eyewear using smartphones, tablets or computers with cameras built into screens.

China says it has closed scores of websites for offering pornography, video sharing and online gaming.

The official Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday said a new crackdown led to the shuttering of 225 websites and more than 30,000 blogs and Twitter-like microblog accounts found to be offering obscene or improper content. They included sites offering photo and video sharing as well as online gaming, Xinhua said, citing a statement from the State Internet Information Office.

A robot suit that can help the elderly or disabled get around was given its global safety certificate in Japan on Wednesday, paving the way for its worldwide rollout.

The Hybrid Assistive Limb, or HAL, is a power-assisted pair of legs developed by Japanese robot maker Cyberdyne, which has also developed similar robot arms.

Australian lawyers plan to press ahead with a class action suit against Vodafone over the alleged unreliability of its mobile phone network, which they believe could be worth tens of millions of dollars.

Law firm Piper Alderman said the proposed case related to customers who experienced calls dropping out, unreliable mobile phone reception, erratic Internet performance and poor customer service in 2010 and 2011.

Telecommuting, a growing trend in the U.S. workplace, is coming under fresh scrutiny following news that Yahoo! is curbing the practice.

The trend of working from home has been gaining steam for decades, as part of a workplace evolution which allows greater family-work balance and saves energy and commuting costs.

Internet users who are illegally sharing music, movies or television shows are going to start to receive warning notices from America's five major Internet service providers.

The Copyright Alert System, organized by the recording and film industry, is being activated this week to target consumers who may be engaging in piracy using peer-to-peer software.