Line's AI program captures hearts with lifelike personality
An artificial intelligence program posing as a sweet and innocent schoolgirl has captured the hearts of young men nationwide, with some smitten users even declaring their love for their new "girlfriend." In an echo of the 2013 movie "Her," in which a man falls in ...
Chip firms ink $66 billion in mega mergers as Internet of Things connections spread
Chip companies are merging, signing $66 billion worth of deals this year alone in preparation for an explosion of demand from all walks of life as the next technological revolution takes hold: the Internet of Things. As cars, crockery and even cows are controlled or ...
China's cybersecurity push sparks a 'gold rush' in tech products
Zhang Long made his fortune selling pu'er fermented tea and handcrafted furniture from the mountains of his native Yunnan province in southwest China. Last November, the 49-year old entrepreneur, who has no technology background, strode into a Beijing ballroom to pitch his latest made-in-China product: ...
The PlayStation 4 debuted Friday in China, but with few games and bare-bone online services as Sony navigates tight censorship rules to get a toehold in the world's biggest gaming market. While the Chinese consoles are physically identical to those Sony sells worldwide, they have ...
This month's latest games — from play dough to gangsters
Nintendo molds a new Kirby Everybody's favorite round, pink Nintendo character has been reincarnated out of clay. In "Kirby and the Rainbow Curse," players draw colorful clay ropes to move the spinning Kirby around stages that look like they've been sculpted in play dough. Since he's ...
American competitors behind many of Google's woes in Europe
When EU politicians call for the breakup of Google, it can sound like sour grapes, the anti-American backlash of an aging continent envious and fearful of the wealth and power of young U.S. tech giants. But should any American scoff at Thursday's nonbinding vote in ...
Plan your attack before you hit the gamefloor at Tokyo Game Show
It's time to press the start button for Tokyo Game Show (TGS), and while last year's edition smashed attendance records with more than 270,000 gamers showing up over the course of the event. This year's TGS hopes to be even bigger. The number of ...
New Mexico city plans to auction excavated vintage 'E.T.' video games, the worst ever
A city in New Mexico where 1,300 unwanted vintage video games were discovered buried in a landfill has voted to auction off more than half of the cartridges in the run-up to Christmas. Members of the Alamogordo City Council voted 7-0 late on Tuesday to ...
Microsoft's emerging markets problem: Few want to pay for genuine product
On a trip to Beijing a decade ago, Bill Gates was asked by a senior government official how much money Microsoft Corp. made in China. The official asked the interpreter to double check Gates' reply as he couldn't believe the figure was so low. It's ...
Microsoft to cut 18,000 jobs this year as it chops Nokia ranks; stock surges
Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella kicked off one of the largest layoffs in tech history Thursday, signaling he intended to shake up the aging PC industry titan, but leaving questions about how exactly he would transform it into a nimbler, Web-based rival to ...
Microsoft Corp is planning its biggest round of job cuts in five years as the software maker looks to integrate Nokia Oyj's handset unit, Bloomberg reported, citing sources with knowledge of the company's plans. The reductions, expected to be announced as soon as this week, ...
Microsoft targets cybercrime rings with roots in Kuwait, Algeria
Microsoft Corp. launched what it hopes will be the most successful private effort to date to crack down on cybercrime by moving to disrupt communications channels between hackers and infected PCs. The operation, which began Monday under an order issued by a federal court in ...
