The world now has nearly as many cell phone subscriptions as inhabitants.

The U.N. telecom agency says there were about 6 billion subscriptions by the end of 2011 — roughly one for 86 of every 100 people.

In a move bound to provoke U.S. prosecutors and entertainment executives, indicted Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom is planning to launch a replacement of his shuttered website and a new online music service by year's end.

The file-sharing site that Dotcom started in 2005 was one of the most popular online sites before U.S. prosecutors shut it down and filed racketeering charges against Dotcom and six other Megaupload principals in January.

Global telecom operators are expected to have lost $23 billion in SMS revenues by the end of 2012 as smartphone users shift to free messaging applications, an industry report said Thursday.

Technology research company Ovum forecast the cumulative losses would reach $54 billion by the end of 2016 as the traditional Short Messaging Service (SMS) gives way to Internet-based platforms such as WhatsApp.

The PC is not dead, but it's no longer king of the technology universe.

As Microsoft prepares to launch Windows 8, the newest version of its operating system, the tech landscape is dramatically different from three years ago, when Windows 7 was launched.

Microsoft on Tuesday teased the release of the next generation of Internet Explorer by unveiling an online game crafted to show that websites can be as richly playful as "apps."

A free-to-play version of hit iPhone and iPad application Contre Jour that highlights capabilities of Internet Explorer 10 (IE10) web browsing software went live online at contrejour.ie.

A Seoul court on Wednesday upheld jail terms handed down to seven South Koreans for leading an online smear campaign against a hip-hop musician that claimed his U.S. academic degrees were fake.

Eight people had appealed after their July conviction for defamation saw three of them sentenced to 10 months imprisonment, while the other five received suspended jail terms.

The publisher behind videogame hit "Skyrim" on Tuesday immersed players in the plague-ridden world of "Dishonored," where cunning was as crucial as combat prowess.

Bethesda Softworks defied the trend to play it safe with sequels to blockbuster franchises and enlisted Arkane Studios to craft a captivating new title in which outwitting adversaries can trump besting them in battle.

Hackers staged a surprise attack on the online role-playing game World of Warcraft and "killed" some virtual characters, the company operating the game said Monday.

"Earlier today, certain realms were affected by an in-game exploit, resulting in the deaths of player characters and non-player characters in some of the major cities," said a blog post by site manager "Nethaera" on Warcraft, which is owned by Blizzard Entertainment.

American companies should avoid doing business with China's two leading technology firms because they pose a national security threat to the United States, the House Intelligence Committee is warning in a report to be issued Monday.

The panel says U.S. regulators should block mergers and acquisitions in this country by Huawei Technologies Ltd. and ZTE Corp, among the world's leading suppliers of telecommunications gear and mobile phones.

YouTube is taking its original programming venture to Europe, announcing a slew of new partnerships aimed at internationalizing its array of tailor-made videos with content from Britain's BBC, London-based FreemantleMedia, Netherland's Endemol, and dozens of others.

The Google Inc.-owned video site said Monday it is launching more than 60 new video channels with content from Britain, Germany, France, and the United States. The new programming will be in addition to the 100 channels of content launched in the United States last year.