The competition between Microsoft and Google is stretching to the North Pole as the Internet search rivals vie to be top Santa tracker this Christmas.

Google on Wednesday launched a google.com/santatracker website offering reindeer games, elf antics and updates on beloved gift-giver Kris Kringle as children worldwide count down to Christmas eve.

Sexual orientation, private debt, medical records, even your favorite ice cream flavor: do you know much of this personal information is out there and available for sale?

And what if it could affect your job applications, whether you can rent a house or how high your insurance premium will be?

Russia's first domestically designed smartphone, the YotaPhone, was unveiled in Moscow on Wednesday, featuring an always-on second screen as a unique feature to differentiate it from the plethora of competitors.

The phone, which used Google's Android operating system and has a fixed price of 499 euros ($678), will be launched in December in Russia and Germany in stores and online in France, Spain and Austria.

China has issued licences for "fourth generation", or 4G, mobile phone services, the government said Wednesday, in a move to boost economic growth and job creation.

The Ministry of Information and Internet Technology said in a statement it granted the three state-owned operators -- China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom -- 4G licences based on the country's home-grown TD-LTE standard.

Tumblr is where the Internet's cool kids hang out. That's why Yahoo paid $1.1 billion to buy the blogging site in one of this year's most buzzed-about deals.

Now, Tumblr is flaunting its hipster credentials with a first-ever breakdown of the year's hottest trends, topics and celebrities.

Sony said Tuesday it has sold more than 2.1 million PlayStation 4 consoles after less than three weeks on the market, as it battles Microsoft and Nintendo for supremacy in the lucrative gaming sector.

The eagerly-awaited PlayStation sold more than one million units in just one day after its November 15 debut in North America and Sony said Tuesday it was on track to hit a worldwide target of 5.0 million units by March.

BlackBerry's new chief executive cast off persistent talk of the smartphone maker's demise, vowing on Monday that the company would pick itself back up and was "here to stay."

"Reports of our death are greatly exaggerated," John Chen, who was appointed interim chief executive last month, said in an open letter to customers.

It was a year for "twerking," "selfies," and "cronuts" in Internet searching, right up there with Hollywood, pop and reality stars.

Web users also were interested in subjects ranging from the "Zombie Apocalypse" to the troubled rollout of Obamacare, according to an annual review by Yahoo released Tuesday.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos revealed Sunday that his company is looking to the future with plans to use "octocopter" mini-drones to fly small packages to consumers in just 30 minutes.

The U.S. retail giant's ambitious project still requires additional safety testing and federal approval, but Bezos estimated that Amazon "Prime Air" would be up and running within four to five years.

Twitter just issued its IPO but a lingering question is how the popular worldwide microblog company will turn a profit. One U.S. company thinks it has found one way to help Twitter, and itself, make money.

Wayin has partnered up with the Denver Broncos football team to project tweeted photos and tweets from fans onto the Sports Authority Field at Mile High's Thundervision 2, the stadium's marquee 40-foot (12-meter) high, by 220-foot (67-meter) wide video scoreboard.