TECHNOLOGY

Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> on Tuesday denied a report its output would return to pre-quake levels two or three months earlier than expected, but said it will try to resume normal production as soon as possible.

China's Huawei Technologies is making an aggressive push into the consumer electronics space, marketing its new smartphones and tablet PCs in glitzy Beijing malls and even a Milan fashion show as it seeks to emerge from decades of obscurity.

Microsoft turned the tables on long-time Skype wooers Google and Facebook to reportedly land an $8.5 billion deal to buy the popular Voice over Internet Protocol service. The following are some key facts about Skype:

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) - An avid Twitter user's desire to help Japan recover from the devastating March earthquake and tsunami has resulted in a charity e-book based on material gathered from around the world -- all within three days.

Microsoft Corp is nearing a deal to buy Internet phone company Skype Technologies for more than $7 billion, and a deal could be announced as early as Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Sony said on Tuesday its PlayStation Network will come back to life by the end of this month, putting to rest swirling rumors about when the gaming giant will sort out is hacking threats and restore the 77-million-strong network, even as it still remained entangled in the crosshairs of digital security watchdogs.

Microsoft is close to buying Internet phone company Skype, which could be announced as early as Tuesday sources say.

Search-giant Google updated its Goggles app on Monday to include better note-taking capabilities, search history, and better business card recognition as machine-vision becomes more useful.

A new portable tool allows medical professionals to make a stroke diagnosis on a patient wherever they are with almost as much accuracy as being in the hospital.

Apple Inc and magazine publisher Conde Nast reached a deal to offer the New Yorker on the iPad device in the latest sign that relationships are improving between the technology company and content owners.

Apple has overtaken Google as the world's most valuable brand, ending a four-year reign by the Internet search leader, according to a new study by global brands agency Millward Brown.

Sony has not given a definitive restoration date for the PlayStation Network, which has led to confusion and false reports.

Apple now has the world’s most valuable corporate brand, valued at $153.3 billion, according to a BrandZ report. This puts the value of the brand at a little under half of the entire worth of Apple Inc’s $320-billion market capitalization.

Shares of Nuance Communications Inc jumped to their highest in more than 15 years after an influential technology blog said Apple Inc might expand its licensing deal with the speech-recognition technology provider.

Nvidia looking to stay up to par with Intel and Qualcomm on mobility, acquires Icera for $367 million.

The surprise closure of another Japanese nuclear plant, this time at the power supplier to the heart of the auto industry, threatens to dampen consumer sentiment and will provide car makers with yet another reason to produce fewer cars in Japan.

An Apple Store employee and a customer got into a fight amid the launch of the new iPad2 in China, making for the most intense debut of the iPad in any country.

Apple is the number one brand in the world according to a report; Facebook is in the top 100 for the first time.

Tech companies such as Apple and Google are hoping the tracks of millions of mobile device users will lead to billions of dollars in revenue.

A British non-profit organization Raspberry Pi Foundation has the answer, in the form of a computer the size of a USB key priced at $25 – which could arguably be the cheapest computer on the block.

The PlayStation Network is still down, and could be for a while according to one report.

Hackers have been causing repeated havoc on Sony networks over the last month, but the devastation is a product of their own making according to a hacker intimately intertwined with the company.

The Apple iPad 2 frenzy in China took a violent turn when a scuffle broke out between a customer and an Apple Store employee, leaving four people injured.

Rovio, the developer of the Angry Birds mobile game eyes an initial public offering in three to four years, its chief marketing officer was quoting as saying in a Finnish business daily on Monday.

Cisco and Xerox are partnering to provide cloud computing and print products in a bid to bolster the amount of services and hardware they can each offer to their corporate clients.

Rumors have been circulating about the possible launch of a redesigned, and more importantly free, MobileMe service, but no one has forgotten the uneasy days when the service was launched in 2008. The launch of the revamped MobileMe, which was essentially an upgrade of a pre-existing service called .Mac, had invited disappointing media review, promoting Jobs to sternly castigate the product executives.

Hackers have been causing repeated havoc on Sony networks over the last month, but the devastation is a product of their own making according to a hacker intimately intertwined with the company.

A Chinese man says he saw a fight between an Apple store employee and a customer amid a frenzy to buy the newly launched iPad 2.

Four person were injured in scuffles that broke out at a Beijing Apple store after the iPad 2 went on sale on Friday in the country.