U. S. defense research organization DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is seeking help to improve the power efficiency of existing bipedal robots by 2,000 per cent.

The DARPA has called for scientific and engineering specialist companies and individuals to work on improving the existing robots’ battery performance and movement efficiencies.

South Korean electronics giant Samsung has reported a record operating profit for its second quarter, thanks to strong sales of the Galaxy smartphone.

For the three months through June 30, Samsung reported a year-on-year increase of 79 per cent in profit to 6.7 trillion won (US$5.9bn). Analysts had projected a profit of 6.58 trillion won (US$5.78bn) for the concerned three months.

On Tuesday, Wall Street investors gave software giant Microsoft a big shrug for its $6.2 billion write-down of its aQuantive acquisition in 2007 --- with the write-down essentially underscoring the company's failed attempts in the online advertising arena.

Admitting that its acquisition of the online ad firm was basically a mistake, Microsoft said in a statement that even though aQuantive "continues to provide tools for Microsoft's online advertising efforts," the write-down in essentially an upshot of the fact that "the acquisition did not accelerate growth to the degree anticipated."

Chip maker Intel Corp. has challenged the _1.06 billion fine by the European Commission regulators, arguing that the basis of imposed fine was inconsistent and error-ridden analysis.

The EU had penalized Intel three years back following an eight-year investigation, which the regulators had found Intel guilty of misusing rebates to hinder rivals manufacturers like Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

The Italian Antitrust Authority has warned Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple Inc. that it could be slapped with more fines and have its Italian operations suspended if it doesn't comply with the country's two-year warranty policy.

Italy's ACGM competition authority said it could suspend Apple's Italian business operations for up to 30 days and impose a fine of up to _300,000 ($377,500) if the Cupertino firm doesn't clearly inform consumers about the various available warranty options.

Nike+ FuelBand has become social, thanks to the recent partnership between social networking-enabled photo sharing and messaging service Path and sportswear and equipment supplier Nike.

The integration will allow Nike+ FuelBand users to chart their movement and progress through the social network.

Apple Inc. will not allow Google's Chrome for iOS to use its fast Nitro JavaScript engine that powers default iOS browser Safari, but there are several reasons that will encourage iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users to switch to Google's new Chrome browser on these devices.

Google Project Glass head Babak Parviz has claims that they are excited about the futuristic glasses because the innovative device will enable people to do things that they can't do now.