NAGOYA, Japan (Reuters) - Facing the eventual demise of gasoline engines, the world’s biggest maker of spark plugs is turning its focus to a component it believes will be just as vital in the coming era of electric vehicles - next-generation all solid state batteries. Japan’s NGK Spark P...

COLUMBUS, Ind. (Reuters) - When Sandy Vierling took a job at a new robot-packed factory her company built just a few miles from an older plant where she made automotive exhaust systems, she crossed into the future of manufacturing in the United States. She didn’t like it at all. Auto supplier ...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The U.S. tax overhaul is a boon to Silicon Valley technology companies like Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), which will enjoy big tax cuts and the chance to bring back billions of dollars from overseas at a reduced rate. And contrary to the dire warnings of Ca...

(Reuters) - Two consulting firms hired to help the United States police ZTE Corp’s (000063.SZ) (0763.HK) compliance with trade sanctions have resigned, according to four people familiar with the matter. China’s second-largest telecommunications company agreed earlier this year to pay a n...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Gooda Creek Farm, located just outside Australia’s capital city of Canberra, exemplifies the country’s agricultural ambitions - a boutique producer that sells more than 2,000 kilograms a week of highly sought shiitake mushrooms to domestic and Asian consumers. But when...

(Reuters) - Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) said on Thursday its Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt will step down from his position to become a technical adviser as of its next regular board meeting in January. He will continue to serve on the Alphabet's board of directors, the company said. (bit.ly/2BXJzz6) &...

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Inc has told bankers it would top its annual revenue target by as much as 18 percent, sources with knowledge of the matter said, marking a comeback from a sales slump in recent years that triggered a business overhaul. Xiaomi, which has been hear...

GENEVA (Reuters) - You’re on the web, you’re in the cloud. But don’t neglect good old-fashioned paper. That’s the advice from internet pioneer Vint Cerf, who is afraid that all our digital memories could be lost as technology moves on. “People say: ‘What should I ...

(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc is setting up a trading desk to make markets in digital currencies like bitcoin, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The Wall Street bank aims to get the business running by the end of June, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. (bloom.bg/2BgDNFb...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The once-hot online lending industry has been battered by scandal and losses since last year, but one of the oldest forms of lending - store credit - is increasingly attracting tech companies aiming to supplant a retailer’s credit card. One such lender, San Francisco ...

(Reuters) - Facebook Inc and Universal Music Group signed a global agreement that will give users access to Universal’s music catalogs to be used in videos uploaded across the social media network as well as Instagram and Oculus. The multi-year agreement will be expanded later to include Faceb...

VILNIUS (Reuters) - Software from Moscow-based company Kaspersky Lab is a threat to Lithuanian national security and its products will be banned on sensitive computers, Lithuania’s government said on Thursday. It is the latest setback for the software maker. The software will be removed from c...

(Reuters) - Beverage maker Long Island Iced Tea Corp’s (LTEA.O) shares jumped 300 percent after the company said it would rebrand itself Long Blockchain Corp, the latest obscure U.S. firm to tap into the frenzy surrounding crypto currencies. Long Island Ice Tea said it was shifting its primary...

LONDON (Reuters) - British app-based bank Monzo and others like it want to make money by allowing other firms access to their customers rather than lending to them, but this is an untested path to profitability. Monzo’s user numbers soared by 300 percent to 450,000 in nine months this year, wh...

A U.K. man who pleaded guilty to launching more than 2,000 cyberattacks against some of the world’s largest companies has avoided jail time for his role in the attacks. The judge in the case reportedly was moved by pleas for leniency that cited the man’s youth at the time of the attacks ...

A U.K. man who pleaded guilty to launching more than 2,000 cyberattacks against some of the world’s largest companies has avoided jail time for his role in the attacks. The judge in the case reportedly was moved by pleas for leniency that cited the man’s youth at the time of the attacks ...

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Just a street away from Singapore’s central bank, a cryptocurrency firm has set up what it claims is the first cafe in the city-state to be owned and operated by a business promoting its own digital coin. The downtown pitstop, which launched on Thursday, sells “hand...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Cash-strapped smartphone screen maker Japan Display Inc (6740.T) dismissed a report on Thursday that it was seeking investment from Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] as “speculative” and declined to comment further. Japanese news agency Kyodo, w...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan’s Honda Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co are developing all solid-state batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), Kyodo News reported on Thursday. It was not clear from the report whether the two companies were expected to work together. Tighter global emissions regulations ar...

SEOUL (Reuters) - A spokesman for North Korea’s foreign ministry said on Thursday Pyongyang is not linked to any cyber attacks, the North’s first response since the United States publicly blamed it for a massive worldwide cyber security breach. “As we have clearly stated on several...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives are working to build support to temporarily extend the National Security Agency’s expiring internet surveillance program by tucking it into a stop-gap funding measure, lawmakers said. The month-long extension of the...

(Reuters) - Several U.S. employers engaged in age discrimination by placing recruitment ads on Facebook targeting younger workers, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday by a communications industry labor union. Companies including T-Mobile US Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Cox Communications Inc impose...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives are working to build support to temporarily extend the National Security Agency’s expiring internet surveillance program by tucking it into a stop-gap funding measure, lawmakers said. The month-long extension of the...

(Reuters) - The U.S. Republican tax overhaul passed by Congress this week will allow Apple Inc to bring back its $252.3 billion foreign cash pile without a major tax hit - a long-standing company goal. Other provisions of the bill, namely the cut in the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 perce...

(Reuters) - Twitter Inc is turning its spotlight onto a new demographic in its bid to lure more advertising dollars to its social media platform: deep-pocketed business users. The microblogging service has 330 million monthly active users but has struggled to turn its popularity into profit, losing ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Mark Carney sees "fundamental problems" with the idea of a digital currency issued by a central bank that could be used by the general public.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. banking regulator said on Wednesday that bitcoin does not currently pose a threat to the country’s banking system and that there is “space” for innovative financial technology firms to operate in the traditional lending business. The marketplace is wat...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The biggest overhaul of the U.S. tax system in more than 30 years, set to win final approval by lawmakers on Wednesday, may add fuel to a rally in technology stocks that has powered Wall Street to record highs this year. A lower corporate tax rate across the board and a one...

RIYADH (Reuters) - The head of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, its top sovereign wealth fund, said on Wednesday that the outlook for ride-hailing firm Uber [UBER.UL] was positive and the company's revenues had doubled since the PIF invested in it.

(Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] on Wednesday named a former Orbitz executive to be chief operating officer as the ride-sharing service looks to fill key positions to help take the company public. It is Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi’s second significant hire after genera...