The most talked about topics in Australia 2016, according to Facebook.

Donald Trump, asylum seekers, local music and #auspol were all chief topics of interest among Australian Twitter users in 2016, although as usual they were joined by a wave of memes and a near-incomprehensible amount of love for YouTube celebs turned rock band 5 Seconds of Summer.

'Due to various factors, Pebble is no longer able to operate as an independent entity,' Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky said in a blog post.

A startup run by former JPMorgan banker Blythe Masters says it's found a solution to keep shared data secret.

Want to get your kids off their phones and back into the real world? A new study suggests that before you launch into the lecture about how you only see the tops of their heads these days, you may want to take stock of what your own technology habits are telling your kids.

Buried in yesterday's support update on iPhone 6s shutdowns was the news that the problem might be more widespread than we thought.

• COMMENT

The town sheriff of your home internet, Trend Micro Home Network Security aims to protect every gadget in your home and keep your family safe online.

A unanimous US Supreme Court has ruled that Samsung may not have to give up $US399 million in profits for copying parts of the distinctive look of Apple's iPhone.

MyRepublic customers say the five to 20 days timeframe to be connected to the new service is "ridiculous" and "a problem".

Amazon has revealed that it will open a brick-and-mortar grocery store called Amazon Go, an ambitious bid by the once online-only retailer to gobble up more of Americans' shopping dollars by taking the fight more directly to traditional supermarkets.

Software company bought in big when 3D printing looked like the next big thing, but it didn't exactly pan out.

A handy tool in an emergency, and an end to 'where are you, are you OK?' texts when someone's late home or to a meeting.

The popular handheld series has shed a lot of the baggage that was making it feel stale after 20 years, while hanging on to everything that's made it so beloved for so long.

'Established manufacturers and new entrants should be treated equally' when it comes to autonomous cars, iPhone-maker tells US regulator.

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If your copper phone line is slowly failing but the NBN is still years from your street, what's your fallback broadband plan?

In the never-ending search for a cheaper alternative to Photoshop we can report on a couple of promising contenders.

Google's latest gadget is an always on, always listening little speaker called Home. It's a cute design, a friendly little blob of a thing that looks like a half finished cartoon character. It's also not available in Australia, if you want one you'll need to have one shipped to you from the US.

British physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking has been hospitalised in Rome for checks after not feeling well but his condition is not believed to be serious, a spokesman said.

• IN DEPTH

Cyber attacks against Australian agencies, businesses and individuals are on the rise, but our nation still lacks the capability to defend.