The blockchain – the buzzy, bewildering technology behind cryptocurrencies like bitcoin – is starting to be applied to real-world problems with a speed and security not currently possible.

Google has a long history of introducing, then forgetting about, and finally officially killing off its products. Here are the 10 most missed.

The very first investor in what would become Snap was an Australian living in the US, whose initial $641,000 on behalf of his firm Lightspeed eventually led to billions in gains.

Apple has temporarily stopped buying cobalt mined by hand in Congo, while it continues to deal with problems relating to child labour and harsh work conditions.

​The world's largest technology investor is preparing to ramp up his bet on the Trump economy.

While the biggest phone-makers of the world showed off the bells and whistles of new smartphones at MWC this week, it seems that users are more concerned with a more fundamental issue: battery life.

• ANALYSIS

At its current price, Snap makes its much bigger rival Facebook - not to mention internet stalwarts such as Google, Amazon and even Netflix - look like bargain-basement "value" stocks.

Amazon.com's cloud computing unit said that the outage that shook up a sizable part of the internet Tuesday was caused by human error.

Codies will be the engine room of the digital economy just as sparkies and plumbers and other tradies have been the engine room of the industrial economy.

Snap founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy each added $2.1 billion to their fortunes in a single day after shares in their photo-sharing mobile app surged 44 per cent on their trading debut.

Y​ahoo's top lawyer Ronald Bell has resigned, and its chief executive Marissa Mayer lost her 2016 bonus, after a board investigation of the 2014 theft of information on more than 500 million user accounts.

It's finally possible to filter out accounts with the default profile picture, so that they don't appear in your notifications.

• COMMENT

After years of uncertainty Australian TiVos will lose access to the TV guide after October, leaving thousands of lounge rooms in the lurch.

It's a vexed question – is your stereo system improved by cranking the volume and letting rip?

Facebook wants to help prevent suicide in real time as live video and messaging grow in popularity.

Unlike any other game console on the market, the Switch lets you transition seamlessly between playing at home on your big TV and playing the exact same games on the go, Game Boy style.

​Snap has priced its initial public offering above its target range, delivering a market valuation of more than $31 billion.

Facebook's Oculus division is looking to get virtual-reality headsets into more homes by way of a significant price drop.

Having a robot slave can be expensive. The iRobot Roomba 980 Vacuum Cleaning Robot is a hefty $1499, but what price do you put on not having to do the housework?