Secrets of tea plant revealed by science

Botanists have unlocked the genetic secrets of the plant prized for producing tea.

A team in China has decoded the genetic building blocks of the tea plant,Camellia sinensis,whose leaves are used for all types of tea, including black, green and oolong.

The research gives an insight into the chemicals that give tea its flavour.

Until now, little has been known about the genetics of the plant,despite its huge economic and cultural importance.

Orange is the new black: A hacker claims to have leaked upcoming season for the hit Netflix show

A hacker claims to have followed through on a threat to release several episodes from the upcoming season of Netflixs hit series Orange Is The New Black. The hacker, who goes by the name The Dark Overlord, announced the move on Twitter early Saturday.

Oppo is planning to export smartphones to Middle East, Africa and other countries from India

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo is planning to export smartphones made in India to other countries. The company is planning to export smartphones to North Africa, Middle East and other South East Asian countries in coming two to three years. This report comes right after it was reported that Oppo is now one of the top five smartphone makers in the Indian market.

Amazon 'style assistant' divides opinion

Amazon's new smart speaker, the Echo Look, received a mixed reaction following its unveiling this week.

Some say it could inspire confidence while others voiced privacy concerns.

The $200 (154) gadget, not yet on sale, features a camera to capture full-length selfies and video which can be stored to create a personal "look book".

It uses smart assistant Alexa to give a verdict on outfit choices and recommend clothes to buy.

It is listed as available "by invitation only" on the Amazon website and is aimed at the US market only.

Social media giants 'shamefully far' from tackling illegal content

Social media firms are "shamefully far" from tackling illegal and dangerous content, says a parliamentary report.

Hate speech, terror recruitment videos and sexual images of children all took too long to be removed, said theHome Affairs Select Committee report.

The government should consider making the sites help pay t o police content, it said.

Samsung leads the pile while Chinese vendors continue to dominate global smartphone shipments

2017 has been off to a decent start in the smartphone industry with a couple of major flagships in the name of LG G6 and Samsung Galaxy S8 already out in the world. Translating this into figures, the global smartphone shipments grew 4.3 percent in the first quarter of 2017 up from the forecasted 3.69 percent, as per the latest IDC report. According to the report, the major reason behind this growth is recent popularity of Chinese OEMs such as Huawei, OPPO and Vivo. Amongst the top vendors across the world, Samsung has won back its first spot with about 79.2 million global shipments and about 22.8 percent of market share. IDC claims that Samsung's strategy of giving away exciting discounts on its last year's Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge helped the company grab some crucial shipment figures. For the budget and mid-range segment, Samsung's J-series and A-series did the job in the emerging and developing markets. To put some examples, Samsung Galaxy A3, A5 and A7 coupled with the latest J-series made sure the consistent growth across different price categories.

Ted 2017: Elon Musk's vision for underground road system

US entrepreneur Elon Musk has outlined his vision for a tunnel network under Los Angeles and shown how it might work.

Mr Musk also told the Ted (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference he planned fully autonomous journeys across the US by the end of the year.

He spoke about how he wanted solar-powered roof tiles to be standard on "every home" within 50 years.