Google names Acer, Adobe, Asustek, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments as initial partners on Chrome OS.

"Contents and services drive sales of devices ... Our No. 1 mission is to raise the software value of our devices," Lee of Samsung's Media Solution Center, said at a conference in Seoul.

Following last weekend's deadly riots in its western region of Xinjiang, China's central government has taken all the usual steps to block citizens from accessing foreign web services.

Online retailer Amazon.com has cut the price of its standard Kindle electronic reader by 17% to US$299, the company said on Wednesday. The price cut comes amid a budding digital book battle where rivals like Amazon, Sony and a host of smaller companies are anxious to get in on the ground floor of what some say is the future of reading.

Huang Hongsheng, founder and former chairman of Shenzhen-based TV maker Skyworth Group, was released on bail on July 4, the company confirmed in a statement posted on its website.

The filter, called Green Dam Youth Escort, was to have been required from Wednesday, but the industry ministry said computer makers needed more time.