Features

DETROIT—Tesla Motors ended 2014 on a sour note, with production hiccups and a bungled launch in China, but the electric car maker is confident it can significantly grow sales this year as it launches a new SUV.

Sylvia Hui / The Associated Press LONDON— Driverless cars are hitting Britain’s public roads for the first time, giving a glimpse of future travel that’s billed as safer and more efficient.

Youkyung Lee / AP Technology Writer Seoul— South Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics Co. has started domestic sales of high-end televisions powered by its Tizen operating system and plans to add washing machines, fridges and other appliances to the range of products that use the software.

A survey has found that technology gifts top the charts as the most desired Valentine’s Day presents this year, with over 42 per cent of people wanting some form of gadget from their partner.

Michael Liedtke / AP Technology Writer San Francisco—Technology’s big-spending trio of Google, Facebook, and Amazon.com appear to be tightening their belts—at least a notch—in a concession to cost-conscious investors and a strong dollar that’s taking a big bite out of their revenue.

SCOTLAND-—Paisley, a historic region in the lowlands of this country was flooded with 10,000 car enthusiasts last week as the Monte Carlo Classic Rally revved into town for the second time.

Shanghai—A total of 23.72 million automobiles were produced and 23.49 million sold in China last year according to figures released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

MINNEAPOLIS— A Toyota Motor Corp. lawyer has told a Minnesota jury deciding whether the automaker is responsible for a crash that killed three people that the car couldn’t have accelerated so quickly if the driver hit the brakes as he claimed.

Brandon Bailey / The Associated Press Apple said sales of Macintosh computers were up 9 percent in the last quarter. The company increased its share of the personal-computer (PC) market at a time when overall PC sales were declining. Apple no longer reports separate numbers for its iPod music players.

The A7 uses sensors, radars and a front-facing camera as “eyes” and advanced computer technology to intelligently negotiate traffic. A self-driving Audi A7 traveled from Silicon Valley to the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, while Mercedes-Benz and Ford also made announcements about autonomous technology, reports Time.