Facebook update aims to beautify its Photos service

Facebook has once again redesigned the look of its Photos service. This time, the company is attempting to beautify the look of Photos on your Timeline, as well as the Timeline of anyone's profile you stumble upon. The new landing page is just an update of the old one: it has all of a Facebook user's photos on one page, which Facebook friends can easily Like and comment on. You...

The Persistence of the Facebook Smartphone Myth

On Facebook's earnings call Thursday, Mark Zuckerberg seemed to deny that the company would be developing its own branded smartphone, presumably an effort to put to rest growing speculation -- mostly attributed to unnamed sources -- about a Facebook phone under development at HTC. Building a smartphone, said Zuckerberg on the call, "wouldn't really make much sense for us to do." As...

Apple Files Another Wearable Computing Patent

At first glance, the illustration that accompanies Apple’s latest patent looks like the company wants to own the rights to bowls people wear on their heads. But this patent, which was discovered by the blog Patently Apple, is actually for a wearable computer. The patent is specifically for a “display resolution increase with mechanical actuation.” In other words, the patent describes...

Apple Changes Connectors. World Freaks Out

When Steve Jobs launched the iTunes Store more than nine years ago, he also unveiled the third-generation iPod, the first device with a plug design that has become nearly as significant to independent manufacturers as iTunes has to the music industry. The bottom-mounted connector capable of transferring songs and charging the music player is now a standard Apple (AAPL) component. Makers...

OS X Mountain Lion Springs Into Action

There is the old proverb, "if the mountain won't come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain," but in Apple's case it is the Lion that has gone to the Mountain. On Wednesday, Apple released its latest update, Mountain Lion, which picks up where last year's OS X Lion update leaves off.| This is the 10th iteration of the Mac operating system since the first public beta appeared...

Skype's Server Upgrade Triggers Wiretapping Worries

Fears have surfaced that Skype may be eavesdropping on communications over its service. The concern is that supernodes Microsoft is introducing to Skype could make it easier to monitor calls, because they route the voice data in addition to initiating communications between parties. "As was true before the Microsoft acquisition, Skype cooperates with law enforcement agencies as is legally...

Silicon Valley Says Step Away From the Device

Stuart Crabb, a director in the executive offices of Facebook, naturally likes to extol the extraordinary benefits of computers and smartphones. But like a growing number of technology leaders, he offers a warning: log off once in a while, and put them down.  In a place where technology is seen as an all-powerful answer, it is increasingly being seen as too powerful, even addictive....

Marissa Explains It All

Given its lousy financial performance, periodic bouts of layoffs, questionable patent litigation strategy and security lapses, Yahoo appears to be adrift, listing, off course, capsizing. Name any unfavorable nautical condition, and it probably applies to Yahoo. A large part of the blame for that lies with the people in charge of hiring...

Viacom and DirecTV in deal to restore programming

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Viacom and DirecTV announced Friday that they have reached a deal, putting aside their dispute and allowing Viacom's programming to immediately return to the airwaves. The agreement ends a fee dispute that had interrupted programming since July 10.  Viacom blacked out channels for 20 million customers of DirecTV (DTV, Fortune 500). Among the channels affected...

Zen Mobile unveils Android 4.0.3 ICS-based Ultra Tab A100 at Rs. 6,199

Zen Mobile has announced the launch of an Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich-based tablet called Ultra Tab A100. The tablet has been priced at Rs. 6,199, though it's available via online stores such as HomeShop for Rs. 5,999. The new Zen tablet features a 7-inch touch display with 800x480 pixels resolution. The Zen Ultra Tab A100 is powered by a 1.2GHz processor. Other features of the...

Microsoft's Office 15 intro comes without iPad flavor

For months, the Web teemed with rumors that Microsoft would launch Office for the iPad, making it the first touch-focused platform for the cash cow productivity suite. But when Microsoft unveiled the next version of Office this week, it was clear the iPad would have to wait. In an interview with CNET, Office division President Kurt DelBene said Microsoft's own Windows is the priority...

HTC One, Desire smartphones to support Hindi and other Indian languages

HTC has announced it will be adding support for Indian languages – Hindi, Tamil and Marathi – to its One and Desire series smartphones. The company is rolling out a software upgrade that will enable users to read and write in the Indian languages while using the phone's messaging application, browsing the Internet or even exploring the applications on Google Play store. HTC...

Yahoo Stuck Without SQL Injection Antidote

The term "SQL injection" sounds pretty scary -- kind of medical, painful, maybe even lethal. And it can be, for websites that fall victim to it. It involves tricking a site into forming a rogue SQL command that prompts a database to deliver its contents right into the hands of the attacker. If it's successful, a hacker can gain access to a ton of sensitive information. The bright side...

Why We Need a Standard for the Internet of Things

The Internet of things is supposed to connect every aspect of our lives from our homes and cars to the objects we wear and the goods we consume. It’s even connecting ice machines. But one thing the Internet of things lacks is a unifying standard. Devices will be connected by different radio technologies: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and a host of 2G and mobile broadband cellular technologies....

Yahoo Voice Crack Spills 400K+ Usernames, Passwords

The passwords and usernames of more than 400,000 contributors to the Yahoo Voices website have been stolen and posted on the Internet. The hack was carried out by an organization calling itself "D33Ds Company," which posted the data on the Web. The D33Ds Web page containing the data was down when checked at press time. However, the text file is reportedly available through torrents. The...

Twitter Tweaks Search to Trim Tweet Mountains

Twitter has given its site an overhaul designed to simplify its search functions and provide users with suggestions when they're unsure of an exact handle or hashtag. The site's upgraded search results will now more closely resemble those of a Google search. Now when users begin typing a search term, they will see an autocomplete dropdown box of suggested terms, or results with corrected...