HTML5: The future of the Web is finally here...

The tool that promises to launch the next era of websites, smartphone apps and online video is finally finished.

HTML5, the long-in-the-works update to the language that powers the Web, is "feature complete," according to an announcement made Monday by the standards-setting Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C). There's still some testing to be done, and it hasn't yet become an official Web standard -- that will come in 2014. But there won't be any new features added to HTML5, which means Web designers and app makers now have a "stable target" for implementing it, W3C said.

The HTML5 language lets developers deliver in-the-browser experiences that previously required standalone apps or additional software like Java,Adobe's Flash or Microsoft's  Silverlight. It supports lightning-fast video and geolocation services, offline tools and touch, among other bells and whistles.

The W3C has been developing the spec for the better part of a decade.

"As of today, businesses know what they can rely on for HTML5 in the coming years," W3C CEO Jeff Jaffe said in a prepared statement. "Likewise, developers will know what skills to cultivate to reach smart phones, cars, televisions, e-books, digital signs, and devices not yet known."

Most of the top browser makers didn't wait for the language to be 100% finished before building support for some elements into their software. The latest versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari are already compatible with most HTML5 elements.

Netflix  and Google's YouTube are two of the most prominent HTML5 adopters, but many others have also taken the leap. The Financial Times abandoned its smartphone app last year in favor of an HTML5 mobile website. The site looked and functioned like a native app -- with the advantage that FT didn't have to make changes to multiple versions of its code on multiple smartphone platforms. (Using a mobile website instead of a native app also let FT avoid paying Apple for in-app purchases.)

Google , a strong supporter of HTML5, produced a viral interactive video in 2010 with the help of rock band Arcade Fire that showed off the potential of the new Web features. Firefox browser maker Mozilla made a splash in February when it created a smartphone operating system called "Boot to Gecko," which is almost entirely based in HTML 5.

HTML5 grew prevalent enough by 2010 that then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs was able to unleash an epic rant against Flash and get away with it. A year later, Adobe more or less conceded that Jobs was right, abandoning its mobile Flash software in favor of HTML5 support. In November 2011 blog post, Adobe called HTML5 "the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms."

There's still more work to be done. W3C said that about 63% of Web and app developers are actively using HTML5 to make their sites and software, but "browser fragmentation" remains a big reason why many still aren't using it. Though most up-to-date browsers support at least some aspects of HTML5, older versions of some Web browsers likeMicrosoft's  Internet Explorer don't.

That's why W3C is working on cementing HTML5 as a new Web standard, making it interoperable and fully supported by any modern browser. It will take two years to complete the testing and standardization of HTML5, the consortium said.

What's next? W3C is already working on HTML 5.1, the first parts of which were just submitted in draft form. 

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How to protect your Instagram photos...

After Instagram changed its terms of service, giving the company commercial rights to user accounts and images, the site's users revolted. And rightfully so, because in a worst-case scenario, the new rules would allow the company to sell your images to outside parties to use however they please.

Instagram quickly backtracked, saying that's not what it meant and that it will "modify specific parts" of the new terms to make its intentions clearer. Its aim appears to be to incorporate your personal information into sponsored posts, along the lines of what Instagram's parent company, Facebook , already does with its Sponsored Stories ads. Those ads pull in users' profile photos for messages promoting brands that users have chosen to "like." (Instagram operates independently from Facebook -- for now -- and the two sites have their own, separate terms of service.)

The wording of its terms gives Instagram wriggle room to change its mind, but for now, launching into a full-scale panic seems unnecessary.

But if you're concerned about corporate overlords getting their money-grubbing hands on your creations, there are some steps you can take.

Set your account to private: Instagram reiterated on Tuesday that private accounts will remain private. That means your photos can only be seen by the people to whom you've granted access. If you're bothered by strangers viewing your pics, a private account is the way to go.

What a "private" account won't do, though, is entirely opt you out of Facebook's advertising. Instagram will still be able to use your data in targeted commercial messages shown to your friends and followers.

If you're bothered by the idea of someone making money off your creative work on Instagram, that a different issue. You're using a free service, and as Instagram said Tuesday in its blog post: "From the start, Instagram was created to become a business."

If that's not a tradeoff you're willing to accept, the best move may be for you to stop using Instagram altogether.

Back up your data: OK, you've decided to ditch Instagram. That might be a bit extreme, but it's understandable. The first thing you should do before you wipe out your account is to copy all those snapshots documenting the last year or two of your life.

Right now, you have two options: Instarchive and Instaport. Both services will have you log in using Instagram's API (a tool that gives other sites access to Instagram's data) and automatically download your photos as a compressed .ZIP file. Instaport appears to be overloaded by the number of backup requests at the moment and isn't working, but it promises to let you export your images directly to another service in the future.

Either way, once you've backed up your year's work, you can entirely erase your photo trail from Instagram's servers. That's the nuclear option. Your photos will be "removed permanently and will not be recoverable," Instagram says.

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Google sells Motorola cable box unit for $2.4 billion...

Under the terms of the deal, which Google and Arris announced late Wednesday, Google will receive $2.05 billion in cash and $300 million in newly issued Arris shares. That will giveGoogle about a 16% ownership stake in Arris , a communications technology company, when the deal

closes sometime during the second quarter of 2013,

Rumors that Google would unload the struggling cable-box division have been swirling since March, before the company's purchase of Motorola Mobility was even finalized.

Google first revealed its plan to buy Motorola Mobility in August 2011, but the $12.5 billion deal didn't clear regulatory procedures until May 2012. The deal was largely made so that Google could get access to Motorola Mobility's portfolio of patents and it was always thought that Motorola Mobility's set-top box business was not a great fit for Google.

Since the Motorola deal closed, Google has been quick to make moves aimed at turning the business around. In August, Google announced it would cut 4,000 Motorola employees, or 20% of the total workforce. At that point, Motorola Mobility had been unprofitable in 14 of the past 16 quarters.

Google and Arris noted in their press release that Motorola Home generated $3.4 billion in revenue for the four quarters ended September 30. Arris' purchase of the unit is expected to save $100-125 million in annual operating costs.

Shares of Arris were slightly higher in pre-market trading Thursday. Google investors might respond favorably as well. Jefferies analyst Brian Pitz wrote in a report Thursday that Wall Street was expecting Google would only raise between $1.5 billion and $2 billion for Motorola Home. 

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Facebook tests paid messages to strangers ...

How much would you pay to contact a stranger? Facebook is sprucing up its messaging system, and the most interesting change is a move to charge people to send a message to someone outside their network.

Most important messages go straight to your inbox on Facebook. But there's a second class of messages, including potential spam and notes from people not in your network, that the site's algorithms deem "less relevant."

These unlucky missives are dropped in the little-known "Other" folder, where they will often spend the remainder of their digital existence unseen, unread and unloved.

Facebook is now testing a solution to help messages avoid this limbo, the company announced in a blog post Thursday. People can pay to circumvent the dreaded "Other" folder and have their messages show up directly in the recipient's inbox. The cost to send one message will be a dollar, according to AllThingsD.

In a post announcing the changes, Facebook points out that this could be helpful for people who want to contact someone about a job or reach out to anyone else they may not have a personal connection to. Charging could also help cut down on unwanted spam, according to Facebook.

"Several commentators and researchers have noted that imposing a financial cost on the sender may be the most effective way to discourage unwanted messages and facilitate delivery of messages that are relevant and useful," says the post.

The "inbox delivery test" will be available only to select people using Facebook in the U.S. for now. Companies won't have access to the feature at this time, and people are limited to one paid outgoing message a week to minimize abuse.

The social network is also rolling out new filtering options for the inbox. If you select Basic Filtering, the usual messages from friends and people in your extended network will go to the inbox. With Strict Filtering, it will be "mostly" limited to messages from friends.

The update also allows members to receive messages from the Messenger for Android app, a mutual friend throwing a party and anyone with your @facebook.com e-mail address.

Facebook is constantly trying to find new revenue streams, testing out services such as paying to promote posts and Facebook Gifts. The pay message option is being tested out for a few months, but if it is popular, it could be an interesting way for the site to address spam and make some money at the same time.

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Yahoo new apps ... Read More

Yahoo once dominated search and email, and it was one of the earliest players in instant messaging and online news aggregation. Then, of course, it all went south. By the time Yahoo lured Mayer away from Google, it was barely even a shell of its former self.

With her hiring came promises to restructure the sprawling company, remake the products, and transform Yahoo into an innovator that can compete with the Googles, Facebooks, Microsofts, Apples and Twitters of the world.

Yahoo Mail general manager Vivek Sharma says Mayer was actively involved in the email revamp.

"She's played an unbelievably pivotal role in product direction and design," Sharma said. "She has an unbelievably intuitive understanding of what users want and need."

The new suite of email apps aren't life changing, but they at least offer a good experience for dedicated Yahoo users and show that the company is aware of what it needs to do to not only hang around, but actually make people care.

Following in the footsteps of Google and Microsoft's recent redesigns of Gmail and Hotmail/Outlook, Yahoo's apps now have a cleaner look, though Yahoo's overall use of color and texture in its user-interface design feels a few years behind what its competitors are doing. A big part of the company's goal was to make its products simpler (there are fewer visible elements and a more intuitive layout) and more consistent across platforms. All of the mobile apps and the Web client now have the same general features and layout.

Among Yahoo's new apps, the iOS app for Apple devices is probably the most modern in look and feel, though much of that comes from the baked-in iOS tools that Google, Twitter and Facebook already use in their apps (including the "pull" gesture to refresh and "swipe" for options). Most importantly: It's fast, renders emails properly, and works offline. One drawback is that it only allows one account at a time to be logged in.

The Web client is also an improvement, with less visual noise and an easier path to firing off emails, but it still looks a generation behind as far as design trends go. Yahoo's Windows 8 app can't help but feel modern since it follows the Windows 8 design language, but -- much like the default Metro email app -- the tragic flaw is that it lacks an expanded view for individual emails. That forces you to view messages in a single corner of the screen.

Merely being good might not cut it. Email is no longer a novel thing, and it's not hard to find better alternatives. Unlike Google and Microsoft, Yahoo lacks a widely used instant messaging service, offers no cloud services, and doesn't have little perks like a "priority inbox" setting.

Sharma says that he hasn't dismissed the value of those features. In addition to looking into developing new clients for other iOS products (read: iPad), the company has its eye on ways to improve the utility of Yahoo Mail, he said.

These apps won't attract an army of converts, but if Yahoo follows through on its promise to treat this as a first step, there may be hope yet for the embattled company. 

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Instagram pulled it's photos out of twitter ! Why ? ...Read More

Images from Instagram, the photo-sharing app that lets user spruce up their work with a slate of arty and retro filters, no longer show up on Twitter, a popular place to share them.

The change, foreshadowed when photos began appearing buggy on Twitter last week, was confirmed Sunday by both Twitter and Instagram. It marks a shift in how the app will be used and signals a new round in the escalating feud between two of the Web's social media titans.

Since Facebook bought Instagram in April, it's been apparent that Facebook and Twitter, which rank one-two in popularity among social-networking users, are distancing themselves from each other.

In the Internet age, data and dwell time equal money. With Facebook pushing to grow its mobile revenue (and modest stock price) and Twitter still searching for effective ways to translate its popularity into profit, this rift was perhaps inevitable.

In July, Twitter stopped letting Instagram users find friends via Twitter they may want to follow on the photo app. (They did the same for popular blogging site Tumblr after buying rival blogging platform Posterous.)

In the most recent move, users began noticing that images posted to Twitter were cropped weirdly. By Monday, sending an Instagram photo to Twitter simply posted a link directing followers to Instagram's recently beefed-up website.

The move was first mentioned by Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom last week at Le Web, a tech conference in Paris.

"We're working on building an awesome Web presence, which we just launched," Systrom said. "We revamped our Web properties, and now we're able to staff up teams to work on Web properties with the Facebook acquisition."

A Facebook spokeswoman confirmed Monday that Instagram turned off support for "Twitter cards," the app that lets third-party images appear on the site. In its statement posted Sunday, Twitter also confirmed what happened.

"Instagram has disabled photo integration with Twitter. As a result, photos are no longer appearing in Tweets or user photo galleries," the statement reads. "While tweeting links to Instagram photos is still possible, you can no longer view the photos on Twitter, as was previously the case."

At Le Web, Systrom said the shift wasn't payback for Twitter shutting down its friend-finder function. But he also said there are no plans to disable Instagram images on other sites.

"This is more of a one-off," he said.

Underlying all the back-and-forth, of course, is the possibility that hard feelings still exist after Twitter's reported offer to buy Instagram was spurned in favor of a reported $1 billion deal with Mark Zuckerberg's Web juggernaut.

By allowing its images to show up on Twitter, Instagram gave Twitter users no incentive to visit its own site or mobile app. The amount of time visitors stay on a website is an important figure for advertisers choosing which sites to patronize. Keeping Instagram photos off Twitter also could encourage users to publish their pictures to Facebook, which allows them to show up in all their glory.

Meanwhile, there are reports that Twitter is planning its own photo-filtering app, which could be out by the end of the year.

Such moves and countermoves are to be expected, many in the tech blogosphere were saying Monday.

"The companies obviously realize how important photos are to getting users to share and interact on the web, so it looks like the competition isn't stopping any time soon," .

Others were saying this won't change the actual Twitter-Instagram user experience all that much.

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Apple and Samsung battle continues...

The $1 billion patent dispute between Apple and Samsung picked back up in federal court in San Jose on Thursday, with both sides arguing over issues of damages amounts, bans on product sales and allegations of dishonesty on the part of the jury foreman.

In August, a nine-person jury awarded Apple just more than $1 billion in damages from Samsung after three weeks of complicated and technical testimony. The jurors found that Samsung copied the iPhone and iPad designs for its own smartphone and tablet models, and calculated the damages amount using 109 pages of jury instructions and a 20-page verdict form.

Now Apple is pushing to increase the amount of damages it was awarded by several hundred million dollars, and to ban Samsung from selling certain products that infringe on Apple patents.

Samsung is fighting to chip away at the enormous settlement amount or to have it thrown out. As part of its strategy, the South Korean company is asking for a new trial, alleging that the foreman of the jury was willfully dishonest by not divulging he was sued by his former employer in 1993, a company in which Samsung had invested.

Judge Lucy Koh didn't make any rulings on the various post-trial motions on Thursday, but said she plans to issue the orders separately over the next month. A protracted legal battle after a jury verdict is not unusual in a case this large and complicated, and was expected by legal experts.

"It shows that there is a careful process; the judge does get to review what the jury has done," says law professor Jay P. Kesan of the University of Illinois.

Each side is armed with impressive and expensive legal teams that are also fighting smaller battles in other countries. While those legal costs are likely astronomical, they are dwarfed by what's at stake: a global smartphone market that is expected to be worth $150 billion by 2014. 

Currently, only 50% of mobile phones in the world are smartphones, which means there's a huge untapped market of potential smartphone customers.

The judge urged both sides to reach a settlement, claiming it was best for consumers, the industry and both parties.

"I think it's time for global peace," she said.

However, a settlement still looks unlikely at this point -- both parties were made to meet before the trial began to discuss a settlement but nothing came of it. In court on Thursday, Samsung indicated it was willing to reach an agreement, saying the ball was in Apple's court. Apple, however, wanted more. It said the awarded damages, which are for past infringements, are not enough to discourage Samsung from copying Apple patents in future smartphones and tablets.

"The key issue is whether there's going to be a permanent injunction. That's probably the hardest thing for Apple to get," said Kesan. He said the chance of a retrial was also very remote.

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Google vs Facebook ...

2011 was a good year for Facebook. The social network was adding 100 million users every few months. It was on track for an IPO valued as high as $100 billion -- despite a dispirited stock market. And, perhaps most impressively, it had its archrival Google on the run.

Facebook (FB) was hiring Google's (GOOG) top engineers and threatening to siphon off its ad revenue. Significantly, Facebook was forcing Google to redesign its sites to be more social -- that is, more Facebook-like. There is no clearer sign you're eating your rival's lunch than the sight of them emulating you.

Of course, 2012 has been far crueller to Facebook. User growth stalled in its home market, and revenue growth disappointed as well. Its IPO was, by one measure, the biggest flop in Wall Street history. And last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg indicated that the company might introduce a search engine to drive new revenue.

More importantly, neither search nor social networking is an inherently superior business model. People flocked to social sites like Facebook and Twitter because they were a great way to discover new diversions through their friends and contacts. But it didn't make search less popular. It just added to the flow of content people get from the web. So it was inevitable that Google and Facebook would move into each other's core businesses.

In fact, the notion that search was dying and that the future of the web lay in social networks is itself starting to look outdated. Yes, people may spend many more hours on a social network than in a search box, but they also spend much less time bothering to click ads. We go to social networks to find people. We go to search boxes to find answers. So search ads -- despite warnings of the demise of search -- have continued to do very well.

In light of the rivalry that has emerged between the two companies, Facebook's plans to push harder into search may appear like an embarrassing capitulation. But just as Page was intent on moving into social to strengthen its overall offerings, Zuckerberg sees search as one more revenue stream to feed into its future growth. And given Facebook's lackluster stock performance so far, it seems not a bad.

Nor would adding a search engine be the only move that Facebook has copied from traditional web advertising. Several months ago, Facebook Exchange launched, letting ad networks use the browsing histories of users to target display ads next to their Facebook news feeds. Facebook Exchange, which works a lot like Google's Ad Exchange, showed early signs of improving ad-click rates in its beta program.

Facebook and Google also compete in several other areas, with Facebook Photos taking on Google's Picasa and Facebook Messaging aping GTalk. And both have made heavy moves into an even more archaic form of web advertising -- the hoary old display ad, introduced nearly two decades ago.

According to a recent report from eMarketer, both Facebook and Google will see display-ad revenue grow this year, although Google will grow faster to 15.4% of the display-ad market from 13.5% last year. Facebook will grow to 14.4% of the market from 14.1% last year. By 2014, eMarketer estimates, Google will control 21.2% of the market and Facebook 15.5%.

But efforts like Facebook Exchange and the mobile ad network the company began testing last week could give Facebook a bigger piece of the pie. And now it's getting serious about search ads as well. Taken together, these initiatives help support the Facebook bulls who say the stock is attractively priced right now. But turning its stock price around will mean moving deeper into Google's home turf.

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How parents, kids interact on Facebook... ( Read More)

As they move from their early teens to their late teens, kids no longer want to be pals with Mom and Dad. Teenage boys are much less likely than girls to initiate conversations with their parents. And moms baby their sons.

Not exactly news flashes, you say? But we're not talking about real life here, exactly. We're talking about Facebook.

The world's largest social network released new data about how parents and their children interact online. But the findings, from Facebook's data science team, also illustrate how personal interactions on Facebook can mirror those in the so-called real world.

Who friends whom: More than 65% of friendships between 13-year-olds and their parents are initiated by the child. But the older the teenager gets, the less likely he or she is to be the one sending the friend request. By the time kids are in their early to mid-20s, their parents are initiating friend requests with them 60% of the time.

As kids grow into their 30s and 40s, however, they begin friending their parents more often again.

"This overall trend follows the rough arc of children seeking distance from their parents as they prepare to leave the nest, and then gradually gravitating back as they accomplish their own milestones in life," says the blog post.

Who talks to whom: Moms and dads initiate parent-child conversations more often than their teenage kids. For daughters, this imbalance evens out by the time they hit 30 and are messaging their parents as often as they receive messages in return. Sons, however, however, take twice as long -- until age 60 -- to come around.

What they say: The data team studied hundreds of thousands of public Facebook messages between parents and children to identify the words and phrases that appeared most often. Based on the results, Mom and Dad are very proud of their kids.

Among the most common phrases from parents: "I'm so proud, "all my heart," "well done," "proud of you" and "call me."

Moms and dads use language much differently when messaging with sons, though. Mothers preferred endearments like "my handsome son" and "my little boy," while dads used profanity and words like "buddy" and "dude."

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who is the right phone for you ??? ...

 A dizzying number of smartphones is now available in the United States. Picking one is a big commitment, especially when you're signing up for a two-year wireless contract.

There are multiple factors to consider when picking a new phone, such as the carrier, your budget, hardware and the operating system.

Apple, Google and Microsoft each has its own mobile operating systems and ecosystems -- iOS, Android and Windows Phone, respectively -- and they've all been updated in the last year. The three rivals will be going head to head on shiny new handsets this holiday season.

ANDROID

The Android operating system was released by Google in 2008 and has become the No. 1 smartphone OS in the world. It was running on three out of every four smartphone handsets sold in the third quarter of 2012, according to ID

Interface

Android has the most detailed interface of the available operating systems, with many options and a lot of flexibility for setting it up to meet your needs. The home screen has a Google search bar at the top, and a bar at the bottom can hold four app icons or folders. The middle button brings up the complete list of apps installed on the phone.

Apps and content

On Android phones, apps, games and content such as movies and music are sold in one unified marketplace, the Google Play store. There are about 675,000 apps and games in this store, which is just below the the number in Apple's App Store.

Who it's for

Android is made for anyone heavily invested in the Google ecosystem (Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar); people who prefer their maps with public transit directions and a high level of accuracy; people who like control over their computer systems and who are fans of customization and tinkering; anyone looking for a low-cost smartphone and are unable (or unwilling) to pay the Apple premium; and buyers who want a large screen.

iOS 6

Apple's iOS operating system powers iPhones, iPads and the iPod touch. It's is the second top-selling smartphone operating system; 14% of all smartphones sold worldwide in the last quarter were running iOS. The gap between Android and iOS is huge, but keep in mind that Apple's platform only runs on one smartphone line, the iPhone

Interface

This is the most straightforward interface in the bunch, and it's been relatively unchanged since the first iPhone came out in 2007. There have been nice minor tweaks, such as the addition of folders and notifications, but the gist is the same.

Apps and content

Apps must be purchased in the official Apple App Store, which currently has more than 700,000 apps and games in stock. The importance of a platform with a large volume of apps is overblown. What matters is the availability of quality apps and the willingness of major developers and companies to produce good products for that platform.

Who it's for

iOS is designed for people who want a simple interface; nontechnical types who will appreciate the convenient and free hand-holding available at the Genius Bar; Mac users; and design lovers.

WINDOWS PHONE 8

This is the second generation of Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system, which began in 2010. Windows Phone 8 was launched in October, and Microsoft hopes the expensive marketing campaign and improved features will help it climb up from fifth place. Last quarter, only 2% of phones sold in the world were Windows Phone devices.

Interface

Instead of icons, the Windows Phone 8 home screen is covered with a quilt of brightly colored squares and rectangles. Each tile can display live information, such as a photo album or your newest e-mail, which can save you a trip into the sometimes jumbled innards of the operating system.

Apps and content

The current app selection on Windows Phone 8 is the smallest of the three platforms, but Microsoft is working hard to woo developers. The system shares its underlying framework with Windows 8, so that may make it easier for developers to make apps for both platforms.

Who it's for

Windows is the most used operating system in the world, and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said he thinks 500 million people will be using Windows 8, the newest PC/tablet operating system, by the end of 2013. Windows Phone 8 will be best as a companion device for people using Windows 8 on a PC. It's also a nice choice for people who want a simple and customizable interface; heavy Microsoft Office users; parents; and anyone who likes to root for (the corporate overlord version of) the underdog.

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Gmail allows 10 GB file sharing with Google Drive.. Read More

Frustrated that you can't share files the size of your entire music collection via e-mail? Google wants to help.

Gmail users can now send files of up to 10 GB using Google Drive, the Web giant's cloud-storage service.

That's 400 times bigger than files that can be shared in a regular e-mail, according to a blog post by Google's Gmail team.

And because the files are stored in the cloud, all recipients will always have the latest version of the file -- in the case of a document that's being amended over time, for example.

So whether it's photos from your recent camping trip, video footage from your brother's wedding, or a presentation to your boss, all your stuff is easy to find and easy to share with Drive and Gmail," the post reads.

Drive, and before that Google Docs, already allowed users to share large files. But the new feature is more streamlined, letting them do so without leaving Gmail.

Launched in April, Google Drive offers users 5 GB of free storage, with each additional 25 GB going for $2.49.

The move is part of an ongoing effort by Google to synchronize its various services, from Gmail to social network Google Plus to the Android mobile operating system. The ability to sync with Gmail offers Google a built-in edge over standalone cloud storage tools like Dropbox.

"Should services like Dropbox be concerned? Sort of," wrote Ricardo Bilton of VentureBeat. "As the move shows, Google's core strength is in its ability to connect and integrate its various services -- even the unpopular ones -- into one cohesive product. This gives Drive a clear edge over competing standalone cloud services, so expect Google to leverage it as much as possible."

The file-sharing feature will be rolled out over the next few days, according to Google. Users must have opted in to Gmail's "Compose" tool in order to use it.

Google announced this year that Gmail has more than 425 million active users.

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Facebook got problems with his new Facebook Messenger for Android ...

Facebook has started to roll out a new version of its Messenger app for Android that only requires a name and a phone number, not an actual Facebook account, to sign up.

Although the new Facebook Messenger app is only available in a handful of countries for now--Australia, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Venezuela--it will eventually roll out to the United States and elsewhere, allowing users to chat with their phone contacts even if they're not using Facebook.

This news has set the tech world atwitter with proclamations that the new Messenger is an assault on the lowly text message (includingone such proclamation from Facebook itself).

It's a nice thought, at least. Given that a single text to your neighbor can cost more than a data transmission from Mars, who wouldn't relish the idea of wireless carriers getting their comeuppance? In reality, though, standard SMS has a lot going for it, and will likely weather all kinds of assaults, especially one from Facebook.

For one thing, Facebook Messenger faces the same adoption hurdle as other Internet-based messaging apps like WhatsApp and Viber: It requires a conscious decision not to use traditional SMS.

With Facebook Messenger, you must first consider whether the recipient has Facebook installed, and is set up to receive notifications for new messages. Then, you must commit to using the Messenger app instead of your phone's built-in SMS functionality. Once you do that, the conversation is locked into Facebook unless you have one of the select Android phones that can integrate regular text messages.

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How Apple has changed under Tim Cook...

Now it has been one year since the former of Apple Steve Jobs died and the president of the company is Tim Cook. 

Interview of Tim Cook on NBC

Cook told NBC that Apple isn't concerned about the higher cost of manufacturing in the United States creating pressure to raise prices. Apple assembled many of its products in the United States until the late 1990s, when it exported that work to Asia where labor costs are lower.

"It's not so much about price, it's about the skills, etc.," he told NBC's Williams. "Over time, there are skills that are associated with manufacturing that have left the United States. Not necessarily people, but the education system has just stopped producing that. It's a concerted effort to get them back."

Cook acknowledged to Businessweek that the move is influenced, at least in part, by a desire to bolster a U.S. unemployment rate that, while slowly rebounding, still hovers around 8%.

"I don't think we have a responsibility to create a certain kind of job," Cook said. "But I think we do have a responsibility to create jobs."

In both interviews, Cook emphasized American jobs Apple has already helped create -- from the companies that make components of its popular iPhone to the developers who have built businesses creating apps for Apple mobile devices.

"The engine in here is made in America," Cook said, holding up an iPhone. "And not only are the engines in here made in America, but engines are made in America and exported. The glass on this phone is made in Kentucky. So, we've been working for years on doing more and more in the United States."

As large as it may sound, a $100 million investment remains a relatively small chunk of Apple's estimated $120 billion cash on hand. It follows other limited steps by electronics companies.

Earlier this year, Google began making its Nexus Q media streamer at a Texas plant -- although that ill-fated device has had a rocky run. Five months after it was unveiled, the Q's page in the Google Play store says it is "not for sale at this time."

Late last year, an analysis by the Boston Consulting Grouppredicted that 2015 will be a "tipping point" when many tech industries will begin manufacturing in the United States.

"A surprising amount of work that rushed to China over the past decade could soon start to come back -- and the economic impact could be significant," said Harold L. Sirkin, a senior partner and lead author of the analysis. "We're on record predicting a U.S. manufacturing renaissance starting by around 2015."

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Apple will make it's own computers ...

Apple will begin manufacturing a computer in the United States next year, says CEO Tim Cook, marking a shift in perhaps the most-criticized element of the company's beloved gadget empire.

"We've been working for years on doing more and more in the United States," Cook said in an interview with Brian Williams on NBC's "Rock Center," scheduled to air Thursday night. "Next year, we will do one of our existing Mac lines in the United States."

Cook did not say which computer he was talking about, but some models of the new iMac have been arriving stamped "Assembled in the U.S.A," prompting speculation that it may be the company's flagship desktop.

An Apple spokesman told  that Apple will be investing $100 million in the move. He downplayed the iMac speculation, though, saying Apple has always done some assembly of its computers in the United States and calling the stamps on some 21-inch iMacs "coincidental as part of this story."

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What's the difference between Science, engineering and technology...

      

The distinction between science, engineering and technology is not always clear. Science is the reasoned investigation or study of phenomena, aimed at discovering enduring principles among elements of the phenomenal world by employing formal techniques such as the scientific method.Technologies are not usually exclusively products of science, because they have to satisfy requirements such as utility, usability and safety.

Engineering is the goal-oriented process of designing and making tools and systems to exploit natural phenomena for practical human means, often (but not always) using results and techniques from science. The development of technology may draw upon many fields of knowledge, including scientific, engineering, mathematical, linguistic, and historical knowledge, to achieve some practical result.

Technology is often a consequence of science and engineering — although technology as a human activity precedes the two fields. For example, science might study the flow of electrons in electrical conductors, by using already-existing tools and knowledge. This new-found knowledge may then be used by engineers to create new tools and machines, such as semiconductors, computers, and other forms of advanced technology. In this sense, scientists and engineers may both be considered technologists; the three fields are often considered as one for the purposes of research and reference.

The exact relations between science and technology in particular have been debated by scientists, historians, and policymakers in the late 20th century, in part because the debate can inform the funding of basic and applied science. In the immediate wake of World War II, for example, in the United States it was widely considered that technology was simply "applied science" and that to fund basic science was to reap technological results in due time.

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Wondering what technology is ... Read More

Technology is the making, modification, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems, methods of organization, in order to solve a problem, improve a preexisting solution to a problem, achieve a goal, handle an applied input/output relation or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, modifications, arrangements and procedures. Technologies significantly affect human as well as other animal species' ability to control and adapt to their natural environments.

Technology has affected society and its surroundings in a number of ways. In many societies, technology has helped develop more advanced economies (including today's global economy) and has allowed the rise of a leisure class. Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products, known as pollution, and deplete natural resources, to the detriment of the Earth and its environment. Various implementations of technology influence the values of a society and new technology often raises new ethical questions. Examples include the rise of the notion of efficiency in terms of human productivity, a term originally applied only to machines, and the challenge of traditional norms.

The use of the term technology has changed significantly over the last 200 years. Before the 20th century, the term was uncommon in English, and usually referred to the description or study of theuseful arts. Technology can be most broadly defined as the entities, both material and immaterial, created by the application of mental and physical effort in order to achieve some value. In this usage, technology refers to tools and machines that may be used to solve real-world problems. It is a far-reaching term that may include simple tools, such as a crowbar or wooden spoon, or more complex machines, such as a space station or particle accelerator. Tools and machines need not be material; virtual technology, such as computer software and business methods, fall under this definition of technology.

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