Tech Talk
Jun 20, 9:46AM
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Facebook to let developers charge subscriptions

View of the Facebook homepage taken in Washington on May 6, 2012.

/ NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/GettyImages

(CBS/AP) No, Facebook is not charging a membership fee. The social network is letting app developers charge subscription fees, however, in addition to existing one-time payments, for games and other applications on its site.

Full coverage of Facebook at Tech Talk

Facebook Inc. said on its developer blog that the subscription feature will be available in July. The changes open up a new revenue stream for developers as well as for Facebook, which takes a 30 percent cut from all payments on its site.

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Jun 18, 4:18PM
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Facebook buys facial-recognition company Face.com

Face

(CBS/AP) Facebook has acquired the facial-recognition technology company Face.com.

The company helps people tag photos on the Internet by figuring out who is in them. The Israeli company announced the acquisition on its blog on Monday.

Face says that by working with Facebook it will have more opportunities to develop technology that people will use.

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Jun 15, 2:15PM
By Don Reisinger / 1 Comment

SEC spooked by Facebook's pre-IPO mobile numbers

CBS/AP
(CNET) The Securities and Exchange Commission's pre-IPO correspondence with Facebook makes it clear that the regulatory body seemed quite concerned with the impact mobile growth could have on its operation.Continue »
Jun 15, 9:06AM
By Steven Musil / 2 comments

Facebook security efforts, asks for cell numbers

Facebook's security page.

/ Screenshot by Steven Musil/CNET
(CNET) In the wake of a rash of password leaks, Facebook wants to educate its members about how to make their accounts more secure and is asking for users' cell phone numbers as part of that effort.

The social network has begun adding a message at the top of every member's news feed that suggests they "Stay in control of your account by following these simple security tips." The message includes a link to Facebook's security page, where users are tutored on how to identify a scam and choose a unique password, and are asked to provide a cell phone number where replacement passwords can be sent.

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Jun 14, 9:56AM
By Chenda Ngak / Add Comment

Samsung group: We're not making a Facebook rival

Samsung
(CBS News) Reports that Samsung is planning to launch a social network called "Samsung Facebook" were put to rest Thursday.

Citing Samsung officials, The Korea Times reported that the company would expand its cloud storage and sharing service, Family Story, into a Facebook-like social network.

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Jun 13, 10:37AM
By Chenda Ngak / 1 Comment

Mountain Lion, what you need to know

OS X Mountain Lion

/ Apple
(CBS News) Apple unveiled its new operating system OS X Mountain Lion at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on Monday. Over 200 new features where added, but some of the biggest highlights include Facebook integration, AirPlay Mirroring and Game Center.

Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display, first impressions
Apple announces next generation MacBook Pro with Retina Display
Apple WWDC 2012: OS X Mountain Lion, iCloud, iOS 6 updates
Full coverage of Apple at Tech Talk

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Jun 12, 3:32PM
By Chenda Ngak / 1 Comment

Report: Zynga stock drops, Facebook games declining

Getty Images
(CBS News) Zynga stock dropped by as much as 13 percent Tuesday, falling below $5 a share, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Zynga's portfolio is largely made up of browser-based games that are played in Facebook. Free games like FarmVille and CityVille earn revenue from in-game purchases.

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Jun 8, 5:37PM
By Chenda Ngak / 4 comments

Facebook ordered to reveal identities of cyberbullies

file,AP Photo
(CBS News) Facebook has been ordered by a U.K. court to reveal the names, emails addresses and IP addresses of cyberbullies.

The case involves Nicola Brookes, a Brighton, U.K. woman who was the victim of "vicious and depraved" abuse on Facebook, the Guardian reports.

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Jun 6, 9:37AM
By Lance Whitney / 3 comments

Facebook gone in a few years? Analyst says so

View of the Facebook homepage taken in Washington on May 6, 2012.

/ NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/GettyImages
(CNET) Will Facebook suffer the same fate as MySpace in a few years? That's what one analyst predicts.

Speaking on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" program Monday, Eric Jackson, founder of Ironfire Capital, said that Facebook will lose its dominance as a social network in less than ten years.

In his forecast, Jackson cited Facebook's inability to crack the mobile market and the stock's 27 percent nosedive since the company's IPO.

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Jun 5, 5:28PM
By Chenda Ngak / 13 comments

Viral "Facebook privacy notice" is a hoax

A sample of the viral Facebook privacy notice that spread around in the spring of 2012.

/ Facebook personal photo

(CBS News) Facebook users may have seen a status update masquerading as a legally-binding privacy notice in their news feeds in the last month.

Those hoping for a little bit of protection for their photos, videos and status updates may be disappointed. There are several versions of the notice - all of them suggesting that by making a declaration, somehow their content is protected. That is simply not true.

The myth-busting site Snopes.com debunked the viral status update on Monday, saying that the disclaimer will not provide privacy protection on Facebook.

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Jun 5, 9:34AM
By Paul Sloan / Add Comment

Facebook's IPO will hurt startups, warns Y Combinator founder

Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham.

/ Paul Graham
(CNET) One of the most prominent people in Silicon Valley's startup world is warning that Facebook's disastrous IPO performance will lead to hard times for startups. Continue »
Jun 4, 10:43AM
By Chenda Ngak / Add Comment

Apple's Cook hints at Facebook, iOS integration

File photo taken Jan. 11, 2011 of Tim Cook, Chief Executive Officer of Apple.

/ AP Photo/Mark Lennihan
(CBS News) Did Apple's chief executive officer Tim Cook hint at a possible straight-to-Facebook feature in upcoming iPhones and iPads? Speaking at a recent industry conference, Apple's CEO may have let plans of a future partnership slip.

Full coverage of Apple at Tech Talk

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Jun 1, 11:22AM
By Edecio Martinez / Add Comment

Facebook experiences temporary crash, back online

Facebook experiences temporary crash, back online

Users of the social network turn to Twitter to complain when the site went down this afternoon.

/ Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images

(CBS) - Social networking giant Facebook experienced sporadic outages Thursday evening causing users to take to Twitter to voice their displeasure (instead of just going outside).

Pictures: Facebook Through the Years

Reuters reports that user suffered anywhere between a half an hour to two hours of down time. The outage appeared to have begun around 4:26 p.m., according to users complaining on Twitter.

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May 31, 10:53PM
By Steven Musil / 2 comments

Facebook experiences apparent outage

In this Feb. 11, 2011 photo, a Facebook page is seen on a computer in Montpelier, Vt.

/ AP Photo/Toby Talbot

Facebook was down for brief time this evening, and some users are still complaining of sluggishness on the site.

The outage appears to have begun around 4:26 p.m., according to flood of tweets by Facebook users complaining that they were unable to access the site.

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May 25, 3:58PM
By Donna Tam / 2 comments

Facebook to buy Opera browser? Rumors surface

Opera
(CNET) Is Facebook planning to jump on the browser bandwagon?

Tech blog Pocket-lint says one of its "trusted sources" revealed that Facebook is trying to buy Opera Software, the company behind the Opera Web browser, a sign that the social-networking company might be looking to launch its own browser.

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