Facebook reportedly building phone with ex-Apple engineers

Among other murmurings of a Facebook smartphone, The New York Times reports the company is hoping to release the handset by next year.Interesting how the very week Google became a hardware maker with the closing of its acquisition of Motorola Mobility, there's talk of another Internet giant doing the same.Read More..

Here comes Yahoo's own Web browser -- Axis

Yahoo's search group attempts to take control of its destiny by launching its own browser. Surprise: It's good.Yahoo is announcing tonight that it's getting into the browser business with its new Axis browser. There are versions for iPad and iPhone, and plug-ins for the desktop browsers Chrome, Firefox, IE, and Safari. The design goal, according to Ethan Batraski, head of product for the Search Innovation Group at Yahoo, is to eliminate the middle step in the usual Web search process: Enter a query, see the results, go to a page. With Axis, you're supposed to be able to go directly from query to page, skipping the step of surfing a sea of links. Read More..

Google will alert users to DNSChanger malware infection

Google is using a clever Domain Name System hack to let people infected with the DNSChanger malware know that they have only a few weeks left before their Internet connection goes dead.Google is about to begin an ambitious project to notify some half a million people that their computers are infected with the DNSChanger malware. Read More..

Intel vs. AMD: Who's got the fastest chip now?

Has AMD finally got Intel beat? Overall, the answer is no. Advanced Micro Devices new Trinity chip doesn't deliver the performance trifecta necessary to threaten Intel's market-leading position, according to most initial evaluations. It's an old story line now: AMD comes out with a new processor that offers better graphics performance, but, overall, does little to change Intel-AMD market dynamics -- which of course heavily favors Intel. Read More..

Pakistan blocks Twitter over 'blasphemous' images

The country implements the ban over concerns about a promotion involving posting images of the prophet Muhammad. Facebook has taken a more conciliatory approach.The Pakistani government blocked access to Twitter over potential "blasphemous" caricatures of the prophet Muhammad, according to several reports. Read More..

Facebook's Saverin: I'm a 'global citizen,' not a tax dodger

Company co-founder who, it was recently revealed, renounced his U.S. citizenship says the decision had nothing to do with the blockbuster IPO and taxes.Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, who is simultaneously becoming one of the richer and more reviled people around, wants to set the record straight. Read More..

Nokia: Apple rigged Siri to name iPhone best phone

The Finnish phone maker is accusing Apple of intentionally altering Siri to change its pick for the best phone from the Lumia 900 to the iPhone. Is Apple purposely tweaking Siri to stack the deck in favor of the iPhone? Nokia certainly thinks so. Siri stirred up some controversy late last week in voicing its view on smartphones. When asked its recommendation of the best smartphone, Apple's voice assistant named Nokia's Lumia 900 the top dog.Read More..

Facebook mobile redesign makes photos three times larger

The redesign, which appears to be based on lessons learned by Instagram, aims to make users' photos appear larger in their news feeds than they were before.Facebook today unveiled a new mobile redesign aimed at making news feed photos up to three times larger on iOS, Android, and the social network's own mobile site. Read More..

Apple forced to change name of iPad Wi-Fi + 4G

It seems that international pressure sometimes works, as criticism of the iPad Wi-Fi + 4G name -- which in many countries isn't actually 4G, has finally caused a name change to iPad Wi-Fi + Cellular. Read More..

Google+ for iPhone gets first big visual overhaul

The company has given its Google+ app for the iPhone a new coat of paint, replacing a design that didn't quite match up with its Web counterpart.If there's one thing to be said about Google+ for the iPhone (iTunes), it's that it hasn't looked as good as its Web counterpart. With an update today, Google is hoping to change people's opinions on that. Read More..

Thousands of Twitter passwords exposed

It's unclear who's responsible for posting passwords for Twitter accounts to a public Web site. The exact number of accounts is also unclear, as Twitter says many are duplicates and many had already been suspended. Twitter is investigating the release of what appear to be thousands of user account passwords and e-mail addresses. Read More..

FBI: We need wiretap-ready Web sites - now

CNET learns the FBI is quietly pushing its plan to force surveillance backdoors on social networks, VoIP, and Web e-mail providers, and that the bureau is asking Internet companies not to oppose a law making those backdoors mandatory. The FBI is asking Internet companies not to oppose a controversial proposal that would require firms, including Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google, to build in backdoors for government surveillance. Read More..

Frustrated advertisers to Facebook: Take our money -- please!

With Facebook's huge IPO getting nearer, this is the sort of news that Mark Zuckerberg doesn't need to hear just now. With a reach approaching 15 percent of the world's population, Facebook is a thriving media business. In the last quarter alone, it raked in more $1 billion in revenue, almost entirely from advertising. Read More..