Tech Biz

Google has acquired Titan Aerospace, the drone startup that makes high-flying robots which was previously scoped by Facebook as a potential acquisition target (as first reported by TechCrunch), the WSJ reports. The details of the purchase weren’t disclosed, but the deal comes after Facebook disclosed its own purchase of a Titan Aerospace competitor in U.K.-based Continue Reading →

Like bitcoin? Like Amazon? Want to use bitcoin to buy stuff from Amazon? I have some bad news for you. Not going to happen anytime soon. “Obviously it gets a lot of press and we have considered it,” Amazon payments head Tom Taylor told Re/code in a recent interview, “but we’re not hearing from customers Continue Reading →

Microsoft launched a major update to Office Online (formerly Office Web Apps) on Monday, rolling out new features for each of the suite’s four applications. Among the additions is commenting for Word Online, Tell Me for Excel Online and PowerPoint Online, as well as printing for OneNote Online. Before we get into all the new Continue Reading →

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) acknowledged last week that it missed the April 8 cut-off for Windows XP support and will be paying Microsoft for an extra year of security patches. But the tax agency disputed an earlier estimate by Computerworld that put the cost of those patches in the millions, saying that it Continue Reading →

Facebook wants to be more than a social network — it is planning to facilitate financial services in the form of electronic money and remittances, the Financial Times reports (as spotted first by Benedict Evans). The report cites sources as saying that Facebook is weeks away from getting regulatory approval in Ireland for a service Continue Reading →

Skills gap? What skills gap? That’s the contention from Paul Krugman, columnist for The New York Times. Krugman rejects the idea that employers want to make new hires but can’t find people with the “right” set of skills. Krugman: “Think about what we would expect to find if there really were a skills shortage. Above all, we Continue Reading →

“1 like = $1.” “1 like = 1 Respect.” “If you don’t share this, you’re literally the devil.” We’ll bet you’ve seen the above way too often on Facebook. Thankfully, the social network’s now showing these unwanted status updates less prominently on your feed, if the original posts were published by a Page account. The Continue Reading →

Facebook on Friday released its second global government transparency report, covering the period between July and December of last year. Apart from the regular numbers pertaining to government requests for user data, the social network is now — for the first time — revealing how often countries have restricted or had content removed from the Continue Reading →

Twitter announced on Thursday it is rolling out real-time interactive notifications on the Web. When someone engages with your account, you will now be notified if you’re using Twitter.com. The feature is rolling out “over the coming weeks.” More specifically, you will receive notifications if someone has replied, favorited, or retweeted one of your tweets. Continue Reading →

France has brought in rules to protect employees from work email disturbing them outside office hours. Would a law to this effect be feasible elsewhere? You’re reclining on the beach admiring the surf when your phone goes beep. You’ve got mail. From your boss. In many jobs, work email doesn’t stop when the employee leaves Continue Reading →