Tech Biz

Facebook said Thursday it has begun testing a system for users to send messages to people outside their immediate circle of social contacts for a payment of one dollar, as the company continues to find new ways to capitalize on its popularity. In a statement posted online, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based social site cited research Continue Reading →

Just as Steve Jobs originally (and dubiously) thought “Bicycle” was a good name for the original Macintosh or “MacMan” for the first iMac, the late Apple CEO almost went with the name “Freedom” for its Web browser. Former retired Apple programmer Don Melton writes on his blog that other names on the table included “Alexander” Continue Reading →

Amazon Studios, the online retailer’s department responsible for sourcing scripts and developing original video content, announced on Thursday the development of six original comedy series pilots. When production is completed, the series will air on Amazon’s Instant Video platform, which delivers video content like TV and movies to users’ set top boxes, phones, tablets, and Continue Reading →

Super Bowl XLVI was one of the biggest online video events of the year, and so it makes sense that the National Football League would bring the Big Game back online again. On Wednesday, the league announced that for a second year running, the Super Bowl will be streamed online, this time by CBS. Like Continue Reading →

Mark Zuckerberg announced his and wife Priscilla’s second major charitable contribution to date — a gift of 18 million Facebook shares to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. The gift was announced, not surprisingly, by a post on Zuckerberg’s timeline Tuesday evening. Facebook shares are currently valued at $27.71 each, so the 18 million share gift Continue Reading →

Your Facebook News Feed is about to get more annoying. The social network is getting ready to populate feeds with video ads according to AdAge. Why now? To “attract big swaths of ad dollars from TV advertisers.” By April, Facebook will reportedly have video ads airing on its desktop site and smartphone and tablet apps. Continue Reading →

The House of Representatives has voted to approve a bill which would make it easier for users to share movies that they’re watching on social networks like Facebook on Tuesday. That could eventually lead more video services, like Netflix, to integrate with Facebook’s Open Graph and enable “seamless sharing” of that content. The bill, H.R. Continue Reading →

We have left the Information Age and entered the Shift Age. This new age is an era of transformation unparalleled in terms of the amount of change that will occur in the next 20-30 years. I have been writing and speaking about the Shift Age since 2007, and my first book of that name was Continue Reading →

Monday was the fifth annual Free Shipping Day, when more than 1,300 merchants will provide free shipping, discounts and delivery by Christmas Eve. This event was a great way to save, but there are a lot of other things you can do to minimize your shipping charges, both this holiday season and all year long. Continue Reading →

Nielsen and Twitter just announced a deal for something called the Nielsen Twitter TV Rating, which they’re hoping to turn into the standard metric for measuring the conversation that a TV show spurs on Twitter. The companies say they’re planning to make the rating available commercially in the fall of 2013. The new Twitter ratings Continue Reading →