Exclusive: Facebook Deal Nets Instagram CEO $400 Million
By Mike Isaac Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired Facebook’s acquisition of the immensely popular photo-sharing service Instagram for $1 billion is far and away the largest acquisition in the history of the world’s largest social network. But for CEO Kevin Systrom and company, it’s a windfall payday like none other. CEO Systrom owns 40 percent of Instagram, according [...]
Instagram for Android: The good, the bad, the ugly
by Jaymar Cabebe To longtime Android users such as myself, the name Instagram might not mean much. Sure, we see the vignetted photos invading our Facebook and Twitter streams, and we notice the instagr.am links all over the place, but other than that, we don’t really get it. I mean, what is it, exactly? Is it just a [...]
Angry Birds Space Now Available for Download
by Stan Schroeder Fans of the Angry Birds franchise, take notice: the disgruntled feathery creatures have conquered space, and they’re out to show those dastardly pigs a lesson. The latest installment of this megapopular game, Angry Birds Space, is now available for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android devices, as well as the Mac and PC. [...]
Apple’s Siri not as smart as she looks, lawsuit charges
by Josh Lowensohn SUMMARY: A new lawsuit seeking class action says Siri doesn’t work anywhere near as well as Apple’s TV ads suggest. Apple’s been a little overzealous in the way it’s advertised Siri, the voice assistant feature found on the company’s latest iPhone, a new lawsuit claims. iPhone 4S buyer Frank Fazio says the software feature simply didn’t [...]
Your iPhone’s watching you. Should you care?
by Josh Lowensohn and Elinor Mills A peek at location data stored on an iPhone. (Credit: Josh Lowensohn/CNET) Researchers announced today that they found what look like secret files on the iPhone that track user location and store it on the device, without the permission of the device owner. It’s unclear what the data is [...]
Augmented reality comes to mobile phones
by Marguerite Reardon If you thought location-aware search and other mobile mapping technologies were cool, hold onto your hat. A new wave of innovation in the mobile market will bring augmented reality to smartphones, allowing users to interact virtually with their surroundings. Qualcomm has worked with toy maker Mattel to demonstrate the power of augmented-reality [...]
BlackTab Could Kick RIM Into Gear Again
By Rob Spiegel The upcoming tablet computer from Research In Motion — unofficially dubbed the “BlackPad” — is the company’s next new hope for revitalization. Although RIM still holds a dominating position in the smartphone market with particular strength in the enterprise, it’s latest offerings look pretty pale next to iPhones and Androids. RIM hopes [...]
Apple starts selling iPhone 4 in China
By Li Jing Apple announced on Sunday that it is beginning to sell its new iPhone 4 in China. Chinese consumers will have option to buy the phone with or without contract. The smartphone will be sold at retail at 4999 yuan (16GB model – something around $ 1,290) and 5999 yuan (32 GB, about [...]
Is Facebook Planning a Phone? Who Knows. Should It? No
By John C Abell It was quite the weekend sensation: TechCrunch thought it had a resonant story — though perhaps not in this way. It’s hard to say exactly why the TechCrunch piece on Facebook developing a branded phone caught so much fire and ire. It might, however, be because Facebook took the somewhat unusual step of [...]