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News

• Windows Phone 7 released to manufacturers

  Windows Phone 7 has been finalized and released to manufacturers, Microsoft announced in a blog today.

• MySpace now talking to Facebook with Sync

  Social network interoperability went up a notch this week with MySpace releasing Sync, an application to post status updates and other content on users' Facebook pages.

• Facebook ends IE6 support, why you should too

  Facebook announced that it is ending support for Internet Explorer 6. Granted, it is only pulling the plug on IE6 in its chat function, but the move by Facebook is the latest effort to shift away from the outdated browser that refuses to die.

• Scammers hit Twitter, Facebook, send free iPad spam

  Facebook and Twitter users are complaining about their accounts being compromised and then being used to spam friends with suspicious "free iPad offers."

• Germany considers ban on using Facebook for hiring

  Germany is considering a law that would ban employers from mining information on prospective job candidates from social networking sites such as Facebook to protect people's privacy.

• North Korea-linked Facebook page deleted again

  For the second time in less than a week a Facebook account created by a North Korea-linked Web site has been deleted by the social networking site.

• The next Facebook: Scoop?

  Imagine a social networking site geared specifically toward connecting college students with their on-campus academic and social communities. Sound familiar? Those are Facebook's roots -- before the site ballooned into a worldwide phenomenon with half a billion registered users. They're also the roots of Scoop<, a forthcoming mobile social app.

• Location-Based Services: 5 Myths Debunked

  First there was location-based social network Foursquare. Then Gowalla and other sites followed suit and launched. And now with news that Facebook is slowly rolling out its own location-based technology, you can expect to hear a lot-both true and false-about what these services really are.

• Group complains when Facebook blocks image of pot leaf

  Facebook has blocked a marijuana legalization campaign from displaying the image of a pot leaf in ads on the social-networking giant's site, and that's making the normally mellow group upset.

• Facebook deletes North Korean account, but it resurfaces

  A Facebook account established by a North Korea-linked Web site was deleted by the social networking service on Friday, but a new group sprang up over the weekend to take its place.

• Facebook buys social site Hot Potato

  Facebook has acquired Hot Potato in a move that could help further its move into location-based services.

• Facebook's 4 Big Rivals in Location-Based Technology

  Facebook announced yesterday its much-anticipated location-based service, Places. Places, which is currently available only on mobile devices that support HTML 5 and with a GPS or geolocation feature, is set to pose a threat to other more-established services such as Foursquare, Gowalla, MyTown and Whrrl.

• The Web is Dead: Long Live the Cloud

  The tech world is all a-twitter (literally!) about an article in this month's Wired Magazine which announces "The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet". The article recites a litany of problems that are choking the Web: the rise of apps that replace use of a Web browser; the growth of uber-aggregation sites like Facebook that are closed platforms; the destruction of traditional advertising and replacement by Google, the semi-benevolent search monster; and even the move away from HTML and use of port 80-based apps.

• Experts give preliminary OK to Facebook Places

  Pressed to respond to the rising popularity of online services that let people broadcast their location, Facebook mostly hit the right notes with the initial design of Places, although it's too early to declare the service will be a sure success, according to several experts.

• Facebook location service could kill Foursquare, ignite privacy issues

  If all the speculation pans out and later today Facebook unveils a location service for its site, it will excite some users, cause new privacy concerns and make for a really bad day for the folks at Foursquare Labs.