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News

• Google's Niantic Labs to become independent company

  Two days after announcing a sweeping reorganization, Google has detailed its first departure. Niantic Labs, an augmented reality unit of Google, will be spun off into an independent company.

• Dropbox adds U2F support for better security

  Two-factor authentication is often held up as a best practice for security in the online world, but Dropbox on Wednesday announced a new feature that's designed to make it even tougher.

• Twitter drops 140-character limit for direct messages

  Now you can really vent next time you want to say something privately on Twitter.

• Google spotlights, open-sources experimental Android apps

  Google is putting some of the most Google-y Android apps in the spotlight, and is sharing their source code to spur development of other apps.

• Google moves two cloud data analysis services out of beta

  Two Google big data toolsets have finally moved out of beta and into full commercial release, adding to its cloud portfolio a data analysis framework and a service for managing data streams in real-time.

• GitHub launches desktop client to lure more developers

  Looking to expand its already considerable user base, GitHub has introduced a new desktop GUI client that streamlines many of the functions of the online code repository.

• Alibaba's Cloud and mobile business soar, but total revenue disappoints

  Alibaba Group's Cloud computing and mobile business are surging, but its reported revenue in the second quarter missed analysts' estimates, amid a slowing Chinese economy.

• Twitter sees surge in government requests for account information

  Twitter has seen an increase in government demands for account information in the first half of this year, with the U.S. followed by Japan topping the list for such requests.

• Four knowns and four unknowns in Google's Alphabet soup

  When Google announced on Monday that it would create a new holding company called Alphabet, of which Google Inc. will be just one part, Larry Page said the new structure would allow the company to get more ambitious things done. But there was still a lot that he didn't say.

• Infor seeks to strengthen cloud footing with $675M GT Nexus buy

  Infor made a $675 million bid to bolster its cloud and supply-chain management capabilities Tuesday with the announcement that it will acquire global order-management platform provider GT Nexus.

• That ad blocker you love? It's costing publishers a pretty penny

  Ads have long been part of the trade-off for users of the free Web, but the rise of ad blockers is making it increasingly difficult for publishers to sustain that ad-supported model.

• Internet giants to block child porn images using a common list

  Facebook, Google, Twitter, Yahoo and Microsoft will take a new step toward combating the spread of child pornography, by blocking images identified in partnership with an industry group.

• Google's restructuring will let new ventures shine

  Google may be best known for its ubiquitous search engine, but it has long been associated with seemingly whimsical ventures into areas as diverse as self-driving cars, drones and human aging. On Monday, it took a step toward making those "side" ventures more legitimate -- and more transparent.

• Google restructures, naming parent company Alphabet

  Google will become a subsidiary of a new parent company called Alphabet, under a massive restructuring arrangement designed to let the company's businesses operate more efficiently.

• OneDrive's new sharing funtionality is live, notifies users when files are changed

  Microsoft's OneDrive storage service was updated Monday to let users easily sync entire folders with other people, and add a new system of notifications to help manage what could be a burgeoning fleet of shared files.