Internet & Media

PALO ALTO, Calif.--Facebook users are about to get a better idea of where their friends are.

At an invite-only press event at the company's headquarters here, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a new service called "Places" that will let users share their location with one another and more easily discover what's around them from within the social network.

The feature, which CNET caught wind of ahead of its launch, will begin rolling out to users on Thursday, and centers around mobile devices, which Facebook members can use to send their location to Facebook … Read more

NEW YORK--Verizon Communications is prepping a new live TV streaming app for tablet PCs like the Apple iPad, a move that could eventually eliminate the need for a home set-top box and set the stage for true "TV everywhere" viewing.

At a demonstration at the home of Verizon CIO Shaygan Kheradpir, Verizon executives showed off a slew of new features for its Fios TV service, including the live TV streaming application on an iPad.

The new app allows Fios TV subscribers to stream live TV from their service onto an iPad over a home Wi-Fi connection. Initially, the … Read more

When Vevo launched in December, I wasn't very impressed. I wondered why the site needed to exist when it was mainly serving as a distribution point for the ever-popular YouTube.

Despite my skepticism, it has quickly become one of the most popular video properties in the United States, thanks to its large store of exclusive content. And artists and copyright owners, at least, are getting some money when their videos are distributed through Vevo, which often wasn't the case before.

Vevo on Wednesday launched its free iPhone app, which gives iPhone and iPod Touch users access to 20,… Read more

There's yet another episode to the oddball tale of Paul Ceglia, the New York man who says a 2003 contract with eventual Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg entitles him to an 84 percent share of the company: Ceglia's local newspaper, the Wellsville Daily Reporter, produced a canceled check allegedly proving that Ceglia did, indeed, pay $3,000 to someone named Mark Zuckerberg for...something.

Facebook has not said it's authentic, but it isn't disputing the authenticity of the check, either.

"We have never disputed that Mark did some work for Ceglia," a statement from Facebook … Read more

There is now ample reason to believe that the mere existence of Facebook may cause human beings to do things that they know they shouldn't. Such as poke people and send them dead fish, or whatever virtual beings it is that people send to each other.

Somehow, the temptation seems too great, the user interface too attractive, and the immediacy of the communication just too powerful for anyone to resist.

As evidence, might I bring you the alleged behavior of Harry William Bruder from Florida? According to a report from the Pasco Sheriff's Office, Bruder, an employee of … Read more

Google's legal representatives will have to appear before a Spanish court in October to explain the company's collection of details of people's Wi-Fi networks and transmissions.

The Spanish Legal Advanced Communications and Computer Crime Association (Apedanica), an Internet rights group, said on Monday that a Madrid court had ordered the appearance for October 4. Google will have to give details of the instruments used in its Street View program to collect the data, the nature of the data itself and the number of customers affected.

"We are working with the relevant authorities in Spain to answer … Read more

With the Google TV service set to make a fall debut, the race is on for Google to find content partners. But the company is having a tough time achieving that goal, The Wall Street Journal is reporting.

The new service, which the Web giant announced in May, will let consumers watch and search cable programming, search the Web, and view online content on a third-party device.

The first gadgets to feature Google TV are due in the not too distant future from companies including Sony, Logitech, and Dish Network. Sony, for one, plans to offer both an Internet-ready TV … Read more

If you were hoping to see HBO's content show up on Netflix's streaming service, things aren't looking too good for you.

In an interview with Bloomberg, HBO Co-President Eric Kessler went on the record as saying "there is a value in exclusivity," and that people would "pay a premium" for it.

That exclusivity comes in the form of HBO's own online streaming service called HBO Go, which the company launched in February.

Unlike Netflix and competitor Redbox, which are having to wait nearly a month to release some new films via their … Read more

Every big Web publisher, and lots of small ones, too, have tried to figure out how to crack the market for local Web ads. No one's figured it out yet.

But AOL feels good enough about Patch, its take on local, to take a minute to boast about its performance. Tim Armstrong's company is announcing that has now opened up 100 Patch outposts--digital versions of community newspapers, each staffed by a sole full-time editor and aided by a group of freelancers.

That's up from 44 at the end of the first quarter. AOL also noted it plans … Read more