Internet & Media

Make Web sites mobile-friendly or face Google search wrath

If smartphone users have problems with your site, here's some incentive to fix them: Google said Tuesday it plans to punish problematic sites with lower placement in search results.

"To improve the search experience for smartphone users and address their pain points, we plan to roll out several ranking changes in the near future that address sites that are misconfigured for smartphone users," said Yoshikiyo Kato, a mobile search team programmer, and Pierre Far, a Webmaster trends analyst, in a blog post.

The pair gave some examples of common problems:

• Redirecting visitors trying to use assorted PC-optimized … Read more

Sony: We're setting the standard for used games policy

LOS ANGELES -- Sony wasn't originally going to talk about its game sharing policy at E3.

But the company saw the ill will Microsoft engendered with its guidelines, and stuck it in the script, according to Scott Rhode, head of software product development for Sony Worldwide Studios America.

Sony had never thought about imposing restrictions or fees on used games, and wouldn't have addressed the controversy had it not cropped up over the last few weeks, Rhode said in an interview with CNET on Tuesday.

"This was always part of our plan," he said. "We … Read more

Facebook CEO repeats PRISM denial: We push back to protect the privacy of users

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg reiterated Tuesday that the social network does not work directly with the National Security Agency or any other government agency to provide direct access to its servers.

"We don't work directly with the NSA or any other program in order to proactively give any user information to anyone," Zuckerberg told shareholders at the company's annual stockholder meeting. "No one has ever approached us to do anything like that, like what was reported...No agency has any direct access to our servers."

Zuckerberg was responding to recent reports about the … Read more

Why Sony did the opposite of Microsoft on used games (Q&A)

When Microsoft last week announced new, and more restrictive, rules regarding the resale of used Xbox One games, the policy triggered howls of outrage and calls for boycotts from consumers who rely on buying used games.

The new restrictions let Xbox gamers share games just a single time and only with people who have been on their friends list for at least 30 days. But on Monday night, Microsoft's arch-rival Sony announced a different tack: Jack Tretton, the CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, said his company would not impose any restrictions on trading or selling used games. … Read more

Google buys Waze in bid to improve mapping services

Google has agreed to acquire Waze, the Israel-based company behind the mapping app Facebook was also reportedly vying for, according to blog posts from both Google and Waze.

The deal, for which terms weren't disclosed, follows months of speculation about who would land the startup. Reports later in the day pegged the price at a little more than $1 billion. In recent days, Google was said to be close to a $1.3 billion deal and that Facebook talks had fallen apart.

The acquisition could help Google improve its own mapping services and put a bigger moat around them … Read more

Apple eyes better iPad gaming with joystick controller patent

Apple is eyeing a better way to play on its toys.

Dubbed "Clickable and tactile buttons for a touch surface," a patent published Tuesday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office envisions a gamepad and joystick for iOS devices.

Mobile gaming is a surging area of growth, something puttting console makers ill at ease. Last year an NPD Group report found that games for mobile devices account for almost half of all game downloads.

The patent describes accessories that simply stick on the touchscreen of an iPad display and engage the touch-sensitive areas with buttons and a … Read more

Rhapsody app makes duet of streaming music and tickets

Cantankerous critics gripe that nothing is new in music anymore, except ways of melding and repackaging what has come before.

Rhapsody's new app does just that, and the company is hoping the combination will hit the right notes to win new subscribers and distinguish it in a crowded field of competitors

The company, one of the oldest Web subscription music services, is launching a concert tickets app on Tuesday.

It's the second of Rhapsody's companion apps to its namesake one for streaming music, following up Songmatch, a Shazam-like offering that plugs tunes into playlists. Rhapsody has more … Read more

Google to be banned in Pakistan if it doesn't clean up YouTube

With YouTube already shuttered in Pakistan, Google is now reportedly facing an all-out ban in that country, according to The Times of India.

The country's new IT and telecommunication minister, Anusha Rahman Khan, announced that unless Google removes "blasphemous and objectionable material" from YouTube, the country will block access to all Google sites.

"It all depends on our negotiation clout," Khan said, according to The Times of India. "If they persist with their stance, we can block Google in Pakistan as a last resort as there are many alternative search engines available on the … Read more

Sony reveals the PlayStation 4, and its price: $399 (hands-on)

Editors' note, June 19, 2013: This First Take was updated after Microsoft announced its reversal of DRM and online-connected policies on the Xbox One.

The PlayStation 4 was originally announced at an event in New York City back in February, during which we heard plenty of details about features and strategy but didn't glimpse the system itself -- just its new controller.

Sony didn't make the same mistake twice. At the E3 gaming show in Los Angeles, the PS4 finally showed its face -- and its price: $399, which undercuts Microsoft's Xbox One by $100.

Now that … Read more