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Leaked pics portray Facebook's take on Android

What does Facebook's "Home" on Android look like? It's a twist on the Android user interface that's image-rich, includes graphical notifications, and offers quick access to popular Facebook features, according to pictures obtained by 9to5Google, a constant source of rumors about Facebook's "phone" in the past few days.

The pictures add some additional color to "Facebook Home," a supposed version of the Android operating system that makes the social network's features and applications native to smartphones. Tomorrow, the social network is expected to reveal its home running on an … Read more

Facebook and mobile browsing: Pretty much the same thing

New research from mobile analytics firm Flurry suggests that Facebook is so powerful a force on mobile that the social network has become synonymous with browsing on smartphones and tablets.

Facebook accounts for 18 percent of U.S. consumers' total time spent on smart devices, a percent that translates to more than 28 minutes per day on average, according to Flurry, which measures application usage on more than 1 billion monthly active smart devices.

Facebook's new home on Android: Catch our live coverage on Thursday at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET

The firm, which used its … Read more

Facebook cites bug in search history tool disappearance

Facebook acknowledged that a bug resulted in the sudden disappearance of its behind-the-scenes search history tool.

According to the IDG News Service, Facebook says a technical glitch led to the absence of the feature in the user settings area.

The social network said in an e-mail to CNET that the bug has been fixed; it did not elaborate on the nature of the initial problem. CNET verified that the functionality has been restored.

The feature first showed up last September, allowing users to go back into their search history and modify it or delete it entirely.

Facebook said in a … Read more

Facebook tweaks tool to give ad buyers better feedback

Facebook is updating its Ads Manager campaign-tracking tool to provide advertisers with a bit more awareness of how their ads are performing against stated goals.

The refreshed Ads Manager tool, rolling out over the next few weeks, lets marketers identify their most important campaign goal, such as Page likes or app installs, to better determine the cost for that specific action.

The tool is also designed to help buyers calculate the return on their investment (ROI). The ROI changes encompass additional insight into the value of ads that link out to third-party landing pages and Web sites. Advertisers employing conversion … Read more

HTC 'first' device may be Facebook's starter Home

Another day, another Facebook "phone" rumor. This time around, the folks at 9to5Google believe that a leaked photo of a device apparently called the "HTC first" means that we'll see Facebook's "Home" on Android debut on the iPhone-like smartphone.

Thursday, Facebook is expected to show off an HTC device running "Facebook Home," a version of the Android operating system that makes the social network's features and applications native to smartphones.

The device in question was rumored to be code-named "Myst," but a new rumor suggests the phone … Read more

SEC OKs material disclosures on Facebook, Twitter

The Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed today that public companies can announce key information on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, so long as investors are informed as to which accounts may publish news.

The acknowledgment was published in the SEC's report of investigation on Netflix, and makes room for social media disclosures to be in compliance with Regulation Fair Disclosure (Regulation FD), a rule that requires companies to distribute material information to investors and the general public non-exclusively. In essence, companies and their executives can reveal news on investor-aware accounts without fear of retribution.

"Companies … Read more

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg may testify in antitrust suit

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg is scheduled to be questioned in a lawsuit charging several technology companies for allegedly agreeing not to poach employees from each other, Bloomberg said today.

The case is part of a civil suit filed in 2011 by five workers against Google, Intuit, Apple, Intel, Adobe, Pixar, and Lucasfilm, claiming that they tried to keep down wages through non-poaching agreements.

Six of the companies involved settled a Justice Department complaint in 2010. The civil suit was launched in 2011 and named Lucasfilm as a seventh defendant.

Neither Facebook nor Sandberg are named as defendants in … Read more

Facebook and Gates Foundation join forces to promote education

Facebook and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have joined forces again to help develop more tech tools for education and learning. It's time for HackEd 2.0.

The tech giants will be hosting two all-day hackathons this month, a Facebook spokesperson told CNET. More than 20 teams of tech education enthusiasts, education experts, and top-notch developers will spend April 9 at Facebook's Menlo Park headquarters brainstorming, coding, and building apps. A similar event will take place on April 24 in Facebook's London office.

Those apps then will be judged by a panel of experts -- including … Read more

Facebook faces jury trial over Timeline trademark

Facebook has failed to strike from its own history an unfortunate matter involving the trademark for Timeline, the storytelling version of the profile that attempts to chronicle each member's life events.

The social network, which was first sued in September 2011 by Chicago company Timelines Inc. for infringement, now faces a jury trial, scheduled for April 22, over the mark.

U.S. District Judge John W. Darrah said today that Facebook was not able to invalidate Timelines' claim to the mark, Bloomberg reported. "At this stage in the proceedings, it is not unreasonable to conclude that as to … Read more