Social networking

Apple's secret code names for iOS revealed

Sometimes, it seems that Google is just much more imaginative than Apple.

Well, when it comes to naming operating systems, that is. Google offers the sweet inducements of Ice Cream Sandwiches and Honeycombs.

Apple, on the other hand, seems to cling to a certain BMW-ness-- just a few letters and numbers and there you have it.

I am about to turn that world view upon its nostrils. For, thanks to the Cult Of Mac, I have received wind that Apple keeps its cute little code names clutched to its secretive bosom.

It seems that a developer called Steve Troughton-Smith decided … Read more

Gowalla team to join Facebook in January

It's official: Facebook has hired the makers of the Gowalla location-based social-networking app.

"We're excited to confirm that Gowalla co-founders Josh Williams and Scott Raymond, along with other members of the Gowalla team, are moving to Facebook in January to join our design and engineering teams," Facebook said in a statement. "In talking with the Gowalla team, we realized that we share many of the same goals: building great products that reach millions of people, making a big impact quickly, and creating new ways for people to connect and share what's going on in … Read more

People more likely to shoplift meat than iPhone 4 this Christmas

There are very few people in the world who have never shoplifted something.

No, I don't have statistics. But I do have a sense of humanity's essential imperfection. So, as Christmas approaches, it might be as well to wonder just what items might be the angels atop the shoplifting Christmas tree.

You might imagine it would be the iPhone 4S. For who could not wish to find Siri lurking in their Christmas stocking?

It seems though, that the iPhone and gadgets in general are merely in fourth place when it comes to being the apple of the shoplifters … Read more

Facebook to host online casinos?

There is a limitless need on the part of social networks to make limitless amounts of money.

If you are Facebook and you might, possibly maybe, have an IPO shindig next year, you have to help potential investors believe that your revenues are rosier than an English country garden.

This might be why reports are emerging from the United Kingdom that Facebook is considering allowing casinos to operate within its virtual friendship facility.

When I say casinos, I mean ones with real money.

The Daily Mail fulminates at the prospect. It cites the knowledgeable people at eGaming Review in insisting … Read more

Facebook friend request from son is a condom ad

There is nothing sweeter and more endearing than receiving a friend request from one of your children.

Well, except if that child doesn't actually exist. Yet.

A Brazilian company, Olla Condoms, decided to use this charming and wishful thinking in order to persuade people to use its products.

Essentially, it created fake Facebook profiles for users--adding "Jr." to the user's name. Then it sent a friend request from Junior to Senior, as it were.

When Senior decides that perhaps it's worth investigating whether he has a Junior, he sees an ad for Olla Condoms.

Immediately, … Read more

Wayne Gretzky closes daughter's Twitter feed twice?

His greatest strength was always to look into the future.

He knew where the puck was going to be, and he made sure he was already there. Now Wayne Gretzky may be having trouble with the future of communication.

All this week, there appears to have occurred a tug of war--or perhaps merely a tug of love--between The Great One and his daughter, Paulina.

The tussle, which seems slightly more subtle than other confrontations in hockey, is over Paulina's Twitter feed.

The feed appears to have been shut down not once, but twice already this week, and reports suggest … Read more

Facebook reportedly acquires Gowalla

Facebook has acquired Gowalla, which makes a location-based social-networking app for mobile devices, CNN reported tonight.

Some Gowalla employees will move to Facebook's Palo Alto, Calif., offices and work on Facebook's Timeline feature, an unidentified source close to Gowalla said.

Representatives for both Facebook and Gowalla provided statements to CNET via e-mail that said the companies "don't comment on rumors and speculation."

Austin-based Gowalla launched in 2009 but has had difficulty competing against Foursquare in the market for location-sharing apps. The app is available on the iPhone and on Android-based devices and features a large &… Read more

Why tech needs more IPOs like Zynga's $1B offering

Zynga has finally put numbers to what it wants to raise in an IPO: anywhere from $.85 billion to $1.15 billion. That's 100 million shares at a range of $8.50 to $10 a share.

Before you conclude that this is just another manipulative march of the high tech financiers, take another look. In a number of ways, Zynga is breaking with startup-looking-to-go-public business as usual. The likely reason is the number of newly-public tech companies that have already seen their stock prices drop below IPO levels. Maybe it signals a new direction for tech IPOs, and that … Read more

Facebook likes Big Apple for engineering office

NEW YORK--Facebook is expanding its presence in New York City with an event trumpeting the coming launch of a new engineering office here designed to help promote the creation of technical jobs.

Present at the invite-only event at Facebook's Manhattan offices were New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, and Facebook Vice President of Engineering Mike Schroepfer.

Schroepfer explained that a big part of his job is finding the smartest and most entrepreneurial jobs all over the world. About 15 months ago, Facebook decided to branch out from … Read more