Pinterest

Meet the 'new eBay'

EBay today introduced some new features for its auction site, including a redesign centered around personalization and an app for same-day delivery service.

One feature, dubbed Feed, curates a user's favorite items on a personalized page and displays the images in a setup very similar to Pinterest's layout. eBay also improved its search function and included bigger photos and key product information on each item's page.

"We're delivering a cleaner, contemporary look and feel; a more intuitive, convenient way to browse, decide and buy -- both globally and locally; and a new personal way to … Read more

Facebook amps up commerce with 'Collections'

Facebook is stepping further into e-commerce with a feature that looks a whole lot like Pinterest.

The company today is rolling out "Collections," a feature that lets brands and e-commerce sites push out images of products among Facebook users who can then click-through to make a purchase -- although the buying part isn't yet taking place on Facebook. The feature is a new type of Facebook Page post.

This test will begin with all U.S. Facebook members, although the company has for now teamed up with just seven retail partners. They include Pottery Barn, Wayfair, Victoria'… Read more

Pinterest gives legal punch to 'serial cybersquatter'

Pinterest is sounding its battle cry -- it's had enough of one certain alleged Chinese cybersquatter.

The social network filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco last week against Qian Jin, who is from Nanjing, China. Pinterest claimed that Jin partook in cyberpiracy, trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and more. According to the complaint, Jin has snatched dozens of domain names that are strikingly similar to pinterest.com, including pintesrest.com and pinterest.es.

"This action arises from Defendant's bad-faith registration and use of numerous domain names containing, or confusingly similar to, Pinterest's … Read more

With Pinpointing, Zappos hooks up Pinterest with e-commerce

Amazon's online shoe seller Zappos is combining the popularity of Pinterest with its own products in a new service.

Dubbed Pinpointing, the service delivers Zappos products based on what a user has pinned. In addition, the service will list products that had been pinned recently. Pinpointing lists a host of product categories, including shoes, skirts, dresses, and jeans.

In order to take advantage of the features, users can enter their own Pinterest username to see what sort of Zappos recommendations might relate to their previously pinned items. They can also input another person's username to see recommendations based … Read more

Getting started with Pinterest for Android

Just a week after opening up its service to the general public, Pinterest has launched an Android app for the very first time. The tablet-optimized app is now available for your Android smartphone and tablet, as well as the Kindle Fire. Here's how to get started with Pinterest for Android:

Creating new pins You can create new pins from your Android device via its camera or from a photo in your gallery by tapping on Create pin from the main screen.

If you want to create a pin from the Web, tap on your browser's Share button, then … Read more

Pinterest debuts device-specific Android and iPad apps

After finally letting users onto the site without an invite, Pinterest is now getting serious about mobile.

At an event in its new San Francisco headquarters today, the social network-meets-virtual pinboard debuted two new Pinterest apps -- one for Android and one for iPad, according to AllThingsD.

"Our goal has never been to get you in front of the computer transfixed for hours and hours on end," Pinterest co-founder Ben Silbermann said at the event, according to AllThingsD, "it's to get you offline."

Taking the site mobile seems like it would get users away from … Read more

Microsoft's crime-fighting tech for sale

McKayla is not impressed with Thursday's big tech stories:

Microsoft helped develop a surveillance system for New York that pulls in information from video camera footage, 9-1-1 calls, radiation detectors and license plate readers, and analyzes the data in real-time to better fight crime and terrorism. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the program, known as the Domain Awareness System, and it will be available to law enforcement agencies around the world (New York earns 30 percent of sales revenue). It doesn't use face-recognition software, but even still, some critics are worried officers could abuse this technology and … Read more

Pinterest lets users sign up without an invite

One of the Internet's most popular social networks pushed its doors wide open today -- Pinterest has started open registration.

This means users can sign up for an account without having to wait for an invite, the company said in a blog post. Before today, people had to request an invite from Pinterest or be invited by a friend who already had a Pinterest account. Invites allowed the site to control the volume of new users so that its servers were not overwhelmed, according to Pinterest.

Now, the site can handle any new traffic that comes its way.

"… Read more

Apple reportedly in talks to buy small social commerce site

Apple is in talks to acquire social commerce site The Fancy to further entrench its position in the growing e-commerce arena, sources tell Business Insider.

Backed by co-founders of Facebook and Twitter, the site is a Pinterest rival that allows users to make lists of things they find interesting. The goal of the acquisition, BI reports, is to better leverage the 400 million or so credit cards Apple has on file at its iTunes store.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, who usually shies away from larger social-networking sites, reportedly started using The Fancy after meeting with the company's co-founder and … Read more