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Facebook raises the curtain on its new U.K. engineering office

Facebook officially opened the doors to its London office today -- making it the social network's first international engineering center.

The social network was courted by the British government, which has been working to make the U.K. a place the tech industry can call home.

According to Reuters, the company's vice president of engineering, Mike Schroepfer, said that London is "rapidly emerging as a global technology hub" and a place that can both provide engineers as well as be a good place for engineers to relocate.

Facebook announced the opening of its U.K. engineering … Read more

Facebook said to let some companies see pages you like

Facebook is letting some companies look at the other "Likes" of their fans. This means if you like a brand's page, that brand's marketers knows what your other "Likes" are, whether it be your favorite bands or TV shows, unidentified sources told the advertising magazine. For now, this tool is available only to "priority accounts," according to an AdWeek report.

When asked for comment or confirmation, a Facebook spokesperson initially said the company had nothing to share at this time. The company followed with this statement:

To help marketers build better … Read more

Facebook pushing malware security even harder

Facebook is expanding its antivirus offerings by adding seven new partners, and mobile software, to its network of security companies.

The social network just added Avast, AVG, Avira, Kaspersky, Panda, Total Defense, and Webroot to its Antivirus Marketplace -- a place on its security page where users can download anti-malware software.

Since it launched in April, more than 30 million Facebook users have visited the marketplace page, which originally featured software from McAfee, Norton, Sophos, Trend Micro, and Microsoft. The software can be used for free for six months to a year, depending on what a user downloads.

The companies … Read more

Zynga revs up mobile ads with Honda campaign

Zynga unveiled its first reward-based mobile advertising campaign supported by Honda, a move by the social game provider to generate more money and help alleviate investor concerns.

As part of the "It Starts With You" campaign to promote the 2013 Honda Accord, Words with Friends and Scramble With Friends players can earn in-game currency and tips by playing Honda-related words.

Some of those words include "new," "tech," and "you" -- not quite the first things that come to mind when thinking about a new car but probably words that pop up fairly … Read more

Facebook photos of undercover cop get woman arrested

The law and Facebook have one thing in common: they are both repositories of large emotions.

Sometimes, though, they don't always work in tandem.

Word reaches me from Texas of a troubled happening after a court case in Mesquite. (The inhabitants are not called Mesquitos. Or are they?)

As CBS Houston tells it, the local police are up in arms after 30-year-old Melissa Welthall allegedly posted and spread photos of an undercover cop on Facebook.

Why would someone do that? This is a question so often asked before receiving a bafflingly human answer.

In this case, police say that … Read more

Facebook hackathon yields apps for your likes and connections

Facebook developers from Taipei, Taiwan; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Moscow have won Facebook's worldwide hackathon, with apps that let users bookmark "Likes," tell stories, and analyze connections.

The social network announced its winners today after holding the competition in 12 cities, including Moscow, where Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made an appearance. Facebook works hard to keep up its hacker culture even as it continues to grow and to face pressure to make money.

As part of that culture, the social network holds hackathons -- all-night programming competitions -- to surface the outside talents and encourage the development … Read more

Inside Google's sci-fi search experiments

The familiar whistle of a smartphone notification told me that Paco was hungry. The dog's face had appeared on my screen, as it did eight or so times a day, to remind me to fill out a form. And I had an interest in feeding the beast -- my answers would help set the course for Google's evolution as a mobile search company.

Paco isn't a real dog, of course. The name is short for Personal Analytics Companion. It's an app that Google's user experience researchers rely on for their many studies about the search … Read more

Facebook hackathon shows off the Zuckerbergs of tomorrow

There's a "Battle of the Bay" going on tonight at Facebook's Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters, and it's happening in a haze of Chinese food, juggling, music, and coding. And maybe some unicycling, if you're lucky.

The social network holds its second Stanford versus Cal (University of California at Berkeley) hackathon for budding coders to try their hands at creating new products. Nearly 200 students from both campuses sat in front of their laptops at around 5 p.m. with no intention of stopping until 3 p.m. tomorrow. That's what Facebook hackathons are … Read more

Facebook survey says users don't want promoted posts

Most people won't pay for a promoted post, but they would shell out the cash to buy their friends a gift through Facebook, according to a report from brokerage firm Sterne Agee.

The report (posted below) was based on a survey that asked more than 750 Facebook users to weigh in on the social network's latest ideas for making money -- increased advertising in the form of sponsored stories, Facebook gifts, promoted posts, and a possible search engine.

Of the four potential moneymakers, promoted posts is the least likely to succeed, according to the survey. When this feature … Read more