Amazon and Samsung are running away with the Android tablet market

Following the successful launch of Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet, Android vendors saw a beacon of hope in a market that had been dominated by Apple’s (AAPL) iPad since 2010. The Android tablet space has since become flooded with hundreds of products from a wide-range of companies, but there are only two companies that matter.[More from BGR: ‘Apple is done’ and Surface tablet is cool, according to teens]According...

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Expect more suffering for Microsoft and Intel in 2013

The PC industry is in shambles and no one is going to be hit harder than Microsoft (MSFT) and Intel (INTC), according to the latest forecasts from market research firm Canalys. Consumers continue to favor Android and iOS tablets over Windows and Intel (a.k.a., “Wintel”) PCs. The research firm found that combined shipments of desktops, netbooks and notebooks in the fourth quarter of 2012 declined...

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Expect more suffering for Microsoft and HP in 2013

The PC industry is in shambles and no one is going to be hit harder than Microsoft (MSFT) and Intel (INTC), according to the latest forecasts from market research firm Canalys. Consumers continue to favor Android and iOS tablets over Windows and Intel (a.k.a., “Wintel”) PCs. The research firm found that combined shipments of desktops, netbooks and notebooks in the fourth quarter of 2012 declined...

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Facebook's SnapChat-Style Sexting App Is Called Poke (Seriously)

Oh, well would you look at Facebook, trying to make a Christmas funny with its SnapChat copycat app. It's called Poke! Get it? Because SnapChat is what the kids are all using for their sexting these days, apparently, and Poke — you know, that once kinda flirty Facebook future that's now pretty much useless — can kind of do the same thing, and it kind of sounds like some bad sexual pun, too! Funny,...

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Facebook releases ‘Poke’ for the iPhone to compete with Snapchat

Facebook (FB) on Friday released a new free application for the iPhone called Poke that competes directly with Snapchat and allows users to send a messages, photos or videos that will self-destruct after a set time. With Poke you can send messages to individual friends or groups that are set to expire after one, three, five or ten seconds. The app is simple to use and only requires you to hold down...

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Facebook’s new easier-to-manage ‘Privacy Shortcuts’ rolling out globally

Managing Facebook (FB) privacy settings can be a daunting nightmare. Facebook’s new “Privacy Shortcuts” is designed to make sharing items as transparent as possible with always-visible privacy button on the top toolbar. The update also brings “an easier-to-use Activity Log, and a new Request and Removal tool for managing multiple photos you’re tagged in.” The new Facebook privacy controls are rolling...

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Student suspended after vague Facebook post about dressing as Santa deemed threatening

A student in Georgia who planned to go to school dressed as Santa Claus was instead suspended after school officials perceived an enigmatic Facebook message about his plan as a threat.On Tuesday at approximately 7 p.m., John George III, a sophomore at Crawford County High School, posted on his Facebook page: “Students of cchs ur in for a big surprise tomorrow ,” reports WMAZ-TV.A parent saw George’s...

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Newsmaker of the Year selection triggers storm of debate on social media

OTTAWA - The selection of Luka Rocco Magnotta as Canada's 2012 Newsmaker of the Year lit up the country's social media and news web sites on Sunday with a cyclone of outrage and condemnation.The alleged killer, who now sits in a Montreal detention centre as his case goes through the legal process, was the subject of a global manhunt last spring after a Chinese engineering student was killed, his body...

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Italy tax police check Facebook's books

MILAN (AP) -- Italian tax police have visited Facebook's Milan offices to check the books of the social networking site, part of the country's crackdown on tax evasion that has targeted Google's Italian operations as well.Facebook Italy issued a statement Friday saying it pays taxes in Italy and takes its tax obligations here "very seriously." It added it works "closely with tax authorities in every...

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Italian tax police visit Facebook's Milan offices

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian police have been carrying out checks at the Milan offices of Facebook to assess whether it regularly declared its income in Italy, an investigative source and the U.S. company said on Friday.Italian officials have stepped up their efforts to collect taxes in recent months and have already targeted other big corporate names such as Google to check whether they are paying their...

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Netflix gets SEC notice over CEO's Facebook post

NEW YORK (AP) — Netflix Inc. is facing scrutiny from government regulators for a Facebook post by its CEO in July that may have boosted the online video company's stock price.Neflix said Thursday that the Securities and Exchange Commission informed it that its staff is recommending civil action be brought against the company and CEO Reed Hastings. The reason: Hastings' July 3 post in which he said...

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U.S. judge names lead plaintiffs in Facebook litigation

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A group of investors including state pension funds in North Carolina and Arkansas will be the lead plaintiffs in securities lawsuits arising out of Facebook Inc's $16 billion initial public offering, a U.S. judge ruled on Thursday.The investors, in a proposed class-action case, have accused Facebook of misrepresenting its financial condition in the run-up to the May stock offering....

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Facebook might buy Microsoft’s Atlas Ad platform to compete with Google

Is Facebook (FB) preparing to compete with Google (GOOG) in online advertising? According to AllThingsD and BusinessInsider’s sources Facebook might be taking steps to build its own advertising network for online websites. AllThingsD says that rather than build a new advertising network from scratch, Facebook could just buy Microsoft’s (MSFT) Atlas Solutions platform “that already delivers billions...

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