Todd R. Weiss

Whitney Houston’s volatile personal life and her tragic death in February topped the list of Google searches in 2012, both globally and in the United States, according to Google’s Annual Zeitgeist most-popular searches list. “As 2012 comes to a close, it’s time for our 12th annual Year-End Zeitgeist—an in-depth look at the ‘spirit of the […]

Facebook’s one-week voting period to gauge user reaction to proposed changes to Facebook’s user policies ended Dec. 10, and according to early results, Facebook won the right to make changes as it sees fit. That means Facebook members will no longer be voting on proposed user policy changes as they have done in the past […]

AT&T has added four more towns in the United States to its growing list of communities that now feature high-speed 4G LTE wireless service. In a Dec. 10 announcement, AT&T unveiled the high-speed wireless capabilities for Auburn-Opelika (Birmingham), Ala.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Nashua, N.H.; and Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The additions mean that AT&T’s 4G Long Term […]

Google’s Motorola Mobility unit, which was acquired in May for $12.5 billion, is closing its South Korean operations as Google continues to shrink the division to stave off its financial losses. The move was announced by Google and Motorola Mobility Dec. 10 in a statement issued by the company. “On December 10th, we began communicating […]

Google is working to make its Google+ social platform even more useful for users by encouraging participants to build and nurture online communities about the things they love, from sports to collecting to cooking and more. Google+ has been around since June 2011, when it was started by the company as an online offering to […]

Google is ending the free version of its Google Apps for Business online suite after deciding that most business users have been quickly outgrowing it and signing up for paid accounts that offer additional services. The move, which was announced by Clay Bavor, director of product management for Google Apps, in a Dec. 6 post […]

YouTube fans who love using their Apple iPads can now get their favorite media player back onto their devices with a newly-released Google YouTube app built and optimized for iPads. The YouTube app for iPads has been awaited ever since Apple debuted the new iOS 6 operating system in mid-September, which didn’t include a built-in […]

Google engineers are expanding Google Now to give travelers even more up-to-date travel information instantly and automatically, without their having to push a single button for updates on their Android mobile devices. The Now service is being broadened beyond simple up-to-the-minute weather alerts and upcoming appointments in a user’s current location to bring them helpful […]

NASA’s continuing exploration of Mars with scientific rovers on the red planet’s surface will continue into 2020, when the space agency plans to launch another robotic science rover based on its successful Curiosity rover. The future mission was unveiled Dec. 4 by NASA as part of a “robust multiyear program” that aimed at preparing the […]

Google is now giving enterprises a new way to distribute their Android apps to employees—through their own “private channels” set up inside the Google Play Store. The idea is that by allowing businesses to create the personalized channels, they’ll be better able to distribute their own internally built Android apps and approved apps that are […]