Internet

Facebook has unveiled a new feature that allows users of the popular social networking site to share their favorite music with other users. Called "Listen With Friends," the feature supports online social groups oriented toward music-listening. "You ... can listen to the same song, at the exact same time," explained Facebook product designer, Alexandre Roche. "So when your favorite vocal part comes in you can experience it together, just like when you're jamming out at a performance or dance club." (Source: pcmag.com ) Spotify, Rdio Key to Listen With Friends The new system ... (view more)

The National Football League (NFL) has signed a deal that allows US viewers to watch the Super Bowl live on the Internet and smartphones, as well as on TV. It's considered the biggest test yet of the potential for audiences beyond traditional ... television sets. Under the deal, the game will be broadcast on NBC television as scheduled, but will also stream live on the NFL's own website, as well as on NBCSports.com. The service will be restricted to viewers in the United States. It will work in the same way as an existing arrangement by which NBC shows regular-season games online. The new ... (view more)

Mozilla has released the latest version of Firefox, its popular web browser. The firm claims that this latest edition, Firefox 9, performs significantly faster with its new JavaScript engine. Available simultaneously for Windows, Mac, Linux, and ... Android, Firefox 9 showcases the JavaScript "Type Inference" enhancement that Mozilla has been developing for the past 12 months. With the new JavaScript code, a browser that visits web sites which make heavy use of JavaScript (such as Facebook, iGoogle, many game websites, etc), the pages should load significantly faster and with less ... (view more)

A new study reveals why we join Facebook, why we add new 'friends' and, why we dump those we have 'friended.' The study also reveals the impact our real-world relationships have on our Facebook interactions. The new study comes to us from Neilson, ... best known for its research on television viewing. The study focused on Facebook user behaviors, including why we join Facebook in the first place. Real-World Interactions Behind Online Friendships The study revealed that 82 per cent of people add friends on Facebook because they know and like the person in real life. Other reasons folks added ... (view more)

Facebook has received a great deal of criticism in the past for its inability to protect the privacy of its 700 or 800 million users. However, it was the site's very public approach to information sharing that recently helped save a woman and her ... child from a boyfriend, who invaded their home and held the pair hostage for five days. According to reports, a Utah woman was able to use Facebook to seek help five days after she and her 17-month-old son were first taken hostage in their home. Police said the woman was able to gain access to a laptop, hide in a closet, open her Facebook account, ... (view more)

Facebook has been ordered by Ireland to give users greater control over their privacy settings. The order comes after a privacy practices audit that took 3 months to complete. The order will indirectly affect all Facebook accounts, except those held ... inside the US and Canada. (Source: washingtonpost.com ) Facebook Data Commissioner Issues Order The order comes from Billy Hawkes, the data protection commissioner for the Republic of Ireland. His order has such wide effect because all of Facebook's data, outside of North America, is held by a subsidiary based in Ireland and is thus subject to ... (view more)

A survey of British behavior on Facebook suggests the vast majority of pictures on the social network display intoxication, and that users are generally ignoring privacy controls. The survey, conducted by MyMemory, asked 1,781 British Facebook users ... about photographs they had posted or those in which they had been "tagged". While the sample size isn't what most scientists would consider large, the results are somewhat interesting. An astounding 76 per cent of all photos in the study showed those in the picture were drinking alcohol or had recently consumed alcoholic beverages. Scandalous ... (view more)

Facebook appears to be on the verge of suing Mark Zuckerberg because he likes the site too much. But this is no ordinary like -- and no ordinary Zuckerberg. The man in question is not the billionaire founder of Facebook, but rather an Israeli man ... who's trying an unusual tactic to highlight his side of a legal battle. He's an Israeli online businessman who was formerly known as Rotem Guez, but has now legally changed his name to Mark Zuckerberg (which is the exact same name of the CEO of Facebook). He's even taken out a passport in the new name. The dispute involves a company owned by the ... (view more)

Last year, the FCC announced it would be making plans to update and allow text messages, pictures, and streaming video for 911 emergencies via cell phones . Now, a new technology will allow Facebook users a way to discuss their problems with a ... professional via live chat. Facebook has recently announced a partnership with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The program will give social networking users who experience clinical depression a new way to find help quickly and privately. Friends can Report to Facebook Team If a suicidal memo is left on a Facebook wall, for example, friends ... (view more)

Mozilla's Firefox is in the news this week and not for any positive reasons. The web browser slipped to third in the market behind Google's Chrome, and there's speculation a major financial backer of the browser may pull out. If so, that could be ... the end of the popular web browser. News on market share comes from Statcounter, which tracks visitors to about three million websites and collates this data to provide credible estimates of online usage. Google Chrome Usage Up 550% in 2 Years The company's figures for November show that Google's Chrome is used by 25.69 per cent of people worldwide ( ... (view more)