Google will lobby Washington in 2013 to make it harder for law enforcement authorities to gain access to emails and other digital messages. In a blog post on Monday, linked to Data Privacy Day, Google's chief legal officer, David Drummond, said the tech giant, in coalition with many other powerful tech companies, will try to convince Congress to update a 1986 privacy protection law. He cited data showing that government requests for Google's user data increased more than 70 percent since 2009. In 2012, Google said, it received 16,407 requests for user data affecting 31,072 users or accounts, more than half of them accompanied by a subpoena. "We're a law-abiding company, and we don't want our services to be used in harmful ways. But it's just as important that laws protect you against overly broad requests for your personal information," Drummond said in the post. More»

Yahoo Inc forecast a modest uptick in revenue for the current year as it revamps its family of websites but Chief Executive Marissa Mayer warned it would be a long journey to revive the Internet company's fortunes. In Yahoo's first financial outlook since Mayer became CEO in July, the company outlined a plan to trigger a "chain reaction of growth" by overhauling a dozen of its online services to increase the amount of time users spent on its websites. It also pointed to strength in its search advertising business and progress made in improving its internal operations. Yahoo's shares were 3 percent higher in after hours trade after the revenue projection was disclosed during an analysts conference call, shedding some ground after earlier rising as much as 4.5 percent. But weakness in Yahoo's display ad business, which accounts for roughly 40 percent of the company's total revenue, caught some analysts by surprise. More»

Hackers claiming to be from the activist group Anonymous have hacked a US government website in response to the death of Aaron Swartz. Activists embedded a video statement on the homepage of the United States Sentencing Commission, an agency of the US government. The statement referred to the death of Mr Swartz, an internet activist who apparently killed himself in January. "Two weeks ago today, a line was crossed," the statement said. "Two weeks ago today, Aaron Swartz was killed. Killed because he faced an impossible choice. Killed because he was forced into playing a game he could not win." More»

Facebook has added a feature in its mobile phone app that allows free calling for US iPhone users. Users can now make calls to each other via the Facebook Messenger app anywhere they have a wi-fi or a cellular-data connection. The feature could be a boon for heavy talkers as they would avoid carrier call charges. Facebook said it was working on adding the feature to its Messenger app for Android and BlackBerry users. Within the app, all a person needs to do is open a conversation with a partner, tap the "i" icon in the upper right hand corner and select "Free Call". The calls, however, can only be made to another user who has Messenger installed on their iPhone. Users can neither call a Facebook friend who is logged in through the website or call a landline. The latest mobile-to-mobile development was independent of the free video-calling software Skype, which was already integrated into Facebook's website, a spokesman said. The Messenger app is limited to voice calling. More»

Google unit Motorola Mobility has asked a trade panel to drop two key patents from an infringement complaint that it filed against Microsoft, according to a filing at the International Trade Commission. The ITC has been considering accusations by Motorola Mobility, which has since been purchased by Google, that Microsoft infringed on its patented technology to make its popular Xbox. Google filed a motion with the ITC on Tuesday, asking that two patents be withdrawn from the case. One patent remains, according to the filing. The withdrawal was required under an agreement that Google made with the Federal Trade Commission last week settling a pair of long-running antitrust investigations. The FTC, U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office assert that companies should not request sales bans when filing patent infringement lawsuits based on patents that are essential to a standard in most cases. Standard essential patents ensure that devices are interoperable. More»

Facebook Inc's Instagram lost almost a quarter of its daily users a week after it rolled out and then withdrew policy changes that incensed users who feared the photo-sharing service would use their pictures without compensation. Instagram, which Facebook bought for $715 million this year, saw the number of daily active users who accessed the service via Facebook bottom out at 12.4 million as of Friday, versus a peak of 16.4 million last week, according to data compiled by online tracker AppData. The popular app, which allows people to add filters and effects to photos and share them over the Internet or smartphones, experienced the drop over the brief, often-volatile holiday period. Other popular apps also saw slippage in usage, and some were more pronounced. Yelp, for instance, saw daily active users -- again via Facebook -- slide to a weekly low of half a million on Thursday, from a high of 820,000 one week ago. More»

Facebook's privacy settings can be confusing - just ask Mark Zuckerberg's sister, Randi Zuckberberg. Randi, who is the former marketing director of Facebook (FB), posted a feisty tweet Tuesday night scolding a Twitter follower for reposting a picture that Randi had originally published on Facebook. "@cschweitz not sure where you got this photo. I posted it on FB. You reposting it to Twitter is way uncool," Randi said in her tweet. The Twitter follower, Callie Schweitzer, quickly responded. "@randizuckerberg I'm just your subscriber and this was top of my newsfeed. Genuinely sorry but it came up in my feed and seemed public," Schweitzer said in a tweet. Randi then replied via Twitter that the reason Schweitzer could view the picture was probably because she was also friends with Randi's other sister, so the follower could see tagged images of her. Randi later deleted her original tweet to @cshweitz and also asked her to delete the tweet she posted with the picture of the Zuckerberg family. Schweitzer kindly obliged, but Zuckberberg's little social media mishap was already spreading like wildfire on Twitter. Randi appears to have deleted most of the back and forth between herself and Schweitzer, but she later posted a telling-post about the incident. More»

Google Inc is working with recently acquired Motorola on a handset codenamed "X-phone", aimed at grabbing market share from Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. Google acquired Motorola in May for $12.5 billion to bolster its patent portfolio as its Android mobile operating system competes with rivals such as Apple and Samsung. The Journal quoted the people saying that Motorola is working on two fronts: devices that will be sold by carrier partner Verizon Wireless, and on the X phone. Motorola plans to enhance the X Phone with its recent acquisition of Viewdle, an imaging and gesture-recognition software developer. The new handset is due out sometime next year, the business daily said, citing a person familiar with the plans. Motorola is also expected to work on an "X" tablet after the phone. Google Chief Executive Larry Page is said to have promised a significant marketing budget for the unit, the newspaper said quoting the persons. More»

Facebook has begun a trial which allows users to pay $1 to send messages direct to people who are not their friends.  The fee will mean messages go straight to a recipient's inbox rather than the Other folder which contains all unsolicited correspondence.  The trial is only for a "small number of people" and is initially being tested just in the US.  Users will be able to receive a maximum of one paid-for message per week, and no more than three each month.  "Several commentators and researchers have noted that imposing a financial cost on the sender may be the most effective way to discourage unwanted messages and facilitate delivery of messages that are relevant and useful," the site said in a statement.  "For example, if you want to send a message to someone you heard speak at an event but are not friends with, or if you want to message someone about a job opportunity, you can use this feature to reach their inbox." More»

Google has marked the 200th anniversary of Grimm's Fairy Tales, which include classics like Cinderella, Rapunzel and Hansel and Gretel, with a doodle spread across 22 slides. The doodle shows the escapades of Red Riding Hood while going through a dark forest to meet her grandmother, who has been eaten by a wolf. Grimm's Fairy Tales were written by two brothers, named Jacob and Wilhelm, today in 1812. Some of the other popular fairy tales by the Grimm brothers are Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Golden Goose, The Frog-Prince, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, among others. Over 200 stories were written by Grimm brothers and published between 1812 and 1857. The works were split into two editions under the name Children's and Household Tales (Kinder und Hausmarchen in German). Germany, the birthplace of the two authors, is hosting celebrations to mark the occasion as well. The city of Kassel, close to the place where the duo was born, has begun celebrations, including events like light shows, theatre shows as well as reading and operas. More»