Tech

Hundreds of contractors work on projects for Google at this anonymous office building in Bothell, Wash. It happened at parties and first dates. “I work at

It was predicted that computer graphics would one day give everyone the ability to create their own blockbuster film. But the software used for modern visual effects is still pretty complicated for the average user. At least until this magical software that can almost instantly turn a still photo into a 3D model is available.

The next version of Android will be called KitKat, as in the Nestle chocolate wafers, and comes with a contest to win Android and Google Play swag. Read this article by Seth Rosenblatt on CNET News.

Nokia's Stephen Elop and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at an earlier phone unveiling. (Microsoft Photo) Yes, in raw numbers, Microsoft is paying less for Nok

So far most of what's been written about Google Glass has been united by one commonality: It's been written from the perspective of someone who had to wear Glass. Because they were going to write about it. But here's when you'll actually want to wear it. Or at least, when I do.

Ballmer's timeline had been moved up drastically -- first by him and then the board, including his longtime partner Bill Gates -- after all agreed that it was best if he left sooner than later.

From Yahoo! News: NEW YORK (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer unexpectedly announced his retirement on Friday, ending a controversial 13-year reign at the head of the world's largest software company and sending the company's shares up 7.1 percent. Ballmer, 57, took over from co-founder Bill Gates in January 2000, but his leadership was questioned throughout his tenure by Wall Street and Silicon Valley, as Microsoft's stock price floundered and the PC-centric pioneer was overtaken by Apple Inc and Google Inc in the shift toward mobile computing. ...

We are entering a new technological age of sports that has little parallel.

An IT expert takes to the social network CEO's timeline to demonstrate the vulnerability, which allowed anyone to post to other users' walls even if they aren't friends on the network. Read this article by Steven Musil on CNET News.

Microsoft's latest tack in trying to wean users off Windows XP is to warn them of a possible 'zero day forever' scenario in the post-April 2014 support cut-off world.

Just as the stone ax gave way to one made of bronze, the Windows-powered PC must now give way to better, more customized, more refined tools.

What happens after the Waterloo, Ontario-based mobile device company ceases to exist?

Roku's streaming dongle hasn't caught fire like Chromecast. Here's what Roku can learn from Google's hot new streamer. Read this article by John P. Falcone on CNET.

Microsoft's fourth quarter financials missed estimates and the software giant was left holding the bag on Surface RT units.

When you were a kid, you probably played with action figures, or something like them. They were awesome. You also played video games, which were similarly awesome. Now they're being brought together in a way that against all odds, isn't horrible and schticky. It actually makes a load of sense.

It's always fun learning which books are in Bill Gates' giant tote bag of old-fashioned books he lugs around, and now the Microsoft co-founder is out with his Summer 2013 reading list.

Following a long legal battle, the US-based company said it would cooperate with authorities in France who want to bring alleged criminals to justice.

Dish Network’s plans to buy out Sprint and invest in Clearwire have been dashed. Both companies are just days from becoming part of SoftBank’s pan-Pacific empire. But that doesn’t mean that Dish and its wily chairman, Charlie Ergen, have been cowed. The satellite TV provider may have several

In the aftermath of the dot-com crash, a new era for the web began to take hold - a turning point whose seismic shift was hyped under the moniker "Web 2.0." The concept referred to the web becoming...

If document requiring company to submit phone records for millions of Americans is authentic, it would be the broadest surveillance order known to date.

From Yahoo! News Canada: By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook, which once seemed poised to take over the Internet, is showing its limitations: a host of newer services are gaining ground among trend-setting youth; a much-hyped smartphone app has received a tepid response; and grand ambitions such as taking on Google in the search business seem ever more fanciful. In a volatile Internet industry where companies can rise and fall almost overnight, one might even say that the nine-year-old Facebook Inc is suffering a mid-life crisis. ...

He wants "wicked smart" people that don't need the spotlight.

In advance of next month's Build conference, Microsoft today provided a "first look" at Windows 8.1, which includes the return of the start button.

While pay-TV subscriber numbers have yet to show the drastic declines that land lines are seeing, technological, cultural and social trends are all pointing in a similar direction.

Disruptors are dialing up the pressure in telecom, overcoming the high barriers to entry in a costly market.

Tablets are slowly but surely replacing the clunky desktop machine. In a blind effort to increase efficiency and productivity, ZDNet's Zack Whittaker attempted to do exactly that — but not with the result he first expected.

The difference is touch: tablet and touchscreen laptop users adopted more Windows Store apps than users with non-touch displays.

Microsoft plans to make its first update to Windows 8, codenamed Blue, free to existing Windows 8 users, company officials have confirmed.

Internet Explorer 10 has seen a recent bump in users, thanks to Microsoft's move to make the browser available on Windows 7. Meanwhile, when will Chrome gets its mojo back?

Microsoft says it has sold 100 million Windows 8 licenses since the launch of the new operating system last fall, as the company looks ahead to a new wave of devices and a major “Windows Blue” software update that aims to ease the transition to Windows 8. The Windows 8 sales milestone, announced by the... Read More...

3D printing makes its big-box debut. Read this post by Rich Brown on 3D printers.

Intel has been synonymous with Windows PCs seemingly forever. But it's trying to change that in a hurry. Enter Google. Read this article by Brooke Crothers on CNET News.

As Google pushes the boundaries of innovation, it becomes harder to foresee whether it is doing so in ways that will conflict with its motto "Don't be evil."

We reconsider several Windows 8 laptop/tablet convertibles in the wake of Microsoft Store price cuts. Read this article by Dan Ackerman on CNET.

CNET looks at newly surfaced contracts, design specs, and page after page of schematics and code, revealing how Apple created its first disk OS, a chapter of Silicon Valley history critical to its later success. Read this article by Daniel Terdiman on CNET News.

Skip the article and head straight for the charts.

When YouTube first hit the web back in 2005, it attracted attention simply by making Internet video-watching simple rather than a glitchy hassle -- and the fact that large numbers of real people used it to share their mini-movies with the world was a novelty in itself.

Online investigators have exposed a network of hijacked computers that defrauded advertisers by generating billions of fake ad views. The so-called botnet scheme, which hijacked 120,000 residential PCs in the US and cost advertisers millions of

A new Bloomberg report says approximately 1.5 million Surface RT and Surface Pro models have been sold, but Microsoft had ordered 3 million of the devices.

A group of anonymous online protestors are targeting Google and users of the search engine site’s new Google Glass in an attempt to censor the high-tech eyewear and also make a little money in the process.

'Stop The Cyborgs' is a new site that attempts to bring a balanced trepidation to the unbalanced idea that we'll all be walking round with Google's outer brain strapped to our faces. Read this article by Chris Matyszczyk on CNET News.

As Samsung unveils its next flagship Android device, there are things happening behind-the-scenes that could threaten the future of the Samsung-Google alliance.

Owner says 'it's because it's kind of a private place that people go.' Will other businesses follow? Read this article by Casey Newton on CNET News.

Facebook showed us its new News Feed yesterday. It's as pretty as anyone could have hoped, and a wonderful update to the design. But lost in the big images and new feeds was a pretty major change that actually started weeks ago: The first thing you look at on Facebook's page has moved.

Facebook has come under fire from those who say the network is turning down the volume on their posts, but the bottom line is that the network can -- and will -- do whatever it wants with the algorithms controlling its news feed.