Technology, Search Engine | featured news

Google wants smartphones and wearable computers to be integrated instead of intrusive, allowing us to ask them to do things without ever lifting a finger... If people are discussing the migratory patterns of monarch butterflies over dinner, for instance, phones will be able to hear that and present a map, she said. Or when you meet someone, your glasses could show you the person’s LinkedIn profile and your last e-mail exchange. “It’s the integration of the digital and physical worlds so no longer are they two relatively separate spheres where you have to make the connection between them,” Ms. Maes said.

Facebook Inc CEO Mark Zuckerberg soothed investors in his first major public appearance since the No. 1 social network's rocky May IPO, breathing life into its struggling shares after hinting at new growth areas from mobile to search.

Hidden behind Google's search box are a slew of shortcuts leading to so-called "OneBox" results that provide awesome tools and display helpful information quickly and directly. You might think you know them all, but a few are more hidden than others.

The acquisition, said to be worth $23 million, will expand Google's ambitions in the travel business. The search giant bought the Zagat local guide business last year.

Google is smart. We all know that. Here's a great bit of search engine cleverness of Kafka-esque proportions. How can you be seen by the entertainment industry as fighting piracy of copyrighted material and yet not have a negative impact on one of the largest infringers, YouTube—who you happen to own?

Google treats its dead employees better than some companies do their living workers. Google's unusual "death benefits" include paying the deceased's spouse or domestic partner 50% of their salary for 10 years, the company's "chief people officer" Laszlo Bock revealed in an interview this week with Forbes.

Google's Internet search engine is getting more personal by highlighting information drawn from its users' Gmail accounts on its main results page.

Google Inc's revenue increased 21 percent as strength in its Internet advertising business offset a persisting drop in ad rates, stirring hopes among investors the Web search leader is close to slowing that decline.

Yahoo reported its earnings Tuesday, posting a slight revenue decline to $1.22 billion and setting the stage for a new chapter in the company’s history. The company has been busy in the past quarter, settling a patent spat with Facebook, making a deal with Alibaba, launching a new Axis browser in a mobile push, and completely changing the makeup of its board.

Marissa Mayer's move from Google exec to Yahoo! CEO made her one of the most powerful women in the tech industry. Her announcement just three hours later that she's expecting her first child made her "the most powerful pregnant woman in America," says Lisa Belkin of The Huffington Post.