Industry news

Editor's note: We used Cover It Live for this event, so if you missed the live blog, you can still replay it in the embedded component below. Replaying the event will give you all the live updates from CNET staff writer Josh Lowensohn along with questions and commentary from our readers and CNET's Jessica Dolcourt and Caroline McCarthy. For those of you who just want the updates, we've included them in regular text here. You can find summaries of what was announced in our follow-up articles, this one on updates to Facebook's Android and iPhone app, … Read more

This story was updated at 4:50 p.m. PDT with a new headline, and additional comment from Microsoft.

Microsoft has taken the covers off a future update to its Bing Maps service that removes the need for its Silverlight browser plug-in to view an alternate mapping layer, and has also announced that it plans to remove its 3D map viewer. The changes will arguably make the service more approachable to the masses, but indicate that the company is going in a different direction with its online tools and technology platforms.

In a post on the Bing community blog, Bing … Read more

Since Microsoft launched the idea of avatars with its "New Xbox Experience" system software update this time two years ago, the company's executives and employees have regularly been presented in avatar form at the company's gaming events. But that's about as far as it's gone--short of today.

In honor of the launch of Microsoft's Kinect motion-gaming camera later this week, the vast majority of Microsoft senior executives now appear as Xbox avatars on the company's press page.

One big omission is Windows and Windows Live division president Steven Sinofsky, whose mug has … Read more

The much-rumored and quickly denied Facebook phone could finally be unveiled next week--or at least something new relating to using the social network on mobile devices.

Earlier today the company began sending out invites to members of the press for a mobile-focused event next Wednesday at its headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif.

Back in September, rumors began swirling that the company was working with device manufacturers on a Facebook-branded handset. A Facebook spokesperson quickly responded by saying that it was flat-out false, and that "building phones is just not what we do."

Recent numbers made public by the … Read more

Yahoo wants to make its Web e-mail service a place you never want to--or more importantly--have to leave to get your social fix.

The company on Wednesday is releasing an overhauled version of its Yahoo Mail Beta client that it says is twice as fast as the previous version, while managing to tack on new features like an integrated Twitter client, rich media previews, and a more full-featured IM client.

Yahoo says this speed boost should be especially noticeable to users outside the U.S. with latency issues, due mostly to the new version making use of the company's … Read more

The idea of finding out more about a word or phrase you run across while reading is becoming more popular. In reading applications on the iPad, and of course, Amazon's Kindle, it's now common to find a built-in dictionary tool, or a way to start a Web search on something that may have you scratching your head.

That same technology is coming to digital book and document repository Scribd via a partnership with Apture. Now, when a reader gets to a word or phrase they want to know more about, they can highlight it and select the "… Read more

One of the positive effects of Apple's recently introduced App Store guidelines is that there have since been a handful of applications that have made their way back after initially having been pulled or removed. The latest of that bunch is Infinite SMS, which is currently in review with Apple.

The thing is, Apple never pulled Infinite SMS. You can blame Google for that.

Infinite SMS shot to popularity when it offered a free text-messaging tool that had been built off of Google's Talk service. Not intending Talk to be used that way, Google ended up shutting down access to that data path, … Read more

In a note introducing himself to users, Digg's latest CEO Matt Williams, who came on at the end of August, today penned an apology to the Digg community, saying that changes are on the way that should remedy some of the biggest complaints that have cropped up since the company completely retooled the site in late August.

"As many of you know, the launch of Digg v4 didn't go smoothly, and we're deeply sorry that we disappointed our Digg community in the process," Williams said. "Thank you for your patience and your extremely candid … Read more

Microsoft is said to be preparing to shut down Massive, the in-game advertising unit it scooped up in a pricey acquisition back in 2006.

According to Mediaweek, Microsoft has been trying to jettison the unit for months now, and will simply shut it down sometime this month. The report also says that a number of Massive's employees (which once stood at 80) are now being absorbed into other parts of company, short of Massive's general manager JJ Richards, who has been reportedly seeking employment elsewhere.

Massive worked with developers and publishers to build advertising spaces into titles, then … Read more