social networking

Color Labs founder Bill Nguyen has a relationship with Apple. In 2009, the tech giant bought one of his startups called Lala for $80 million.

Now, rumor has it that Apple may be after his Color Labs too.

According to The Next Web, sources say that Apple has picked up the startup for a price in the "high double digits," and the deal is final even though papers aren't yet signed.

Color made a big splash when it launched last year as a location-based photo-sharing app for iOS and Android. Its charismatic founder, Nguyen, won big backers, … Read more

Sex sells, and everyone knows how addictive cigarettes can be. But a new study suggests that for some Internet users, a little time alone with Facebook or Twitter is more alluring.

Well, make that some German Internet users.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the week-long study, conducted in Germany by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, showed that the temptation to tweet or post a Facebook status update is stronger than the urge to have sex or take a puff.

"Desires for media may be comparatively higher to resist because of their high availability," Wilhelm … Read more

When the revamped Myspace launches over the coming months, new users of the once-high-flying social network will be kept separate from veteran users of "classic Myspace."

That was the word from CEO Tim Vanderhook during an interview published today on ABCnews.com about plans for what is being called "new Myspace."

"There will be a separate section for our consumer base using the classic Myspace," Vanderhook told ABC. "We are going to leave it up for quite awhile. We will make a decision at a later date if we will ever take down … Read more

Facebook's wishes have been granted, at least for now. The dozens of lawsuits brought against the social network over its bungled initial public offering have been consolidated and will be heard before one federal judge in New York, according to Reuters.

Approximately 50 lawsuits have been brought against the social network, some of its underwriters, and the Nasdaq exchange. Earlier today, a panel of federal judges ruled that all of these cases will be collected throughout the U.S. and transferred to U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet in Manhattan.

According to Reuters, Facebook said that it was pleased … Read more

Twitter might be stuck with 140 characters per tweet, but that isn't stopping the social network from adding some additional functionality to its platform.

The company announced today that it has partnered with Nielsen on a new survey tool for advertisers. The feature is simple enough: users will find messages in-line with their tweet timeline asking them if they'd like to complete a survey from advertiser. If they agree to it by clicking on the appropriate button, they'll be able to complete the survey from within Twitter, rather than be redirected to another site. The feature works … Read more

Just as you choose where your money goes after you die, you should be able to control your "digital assets" -- your online data -- when you pass away, according to a University of Illinois law professor.

Professor Jason Mazzone has written a paper titled "Facebook's Afterlife," which argues that federal agencies are responsible for safeguarding "digital afterlives" in the same manner that a bank has a duty to properly bequeath a deceased person's assets.

Mazzone, an expert in intellectual property law, says the U.S. government should take a solid role … Read more

Seattle residents now have the option of following the local police department on Twitter. In a first-of-a-kind program, the city's authorities are launching a new initiative that involves cops translating the news they get on the streets to tweets.

Dubbed "Tweets-by-beat," this program attempts to replace the police blotter that normally runs in local papers with a tech version of basically the same thing, according to the New York Times. When residents follow the department on the social network, they'll get routine tweets of the up-to-the-moment crime happenings in their neighborhoods.

"Liquor violation -- intoxicated … Read more

Apparently, China's "Great Firewall" is permeable.

Social media use in the Far East country has reportedly skyrocketed over the last three years despite the government's strict bans on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and other social-networking sites. This is according to new data by global Internet research company GlobalWebIndex.

The data estimates that Facebook users have increased from nearly 8 million to more than 63 million since July 2009, and Twitter users have gone from 11 million to 35 million. Despite these wild jumps in numbers, they are still only a small percentage of China's population -- … Read more

It's never been easier to stalk, ahem follow, your friends on Foursquare. The social network announced a new feature today called "Always On."

This feature lets users get all check-in notifications from their specified friends at all times, no matter where they are. To use the feature, members simply need to go to their friends' profiles on the site and toggle the "Always On" button from the drop down menu.

According to Foursquare, this feature will help people know the necessary goings-on with friends without having to text or call them. It also lets armchair … Read more