(Reuters) – Facebook Inc posted its slowest growth in quarterly revenue in two years and higher spending on research and development ate into profits. Facebook has warned of heavy investments in 2015 as it steps up efforts to expand a collection of products that include messaging service WhatsApp, photo-sharing service Instagram and virtual reality headset maker Oculus Rift
Read moreThe White House said on Tuesday that it has some concerns about a bill to make it easier for companies to share information about cybersecurity threats with the government, but supports its passage by the U.S. House of Representatives
Read moreBy Bill Rigby SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is in the final stages of planning to set up a satellite office in California's Silicon Valley, aiming to build relationships with the technology industry and scout for talent there, the department's secretary said on Tuesday
Read moreA unit of People’s Insurance Company of China Co (PICC), one of China’s biggest insurers, has received regulatory approval to set up a third-party payment firm, challenging banks for control of the crucial market. The China Insurance Regulatory Commission said on Monday it granted PICC Life Insurance Co permission to invest 200 million yuan ($32.3 million) to establish a wholly-owned subsidiary, Beijing Baofutong Ltd, according to an online notice posted by the insurance regulator. The PICC unit still requires to get approval from the central bank and comply with legal procedures to set up a third-party payment service, the notice said.
Read moreBy Andrea Shalal COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) – DigitalGlobe Inc this week unveiled new Web-based tools that could help military troops, relief workers and others use its high-resolution satellite images, social media feeds and other data without needing massive bandwidth. The tools, which are in beta-testing now, give users access to complex data processing done in the cloud, including rapid analysis about everything from helicopter and paratrooper landing sites to social media usage in a specific area
Read moreBy Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) – A Colorado teacher who posted notes from her third grade class online and started a social media whirlwind under the hashtag #IWishMyTeacherKnew said on Friday the assignment had been a revelation for her. Kyle Schwartz, 26, asked the eight- and nine-year-olds at her Denver inner city school to write down something they wished she knew about them, partly as a writing exercise, and partly as a way for her to learn about her pupils. Schwartz, a self-described suburban girl who has taught at southwest Denver’s Doull Elementary for three years, said she has conducted the exercise each year, in part because she wanted to underline the issue of poverty in U.S
Read moreBy Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Internet platforms such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! will be the subject of a widespread inquiry by European regulators to determine whether they are transparent enough in how they display search results. In a draft of the Commission's strategy for creating a digital single market, seen by Reuters, it says it will “carry out a comprehensive investigation and consultation on the role of platforms, including the growth of the sharing economy.” The investigation, expected to be carried out next year, will look into the transparency of search results – involving paid for links and advertisements – and how platforms use the information they acquire
Read more“Unfriended,” out in U.S. theaters on Friday, follows six high school students gathering on the video conferencing platform Skype on the anniversary of the suicide of a fellow student, who killed herself after an embarrassing video of her was posted online. Filmed entirely as if the events are unfolding on a computer screen, a mysterious entity joins the group’s Skype conversation and begins to coerce secrets out of each friend, before exacting gory revenge one by one, as the others watch in horror.
Read more(Reuters) – A Houston woman gave birth to five girls in four minutes by cesarean section last week and all are doing well, a Texas hospital said. All were within the appropriate weight for that gestational age and currently require only a modest support for their breathing, The Woman’s Hospital of Texas said on Tuesday in a statement.
Read moreThe European Union’s charges against Google Inc for distorting Web search results to favor its own shopping service are unlikely to hurt the company’s valuation, analysts said. The charges, which come after a five-year investigation, could lead to a fine of up to 10 percent of Google’s annual sales, or about 6.2 billion euros ($6.6 billion).
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