Articles by Rachelle Dragani

The way search engines like Google make it almost effortless to find the answers to any question with a few taps of the fingertips could be changing the way our memory works, according to a study published recently in the research journal Science The report, co-authored by Betsy Sparrow, an assistant professor in the department of psychology at Col...

Amazon could be the next retailer to jump into the tablet marketplace in time for the holiday season, according to information from The Wall Street Journal. The online retail giant could be set to release its tablet by October, in addition to two new Kindle e-reader models....

Netflix announced a reshuffling of its prices Tuesday, separating its DVD and streaming plans into two separate subscription packages and angering a large part of its customer base. New customers will need to pick from the company's new offerings immediately; existing members will be transitioned to the new plans starting Sept. 1 The company is tou...

Google's Street View cars have been spotted all over the world capturing ground-level photos of cities for the company's unique mapping technology. But now that tech is being put to a new use: The cars are shooting pictures of the devastation in Japan left from the powerful earthquake the nation suffered last March. The goal is to help spread information about the extent of the remaining damage and help relief workers coordinate their efforts...

Facebook users may soon be able to stream, download and share music via the social networking site with a partnership with Spotify, a Swedish music service, according to codes found by software blogger Jeff Rose The software engineer examined a code possibly in development that users could use to download what was called "Facebook Vibes," presumabl...

A major round of funding from private investors for social networking site Twitter has raised the valuation of the company to more than US$7 billion, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal That's almost double from December, when it raised $200 million in a round of funding led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers which at the time put the...

A federal judge recently refused to dismiss charges against Google from July 2010 which claim the company violated the Federal Wiretap Act. At the same time, the court threw out accusations that the search engine giant broke state laws in an accidental data breach In what's being popularly referred to as the Google Wi-Spy incident, Google Street Vi...

Fresh off failure from its first social network attempt, Google decided it'd give the tech trend another shot and launched Google+, the company's hope for rivaling networking leaders Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. ...

Specific Media announced Wednesday that the company, in partnership with recording artist Justin Timberlake, will buy MySpace from News Corp. in hopes of revitalizing the ailing social networking site The rumored price is around US$35 million to $40 million, less than a tenth of the $580 million News Corp. paid for the social network in 2005. That ...

Google took a second stab at social networking Tuesday with the launch of Google+, a program designed to interactively connect users and challenge worldwide social networking king Facebook The search engine giant failed with its first attempt at an online social network, last year's Google Buzz, which encountered difficulties in cracking the crowde...

E-reader ownership jumped to 12 percent of adult U.S. consumers in May, doubling from 6 percent in the past six months, the first time sales have been in double digits, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project The growth spurt is outpacing that of tablet computers -- there are more adults who own a d...

Google announced Friday it will discontinue its Google Health service, a program launched three years ago to allow users to upload and store electronic health records in a central, online repository The service was designed to provide users with an online database where they could manage personal medical records from home, saving costs and adding e...

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz and company board members addressed investors Thursday at the company's annual shareholder meeting. Despite majority support for Bartz and other board members, a certain level of discontent was palpable among investors, and one particular shareholder called for an end to Bartz's tenure. A degree of discontent among some Yahoo...

A hacker believed to be involved in high-profile cyberattacks on major websites including those of the CIA, the U.S. Senate, PBS, the UK's Serious Organized Crime Agency and Sony was arrested outside London Tuesday After the arrest, 19-year-old Ryan Cleary was identified by authorities as a major player in the attacks, acting as a top-level member ...

LightSquared is moving forward with its plans to create a faster 4G wireless network by switching airwaves after tests showed its previous system interfered with GPS systems, the company announced Monday ...

A new malware attack aimed at stealing BitCoin wallets is on the loose, according to information released by security firm Symantec. The attack has led to reports of at least one theft amounting to approximately US$500,000 BitCoins are a form of virtual currency. The relatively unregulated method of trading that appeals to so many users comes with ...

Internet radio provider Pandora has taken a harsh beating in its first few days on Wall Street. After a short-lived initial pop that boosted its share value from its debut of US$16 to a peak of over $24 on Wednesday, shares sunk sunk throughout the day Thursday and into mid-day Friday, where they hovered around $13 Pandora, which provides online pe...

Federal legislation aimed at eliminating loopholes that allow companies like Google and Apple track users using GPS location-based technology was proposed by Senators Al Franken, D-Minn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., on Wednesday If signed into law, the Location Privacy Protection Act of 2011 could force companies to obtain explicit consent fro...

The new search technologies Google unveiled recently put a mobile-flavored twist in the company's desktop search engine, including a new voice search capability. Google also announced the ability to search by an image and a feature called "Instant Pages" that leads to even speedier search results Many of the new reveals come in response to the shif...

Google announced Monday it's moved to buy online advertising company Admeld, another purchase in what appears to be the search engine giant's move toward the display ad market Neither company disclosed the cost of the purchase, but reports suggest Google paid about US$400 million to acquire Admeld.