Internet & Media

With maps an improbably hot topic in tech these days, perhaps its no wonder that they're coming to more remote corners of Google services. Today's product: the Google Play Books app.

An update pushed today brings location awareness to e-books.

"Starting today, when you come across an unfamiliar geographic location -- a faraway city or distant mountain range -- you can tap on the location to learn more about it," the company said in a blog post. "You'll see an info card with a Google Map and the option to get more information by … Read more

MySpace's new owners, which includes actor/recording star Justin Timberlake, are teasing the coming of a revamped service.

A video found at New.myspace.com features a slick video touting a service flush with photos, video, and music from young and beautiful people. Yep -- as expected, MySpace appears to be coming back as a media-centric social networking service. The Financial Times spotted the new teaser clip first.

Managers posted a note that says, in part: "We're staying true to our roots."

Before Facebook began stomping all over MySpace in 2008, the then No. 1 social … Read more

eBay is reporting some pretty big numbers for mobile.

The San Jose, Calif., e-commerce giant says its mobile apps have been downloaded 100 million times since being launched in late 2008, while users have listed 100 million items on its auction site using mobile devices. The apps have been downloaded 25 million times in the last six months alone, the company said.

"We are taking a mobile first approach to the business, drawing on four years of leading mobile commerce, and continually making our experience more personalized and relevant to the customer," Steve Yankovich, vice president of eBay … Read more

Netflix users should now have an easier time finding their favorite movies and TV shows via their Android devices.

Unveiled over the weekend, the latest changes to Netflix's Android app conjure up the same interface that was already part of the iPhone and iPad versions.

Opening the Netflix app on your Android phone or tablet displays thumbnails for items that you started watching but never finished, so you can easily pick up where you left off. The app then blankets the screen with the familiar rows, showing you the top 10 picks based on your preferences, your Instant Queue, … Read more

A Facebook Timeline feature that rounds up old posts has people crying privacy violations, but Facebook says it's just a part of its ongoing Timeline roll-out.

A French newspaper reported today that users were seeing private messages from past years posted to their Timelines. The messages were curated in a box labeled "Friends," which was created to display all the wall posts from each year.

Media reports and user panic ensued, but Facebook swears no private messages were published.

Facebook said this is a new feature that was incorporated into Timeline, but the viewable messages are not … Read more

Google's stock price reached an all-time high today, hitting $750 before closing at $749.38. The company rose $15.39, or 2.10 percent for the day.

The record closing price, which comes amid a 30 percent increase since June, comes on the heels of a new analyst report setting a price target at $850 (up from $740). Its previous record high of $747.24 was set in November 2007. The company now has a market capitalization of more than $244 billion.

The report, from Citi analyst Mark Mahaney, said Google's stock will continue to surge based on … Read more

Grooveshark is making sure that its music Web app will play on any device and anywhere in the world.

A spokeswoman for the music service told CNET today that starting tomorrow, the company will make its HTML5 Web app available globally. The new app will make it possible to access the service on iOS and Android Web browsers and anywhere in the world.

Last month, the company rolled out the Web app in the United States after Grooveshark's original app was banned from Google Play. Google hasn't detailed why it booted the app but Grooveshark's legal disputes … Read more

The skies over Mountain View will bear a message of protest today aimed at Google: quit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

SumOfUs.org, a nonprofit that has been campaigning for corporations to end their financial support of the Chamber, said it would fly a plane over the Googleplex Monday at noon with a trailing banner that reads "Google: Quit the Chamber."

The group opposes the Chamber for reasons including its opposition to climate change legislation and its support for anonymous corporate spending on elections. It has mounted similar campaigns designed to get Microsoft, IBM and Pepsi to … Read more

Looks like the Facebook pessimism has returned.

Shares of Facebook, which have been on a tear since CEO Mark Zuckerberg sought to calm Wall Street during an in an interview at TechCrunch Disrupt less than two weeks ago, are getting slammed today. The stock fell more than 10 percent at one point and triggered the SEC's short-sale restriction, which is designed to keep short-sellers from battering the stock even further. Shares closed down more than 9 percent at $20.75.

Why the sudden change of heart? The broader market is taking a hit, which of course doesn't help. … Read more