The newly revamped social service Myspace continues to attract an audience following its debut — with 31 million visitors and 995,000 app downloads reported in its first 14 days. It has also redesigned its mobile app and is launching a major marketing campaign to target millennials, with their music tastes and interests in mind. However, the service may still need to address issues related to offering unlicensed content from independent labels. Continue reading Redesigned Myspace Continues to Build Millennial Audience

Following months of acquisition talks with multiple players, Google has announced it is purchasing traffic navigation company Waze. Financial terms were not disclosed, but sources suggest that Google offered more than $1 billion for the free mobile service, which is currently used by more than 50 million people and launched its global ad platform in November 2012. Other Waze suitors reportedly included Facebook and Apple. Continue reading Google to Acquire Traffic Mapping App Waze for $1 Billion

At the National Cable and Telecommunications Association conference yesterday in Washington D.C., Comcast announced that it has begun shipping a new wireless gateway to its residential broadband customers that will serve as both a private Wi-Fi router and a public hotspot. The bold (and possibly controversial) move will enable Comcast to essentially crowdsource its Wi-Fi network, turning home gateways into public hotspots. Continue reading Cable Show: Comcast to Create Crowdsourced Hotspot Network

The World Wide Web Consortium published a working draft last week for Encrypted Media Extensions (EME), which is a proposed framework that enables delivery of DRM-protected media content via browsers without using plugins such as Flash or Silverlight. While the announcement has met with sharp criticism from groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Free Software Foundation, Ars Technica suggests the framework will help keep the Web relevant. Continue reading Will Proposed DRM Framework Keep the Web Relevant?

The National Digital Public Library has scheduled its official launch for April 18. Students, educators and researchers will have access to a wide variety of research tools, archives, museums and an extensive database of publications. All of these resources will be available for free. However, this is just the first stepping stone for the creators of the digital library. Continue reading National Digital Public Library Slated to Launch This Month

A fast-growing variety of free messaging apps — including WhatsApp, WeChat, Line and KakaoTalk — are now commonly used by hundreds of millions of people around the world. The apps are causing concern for an array of tech companies since communication via free messaging does not benefit mobile carriers or phone makers financially. Use of the messaging apps can also reduce time spent on conversational channels such as social networks. Continue reading Free Messaging Apps Impact Facebook and Mobile Carriers