When Google unveiled Google Lens last May, it was billed as the future of search. Typing a search was outdated. Now you could just point your camera at, say, a landmark and instantly learn about it. Take a picture of a book, and there’s all the info you need about where to buy it, who …

It is a harsh reality of Twitter — as many people, from celebrities to politicians, know — that what you post on the platform can stir up controversy. This weekend, a Facebook executive found that out firsthand. Here’s how the sequence of events unfolded. Last Friday, Special Counsel Robert Mueller released an indictment of Russian agents for allegedly interfering with …

To get to the heart of Facebook’s newest controversy, you’d have to go back to 2013. That’s when Facebook announced it was buying Onavo, a mobile analytics startup based in Israel. At the time, the buyout was expected to bolster CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s efforts to wire the globe, providing web access to underserved communities through the social network’s Internet.org initiative. …

Google won’t say how many Pixel phones it shipped in 2017, but one analyst from the research firm IDC has a number: 3.9 million. The analyst, IDC Research Director Francisco Jeronimo, said the figure includes both generations of the phone, the Pixel 1 and 2. For comparison, it’s a “tiny portion” compared with the entire 1.5 billion market size for …

Facebook wants you to post more about yourself, instead of filling your news feed with viral videos and news articles. On Tuesday, the social network released a new feature called Lists that’s designed to encourage personal posts. The Lists feature lets you, well, create lists. The idea is to spark conversation or get advice from friends. For example, you can …

Google wants you to be able to do more things directly from your email, like answering a survey or scheduling an appointment. To make that happen, the search giant said Tuesday, it’s bringing its Accelerate Mobile Pages, or AMP, technology to Gmail, which has more than a billion users. “This new spec will be a powerful way for developers to …

Google is bringing gadget maker Nest back under its control as the search giant battles rivals Amazon and Apple in the rapidly expanding smart home market. A big part of the change: Making it easier to add Google’s artificial intelligence technology and Assistant — a digital helper that competes against Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri — into new Nest products. …

Snapchat is giving you more options to customize your Bitmoji avatar. On Tuesday, the social media app unveiled Bitmoji Deluxe, a new iteration of its feature that lets you create a cartoon version of yourself to use in messaging apps. With Bitmoji Deluxe, you can snap a selfie and use that as a starting point for creating your avatar. With …

Facebook’s news feed has another new focus: local news. The social network on Monday said it’ll start to emphasize news stories from local publishers in an area where a person lives. That means if you follow a local news outlet, or if someone shares a story from a news outlet in your area, it might show up higher in your …

Jimmy Iovine says he’s still “committed” to Apple. The music mogul on Tuesday shot down rumors he’s planning to leave Apple in August after his stock fully vests, according to a report by Variety. Last week, the music industry blog Hits Daily Double and Billboard reported Iovine is leaving the company, which he joined in 2014 when the iPhone maker …