Business - NewsFactor

At long last, the world's most famous microblogging service has launched a URL shortener of its own. It's the latest in a string of moves to make Twitter easier to use. Full Story »

Google has rolled out a Chrome browser update featuring hardware-accelerated 3D graphics capabilities, additional privacy controls, and improved security features. On Tuesday, Chrome 12 was automatically installed on many PCs running earlier editions of Google's browser. Full Story »

A new global survey of mobile-app developers underscores a major shift in their outlook, with interest in building apps for Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 (32 percent) now second only to Google's Android OS (35 percent). By contrast, Apple's iOS ranked third at 27 percent, according to Vision Mobile's latest survey of 850 developers worldwide. Full Story »

Wednesday is World IPv6 Day. But the occasion is not a celebration -- it's a warning, the first global real-world test of the new Internet protocol, and a wake-up call to everyone who needs to make the transition from the current IPv4. Full Story »

Facebook is moving to make photo tagging easier with face-recognition technology. But the move is already drawing concerns from industry watchers. Full Story »

A while back, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said the new design of the MacBook Air was meant to look like what would happen if an iPad and a MacBook mated. Now Nintendo's updated game console may appear to some as the product of an iPad that hooked up with a Wii. Full Story »

Amid a slew of E3 announcements -- and in the wake of hack attacks -- Sony on Monday announced its next competitive move in the mobile-gaming-console market: The PlayStation Vita. The name means "life" in Latin. Full Story »

IDC expects worldwide PC shipments to rise just 4.2 percent this year -- down from its February forecast of 7.1 percent. Among other things, the research firm's analysts blamed the downward revision on an increasingly conservative economic outlook as well as heightened consumer interest in media tablets in mature markets such as North America and Europe. Full Story »

The embarrassing breach of RSA's SecurID product continues to bite the company where it hurts -- its credibility. In the wake of new revelations, RSA will replace security tokens for about half of its SecurID customers. Full Story »

Free Press has submitted a complaint to the Federal Communications Commission based on recent press reports saying Google has been blocking Verizon Wireless subscribers from downloading free or low-cost tethering applications from its Android Market at Verizon's request. The media-policy watchdog charged that the nation's largest wireless carrier is attempting to monetize a "service consumers could otherwise either obtain for free or obtain from another source at lower cost." Full Story »