LinkedIn said Thursday it bought news reading app-maker Pulse, boosting the content offerings of the career-focused social network.
Pulse applications for Apple and Android powered smartphones or tablets were designed as a "fast, fun and beautiful way to read your favorite blogs, magazines and newspapers."

Google on Thursday began letting people plan out what is to be done with their digital photos, documents and other virtual belongings after they die or become incapacitated.
An "Inactive Account Manager" can be used to direct Google to pass on data from online venues such as Google Drive, Gmail, YouTube, or social network Google+ to particular people or be deleted after being dormant for too long.

Electronic books provided 23 percent of U.S. publishing revenues in 2012 but sizzling growth rates have eased, according to industry figures released Thursday.
The Association of American Publishers said ebooks gained ground in all categories -- adult fiction and nonfiction, young adult and children's and religious publishing -- and helped the industry increase revenues six percent to $7.1 billion for the year.

Smithsonian curators found themselves chasing the proverbial moving target when they put together a new permanent exhibition opening Friday that explains how people get from A to B.
The front end of "Time and Navigation: The Untold Story of Getting from Here to There" was simple enough, as it links the history of modern navigation to the development of ever-more-precise timepieces since the 14th century.

Powerhouse Silicon Valley venture capital firms on Wednesday joined Google to launch a syndicate devoted to backing entrepreneurs building products for Google's coming Internet glasses.
Venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers teamed with Google's investment arm to form the Glass Collective, an independent group devoted to funding entrepreneurs in the "Glass ecosystem."

The impeccably-dressed South Korean flipped a tyre sideways, and with a deft sweep snapped a curious, pastel-shaded device onto the hub.
"Fitted in seconds," he said with a flourish, drawing nods of approval from Swiss onlookers all too used to their annual battle to preserve their fingers as they fix snow chains during the Alpine winter.

Internet search giant Google says it is investing 300 million euros ($390 million) to expand its continental European data center.
Google Inc. said Wednesday it will upgrade the facility in Belgium to meet growing demand for its online services.

An official investigation into a major cyber attack on South Korean banks and broadcasters last month has determined North Korea's military intelligence agency was responsible, officials said Wednesday.
The probe into access records and the malicious codes used in the attack pointed to the North's military Reconnaissance General Bureau as the source, the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA) said.

Sex workers are more likely to call in to a hotline for victims of human trafficking on a Wednesday, and a Google-backed initiative announced Tuesday could help to explain why.
The Internet search giant is giving a total of $3 million to three groups in Europe, Asia and the United States combating modern-day slavery to help them share and analyze the mountains of data that grows out of their frontline work.

Google was in the firing line again on Tuesday after a group of major companies, including Microsoft and Oracle, complained to the European Commission over Google's offerings for Android-powered mobile phones.
"We are asking the Commission to move quickly and decisively to protect competition and innovation in this critical market," said Thomas Vinje, Brussels-based counsel for FairSearch, which groups 17 high-tech companies, including also Nokia, Expedia and TripAdvisor.
