birthday

Google Play celebrates its first birthday with special deals

Ever wanted something specific from the Google Play store but didn't want to fork over the cash for it? Well, maybe this is the week to do it.

Google announced today that in honor of Google Play's first birthday, it was offering a week of deals and discounts in its media and app store.

"It was just a year ago today that we launched this amazing shop on the interwebs to offer the best in digital content," the company wrote on its Google Play Web site. "Since the best parties are the ones that send … Read more

Facebook Graph Search takes on Google

Tuesday's CNET Update is searching for friends who put useful data on Facebook:

Today's tech news roundup looks at Facebook's Graph Search, a new smart-search tool that focuses on specific details within people, photos, places and interests. Instead of searching with a keyword, like on Google, users would narrow down different fields to find data. Some examples:

- Search for friends in your city that like the show Fringe, and it can help you organize a watch party for the finale.

- Search for Mexican restaurants in Palo Alto that your friends have been to, and avoid … Read more

How to stand out among birthday well-wishers on Facebook

"Happy birthday! Have a great day!"

Perhaps you're a bit more creative than the above greeting, but even the most clever among us have probably run out of ways to wish friends a happy birthday on Facebook.

Thankfully, an enterprising Reddit user whose handle I do not wish to repeat in this space offered a handy and simple tip: search YouTube for "happy birthday" and your friend's name. You will be surprised by the volume and variety of videos available.

Sure, your friend will be sung happy birthday wishes by a random stranger or … Read more

Schedule alarms, open Web sites automatically, and more with SNV Timer

The publishers describe SNV Timer as a reminder program, but it actually includes three separate applications designed to manage shutdown operations, user-set alerts, and more. While many will see this diversity as a benefit, others will find that the lack of integration between programs and the redundancy of some functions negatively affect SNV Timer's usefulness.

When you install SNV Timer, you'll actually get SNV Timer, SNV Notepad, and SNV Calendar, each with its own desktop icon. SNV Timer does just what its name implies: it allows you to choose a specific time or number of hours for whatever … Read more

The 404 1,140: Where 99 problems is still a lot of problems (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Artist encourages Apple to "Think Different" with Steve Jobs action figure sculpture.

- Man mistakenly sexts entire contact list, lands in jail.

- Jay-Z helms star-studded Barclays Center opening.

- Today is the 30th anniversary of the first CD sale in Japan...Steve Guttenberg reflects.

- Key set available for $150 on eBay provides an all-access pass to NYC.… Read more

Google celebrates 14th birthday with animated chocolate cake

Let Google eat cake. Today, the Web giant turns 14 years old, and to celebrate, it's serving up an animated chocolate cake filled with Google-colored candles on its homepage.

It seems like just yesterday that the tech company was born, and now it's old enough to go to high school.

Last year when Google officially became a teenager, it celebrated with a doodle that showed a cake, some balloons, candles, and a few party hats -- but it wasn't animated. Apparently, this year it has upped its sophistication.

Google Doodles are an integral part of the company's Web design. … Read more

Emoticon celebrates 30 years :-)

Simple typography that  started out as a colon, dash, and parenthesis has now grown up and blossomed into a massive array of features, moods, and gestures. Who would have thought that a happy face :-) could ever lead to rock horns \m/, or tongue-tied :-&, or just a simple heart <3?

Today, the emoticon turns 30.… Read more

IFA 2012: Big reveals for Sony, Samsung

Time to learn German for Wednesday's tech news roundup:

Tons of devices being unveiled at the IFA trade show in Berlin. The highlights from Wednesday include:

• Sony releases its first 4K TV, the 84-inch XBR-84X900. No official word on cost or availability, but expect to pay close to $30,000 to own one. Here's an explainer on what a 4K TV is, but no need to worry about new formats just yet. Afterall, what movies do you own in 4K? • Sony showed the Xperia S tablet, available Sept. 7 starting at $400. It has several TV-ready features, Android … Read more

Google begins reminding users of friends' birthdays

Google thinks birthdays are pretty special and as such is devoting some serious real estate to the occasion.

Much like birthday notices on Facebook, the Web giant has begun posting notes reminding Google+ users when someone in their network has successfully completed another journey around sun. However, in an interesting move, the reminders will appear on Google.com instead of Google's social network site.

Google's Irene Chung explained today in a Google+ blog post that the reminders will appear when Google+ users perform searches and include a link to the Google+ profile of the person celebrating (or not) … Read more