It turns out that still, business and politics make difficult bedfellows as 'disruptive' Mark Zuckerberg finds himself—and Facebook—the target of progressive scrutiny over his newly minted political agenda. 

The Facebook CEO’s FWD.us super PAC focuses mainly on immigration reform in the name of creating a better, brighter workforce, but the group, which includes Silicon Valley superstars Bill Gates, LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman and Dropbox's Drew Houston, is getting push-back from a coalition of nine liberal grassroots organizations including Progressives United, CREDO, the Sierra Club, the Daily Kos and Democracy for America, all of whom pulled their ads from Facebook after FWD.us began running ads for the Keystone Pipeline, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and attacks on Obamacare.

Groups boycotting the ads cite the "cynical" strategy behind them. “Leaders in the technology community have every right to talk about how immigration reform will benefit their businesses,” Progressives United's Josh Orton Feingold told Mashable. "But instead, FWD.us has chosen a strategy that’s condescending to voters and counterproductive to the cause of reform."Continue reading...

It’s here, and it’s not just a phone. Facebook's highly anticipated event today confirmed swirling rumors that the social network would release a product closely tied to a mobile device, and that product is Facebook Home.

"We asked ourselves if sharing and connecting are what matter most, what would your phone be like if it put your friends first?" Facebook stated. "Our answer is Home. Home isn't a phone or operating system, and it's also more than just an app. Home is a completely new experience that lets you see the world through people, not apps."Continue reading...

What does a 28-year-old billionaire with the world’s largest social networking website do next to influence the world?

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is taking a lead role in a Silicon Valley SuperPAC organized by his former college roommate, Joe Green. Reportedly, the group will focus on education and immigration reform, two pressing issues in Zuckerberg’s own backyard in order to maintain a steady stream of talent. 

First reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, Zuckerberg has committed as much as $20 million to the effort which will most likely be nonprofit.Continue reading...

Facebook’s redesign of its News Feed, the largest since launch of the feature in 2006, gives users increased social savvy including new ways to catch up with friends by sorting through splashier photos, videos or music choices rather than being confined to parsing by "Top Stories" or "Most Recent." 

The new feeds include: "All Friends," "Photos," Music" and "Following." The mobile app will reflect the changes in the next few weeks. 

"This is a high-stakes move," notes the Chicago Tribune. "News Feed is indisputably the most valuable real estate on Facebook. It's the place that people get updates from their friends. And it's the place that Facebook is betting advertisers have the best shot at connecting with its 1 billion-plus users."Continue reading...

Six tech stars have banded together to create the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, rewarding scientists “who think big, take risks and have made a significant impact on our lives,” said Anne Wojcicki, founder of genetics company 23andMe and married to Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google. 

Wojcicki along with Brin, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan, Russian entrepreneur Yuri Milner and Art Levinson, chairman of Apple and former CEO of Genentech created the foundation in an effort to bring scientists and researchers to the forefront. “I think that our society needs more heroes who are scientists and researchers and engineers," said Zuckerberg. 

The foundation plans to reward five individuals or teams every year, however in its inaugural effort this year, 11 recipients were awarded the honor. 

The 11 scientists, most of them American, will each receive $3 million—more than twice the amount of a Nobel Prize—making it the world’s richest academic prize for medicine and biology.Continue reading...

American Airlines and US Airways finalize merger details.

Comcast buys balance of GE's stake in NBCUniversal for $16.7 billion.

Yahoo CEO Mayer looks to focus mobile, expresses disappointment in Microsoft search deal.

Adidas will reveal Boost running innovation at New York event.

Apple CEO Cook feels brand's stores are too small; a Google payday might help.

Barclays CEO pressured to get moving on revamp.

BBC Worldwide appoints global editorial director.

Blockbuster UK closes 164 more stores.

Dior sees former designer John Galliano re-offend Jewish community.

Facebook eyes books, movies and TV content as Zuckerberg's full philanthropy revealed.

Ford assures dealers on Lincoln MKZ supplies.Continue reading...

Will Facebook’s newly unveiled social graph feature soon bring the company profit and additional relevance? 

Mixed reactions are meeting Graph Search, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg called "one of the coolest things we've done in a while" in announcing the feature on Tuesday.

Graph Search enables search using natural language and replaces links to answers with direct results. Sample searches include “Movies my friends in San Francisco like,” “Photos my friends took in the 1990s,” and “Languages my friends from college speak.”

"This is a beta product," Zuckerberg said at the company's rollout event in Menlo Park, Calif. "We focused on a few use cases that we think are good. Even as an early product, Graph Search is a completely new way for people to get information on Facebook."Continue reading...

GM is buying back $200M shares from the U.S. government.

UBS fined $1.5 billion in growing Libor scandal.

Instagram backpedals following outcry on terms of service change enabling user images for ad purposes.

CW pulls plug on major placement platform with end of Gossip Girl.

DirecTV expands cross-platform reach.

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg donates $500M to charity.

Grammys launches new social trivia game.Continue reading...