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...

Nissan executives are all juiced up about their decision to turn their NISMO motor-sports brand into a global marque and the imminent opening of a new research outpost in Silicon Valley.

But the United Auto Workers is reminding the company that the union may go to the ends of the earth itself in its long-term attempt to organize employees of Nissan's plants in the United States.

Union representatives on Wednesday traveled to the Geneva auto show to hound Nissan executives by passing out leaflets to the media hordes and by holding a press conference designed to embarrass the automaker on an important industry world stage.

"We want Nissan to stop intimidating workers from speaking in support of a union," Chip Wells, a worker at the Nissan assembly plant in Canton, Miss., said in a statement. 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...

New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been bullish on having his city rival Silicon Valley as a hub of high-tech innovation. As the Associated Press just noted, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, eBay, Yelp, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Tumblr, Kickstarter and Gilt Groupe have set up shop in the Big Apple. Between 2005 and 2010, the city’s tech workforce grew 10 times faster than city employment according to the Center for an Urban Future.

The city's Economic Development Corp. set-up a $22.5 million startup investment fund and most recently offered 12 acres of land on Roosevelt Island and $100 million in improvements for a state-of-the-art graduate school, CornellNYC Tech, to be run by Cornell University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, which is slated to open in January. Acting U.S. Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank will serve as on-campus patent officer. But it hasn't been an easy road.Continue reading...

Virgin America is in a bona fide social media crisis as it makes the switch to Sabre for reservations. Richard Branson's hip, business-oriented U.S. carrier, a darling amongst sophisticated travelers, recently made the change to accommodate increased business, but its online booking system is wreaking havoc on passengers changing or canceling flights, making seat selections, or checking their frequent flier accounts. 

“We are really the first airline that has gone through this type of business change in the era of social media,” commented Virgin spokeswoman Abby Lunardini to Venture Beat, which reports that the tech woes have been raising hackles among Silicon Valley tech execs. “It’s a knife-edge cutover because you have live operations. You have to move everything over to the new system at once.” Good thing the carrier has a new head of marketing to run damage control.Continue reading...

AOL acquires About.me social profile site (that's K'naan's splash page, above) a mere four days after going live and a year post start-up.

Apple spurs iAds for the iPad with new tools.

Cricket aims to turn music pirates into paying customers.

FCC's "strong" net neutrality rules criticized on all sides.Continue reading...

Apple opens new Mac software store, enables peer-to-peer app sharing.

BlackBerry parent RIM beats analyst estimates.

Canada Goose challenged by knock-offs.

Chevron and BP named in latest WikiLeaks cables.

CNN bids adieu to Larry King, pads schedule until Piers Morgan debut.

Dramamine brand sold by J&J for $76 million.Continue reading...