In this video EPK, Microsoft and Yammer executives explain how the $1.2 billion cash acquisition of the start-up plays an important part in the company's migration to cloud-based computing.

In this video EPK, Microsoft and Yammer executives explain how the $1.2 billion cash acquisition of the start-up plays an important part in the company's migration to cloud-based computing.

The images may make it look like a notebook, but Microsoft's new Surface line is all about tablets. As the center of the computing industry continues to shift from PC to mobile, Microsoft, maker of keyboards and mice for three decades, is directly challenging Apple’s iPhone and iPad dominance with the Surface sub-brand.

"Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen made a big bet — a bet on software — but it was always clear that we had to push hardware in ways that sometimes manufacturers hadn't envisioned," said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at Monday's unveiling. "We believe that any intersection between human and machine can be made better when all aspects, hardware and software, are working together."Continue reading...

In addition to an even trippier special edition of its tie-dye logo, Apple unveiled more than one dozen new products today at the brand's highly anticipated 2012 Worldwide Developers Conference. While Apple’s main growth drivers remain the iPhone and the iPad, its Mac line remains a cornerstone.Continue reading...

Apple watchers have been combing over the tidbits dropped by CEO Tim Cook as he took center stage at the All Things D Conference last night. At the 10th annual gathering of A-list Silicon Valley technology and media executives in Rancho Palos Verdes, Cook spoke on a broad array of topics from Apple’s current vision, to plans for the living room, an iPhone made in the U.S. and his views on China’s labor practices.

Cook didn’t disclose details about Facebook plans for the iPhone, but in response to a question about why the world’s largest social networking platform isn’t integrated into the smartphone like Twitter, he simply said “stay tuned.”Continue reading...

The historic day came and went as Facebook, eight years-old, with more than 901 million members, roughly 1 in 8 people on Earth, went public, issuing actual stock certificates in a retro move. As of 3:07 pm EST, Facebook had traded 460 million shares, setting a record for trading volume for a U.S. stock the day of its IPO. Facebook's stock opened around $43 and quickly slipped to under $39, after pricing on Thursday at $38 a share.

The social giant chose Nasdaq over NYSE Euronext, not surprising as the former is more closely associated with Silicon Valley. Due to a technical delay at Nasdaq caused by the sheer volume of share orders which began at 10:45 am EST, the stock opening took place at 11:30 am instead of 11:00 am, with some 82 million shares traded in the first 30 seconds. Seven minutes after the opening, 110 million shares had traded, with the stock eventually reaching a high of $45 a share. All in all, the highly anticipated public debut proved more of a whimper than the bang that was expected.Continue reading...

The assembly-line process made famous by the Ford Motor Company that ushered in an era of mass production that enabled consumers across the globe to have the same products at the same time is about to change.

Assembly-line jobs used to be the backbone of the working class. But now robots are entering the picture more and more and Canon claims that it will have its digital-camera assembly line in Japan completely automated as soon as 2015, according to The Toronto Star. As it is now, jobs have been moving out of the country to China, India, and elsewhere in Asia due to the high price of labor expenditures.

Employees of Canon needn't be alarmed. “When machines become more sophisticated, human beings can be transferred to do new kinds of work,” said Jun Misumi, a spokesman for the company, commented to the Star.Continue reading...

Amazon is planning to launch a front-lit Kindle e-reader in July, Reuters hears — click here for details, and watch its latest Kindle Fire TV commercial above.