Consumer content

Yahoo has wasted no time turning its Summly acquisition into a lure for mobile users.

The Internet company Monday introduced a new app for iPhones and iPod Touch devices that features quick story summaries delivered by Summly's natural-language algorithms and machine learning. It's available to users in the United States.

Yahoo made a splash when it acquired Summly -- reportedly for a hefty $30 million -- from teenager Nick D'Aloisio just a month ago.

D'Aloisio developed the technology behind Summly when he was just 15 and, for his schoolwork, needed a way to quickly sort scads … Read more

Windows 8.1 will add new features to help you customize the Start screen -- at least it allegedly will, based on tidbits from the latest build.

The Windows 8.1 Pro Preview build 9374 recently leaked dims the entire Start screen when you click or tap on the Customize button, according to WinBeta. Selecting a specific app tile then turns its light back on, allowing you to modify that specific tile. The goal is to focus the attention just on the tile or tiles that you're tweaking.

Based on the new build, Windows 8.1 also will offer … Read more

Facebook has begun using a Google image format called WebP that could lower its network costs and speed up its Web site. But the move has angered some members.

When people upload JPEG photos, the social-networking juggernaut converts them into the WebP format. And now it also apparently has begun delivering those images to people with browsers that can handle them, which today means Chrome and Opera.

Even if it's just a limited test, Facebook's scale and influence means that's a major endorsement of Google's image format.

But problems arise when it's time for people … Read more

Crowdfunding sites set up by friends and families of the Boston bombing victims are giving the world a way to help. And the world is stepping up.

As of this writing, Bucks for Bauman on GoFundMe has raised more than $192,000 in two days for Jeff Bauman, a 27-year-old marathon spectator who lost both legs to the blasts. Bauman also reportedly helped ID the suspects from his hospital bed.

"Medical bills are going to start rolling in, let's get a head start on helping out Bauman and his family! Every dollar counts!!" reads an introduction by Brooke Gibbs, who started the site. It's just one of a number of crowdfunding efforts that have sprung up this week to aid Boston Marathon bombing victims through grassroots campaigns -- and have collectively drawn more than $1 million in a matter of days. … Read more

Netflix has launched its third original series with Friday's debut of "Hemlock Grove."

Following its usual strategy, the video rental service has made all 13 episodes of "Hemlock Grove" available in one shot, so people can watch them at their own pace.

Based on a 2012 novel written by Brian McGreevy, "Hemlock Grove" is a supernatural thriller that takes place in a small Pennsylvania town where a teenage girl is murdered, and the town casts an eye at many of its more eccentric residents as potential suspects.… Read more

Another month, another victory for Microsoft's Xbox 360.

Research firm NPD released its monthly game industry sales figures yesterday, revealing that, for the 27th consecutive month, the Xbox 360 was the top-selling console in March, beating out Nintendo's Wii U and Sony's PlayStation 3. According to Microsoft, it sold 261,000 units Xbox 360 units in the U.S. in March. Total consumer spending on all Xbox-related hardware, software, and accessories hit $402 million.

Once again, though, the game industry overall had a down month in March, generating just $992.5 million in physical sales. During the … Read more

All those curse words and other commands you yell at Siri hang around a bit longer than you may think.

In response to a Wired story expressing concern about Siri's privacy policy, Apple has revealed exactly what happens to your Siri chats. Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller told Wired on Thursday that Apple may keep your Siri data for up to two years, albeit in an untraceable state.

Here's how the process works, according to Wired.

Whenever you talk to Siri, your commands are uploaded to Apple for analysis. Apple then assigns you a random number, which it associates … Read more

When Twitter opened up its #Music app to everyone on Thursday, it was the strongest sign yet that the social-networking giant is aiming to become a media machine that dominates popular entertainment channels.

There's no doubt that many of Twitter's vast user base already have a deep interest in music, but until now there's been no structured way for artists or fans to leverage that. With the public launch of the company's new discovery service, Twitter has seemingly taken the next step to becoming an indispensable destination both for people to find new music to listen … Read more

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime was more than willing to talk about his company's mobile device, the 3DS, in a recent interview. But when it came to the Wii U, he was reportedly awfully quiet.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz in an interview published Wednesday, Fils-Aime said that 3DS game sales in the U.S. have "surpass[ed] 20 million units" since the portable's launch in 2011. He was even more excited to point out that digital sales for the platform have accounted for 11 percent of all 3DS software sales.

"So far in 2013 … Read more