Social-networking giant on Thursday announced its latest acquisition - Parse, a provider of cloud-based mobile services and development tools.

Facebook said the acquisition would enable it to provide developers with back-end infrastructure to rapidly create apps spanning mobile platforms and devices.

Douglas Purdy, director of product management at Facebook, said, "By making Parse a part of Facebook Platform, we want to enable developers to rapidly build apps that span mobile platforms and devices."

Digital Storm has claimed that its newly launched PC gaming system, the Vanquish, has put an end to claims that the DIY (do-it-yourself) route is better than pre-built systems.

The company claimed that the Vanquish line of gaming PCs has considerably narrowed the gap between costs of pre-built systems and the systems created through the DIY route.

Ina statement, Digital Storm said, "The Vanquish line narrows that gap to a mere $23-$58 difference making the difference a no brainer -- DIY is simply not worth the hassle."

Finnish handset maker Nokia on Wednesday introduced the world to its the Asha 210, Windows Phone handset that boasts QWERTY keyboard equipped with a dedicated hard key for SMS rival WhatsApp.

The Asha 210 comes preloaded with WhatsApp, and the dedicated key in the QWERTY keyboard of the handset provides users with direct access to the free messaging service.

WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton said they were focused on delivering the best free messaging experience to the maximum possible number of people.

Verizon on Tuesday announced that it would offer Android-based Pantech Perception starting Thursday, 25th of April.

The Pantech Perception is an entry-level, pocket-friendly, handset that features a 4.8-inch HD (720p) super AMOLED screen, 16GB of internal storage, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera plus a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.

In addition, the new handset boasts 3D gesture sensing technology onboard and 4G LTE connectivity.

BeagleBoard. org, open-source board manufacturer, on Tuesday introduced the world to its bare-bones PC BeagleBoard Black that starts at just $45.

The Beagleboard Black, which is a follow-up to the original BeagleBone, is the size of a credit card, and runs Canonical's Ubuntu and Fedora, in addition to Android.

The tiny computer is powered by a 1GHz AM335x Cortex-A8 processor, two PRU 32-bit RISC CPUs, PowerVR SGX graphics, 2GB of onboard storage, 256MB of DDR2 memory plus an ARM Cortex-M3 for power management.

Rumors are flying that Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple Inc may fire its CEO Tim Cook and fill the vacant position with a more dynamic leader.

The latest rumblings came from Wall Street reports that the iPhone-maker may be looking to shake-up its top management.

On Sunday, columnist Gene Marcial claimed that sources told him that a move like replacing Tim Cook was afoot, but then he conceded that there was no available evidence that the tech giant's board was officially in such a game-changing mode.

Google Now, which is generally regarded as an alternative to Apple's popular personal assistant Siri, may be rolled out wider-than-previously expected platforms.

The Siri rival was originally launched last year as part of the company's Jelly Bean version of Android operating system, and it is widely expected to become available on Chrome as well as iOS sometime this year.

But, the search engine giant recently dropped several hints of the feature's upcoming availability on a wider scale.

Videogame Heavy Rain generated much more than what it cost to develop, Quantic Dream Chief Executive Guillaume de Fondaumiere said.

According to Fondaumiere, Heavy Rain cost 16.7 million euros (nearly $21 million) to develop but it generated more than 100 million euros in return for Sony.

Speaking at a recent conference in Poland, he added that Heavy Rained reinforced Quantic Dream's belief that new ideas could be financially successful.

DUI and driver's license enforcement on Saturday night led to four arrests, and numerous citations and vehicle impounds, the Napa Police Department confirmed.

During the enforcement, which took place from 6 p. m. to midnight, a total of 1,717 vehicles passed through. Officers assessed 23 drivers for drunk-driving. Four drivers were arrested on suspicion of DUI (driving under the influence of alcohol).

Officers also impounded four vehicles for a month as their drivers were driving with a suspended license.

Overall game sales slipped nearly 10 per cent year-on-year in March, as per stats released by research firm NPD Group.

Gamers spent nearly $993 on gaming hardware, software and accessories during last month, as compared with $1.1 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. Taking used, rental as well as digital sales into account, the industry raked in an estimated $1.9 billion during last month.

Japan-based Nissan Motor Co. on Friday confirmed that would recall 19,258 sports utility vehicles (SUVs) from model years 2012 and 2013 in the United States to fix a potential glitch in the vehicle's brake system.

The recall includes the 2013 Pathfinder and the Infiniti JX vehicles manufactured between December 2012 and January 2013 in Smyrna, Tenn.

The front brake torque member in the concerned vehicles improperly cast, which may cause structural weakness and lead to untimely failure & cracking. It may increase the risk of a crash.

Auto giant Honda has confirmed that it is recalling more than 200,000 minivans and sports utility vehicles in the United States to fix an issue with the vehicles' automatic shifter system.

The automaker recall statement says that the shifter system which stops drivers from shifting out of park without keeping a foot on the brake mayn't be working properly, adding that the problem occurs mostly in below-freezing temperatures.

Blogger users will now be able to view their blog as well as Google+ comments in one place, thanks to the latest update made by Google.

The update has integrated Google+ comments into Blogger blogs, which, according to the Internet search giant, will be greatly benefits for bloggers.

While the new feature will enable blogger users to view their blog and Google+ comments in one place, readers will be able to comment and join their Google+ circles.

Provo, Utah, is going to be the third city to receive Google's ultra-fast fiber-optic Internet service.

Google has announced that it would take over Provo's troubled fiber-optic system and provide residents with basic Internet service for free. The free service provides speeds of 5 megabits per second.

However, the Internet search giant will charge Provo customers a one-time $30 activation fee. Residents will also be able to opt for paid service that runs 200 times faster. The company will also provide cable and satellite TV services.

Advertisers will now be able to reach Twitter audience users at the right moment and in the right context, thanks to a new feature that the micro-blogging site is calling "keyword targeting in timelines."

The new feature provides the ad companies with the option to place Promoted Tweets in users' timelines by targeting certain keywords/phrases of their choice.

While previously ad companies were just targeting Twitter users based on their general interests, the new feature allows them to show ads in which users are interested right now.