Android

News Corp.'s the Daily will expire on Dec. 15, the company announced Monday. The tablet -only periodical was the first of its kind, a newspaper that was published for the iPad alone initially. After its first year, it branched out, expanding to the Kindle Fire and other Android devices. Rupert Murdoch launched the Daily with much fanfare in February 2011. Its executive editor, Jesse Angelo, will become publisher of the New York Post, another News Corp. property. News Corp.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google is rolling out KitKat, the latest version of its popular software for smartphones and tablets with an ambitious goal: to get Android devices all over the world to run the latest version of the software. During a news conference in San Francisco, Sundar Pichai, Google's senior vice president of Android, Chrome and apps, said Google created KitKat to reach the next billion smartphone users by making the new software work well on low-end phones in addition to the pricier Samsung Galaxy and HTC devices.

Google Maps is making it easier to use the app to bypass traffic jams on the fly and to find highly rated places. An update Wednesday for the Android version of Google Maps app adds a new discovery feature and the ability to reroute navigation directions whenever the app finds a quicker route. Google said users can now tap the app's search box to see a feature called "Explore," which they can then tap to expand. The feature will then show recommended places to shop, eat and visit.

If there was any doubt that Google is getting ready to release a new Nexus phone, the tech giant has put it to rest by prematurely revealing it on its own website. For a brief time Thursday night, the Google Play website accidentally displayed the Nexus 5 in place of its predecessor, the Nexus 4. The gaff was nothing more than a small thumbnail, but it was enough to confirm that the Nexus 5 is coming soon and what it's price will be. According to screenshots of the leak, the Nexus 5 will start at $349 for a 16-gigabyte model without contract.

Instapaper, yet another app that's been missing from Android, makes its debut, again minus some features available for iPhones and iPads. Like Instagram, Instapaper doesn't have all the bells and whistles the iOS app does. "We're working hard to add additional features to Instapaper for Android," according to a company blog post . "We believe that we've captured the core Instapaper experience but can't wait to make the app even better. " The Android app, which allows you to save Web pages for offline reading later, does include adjustable fonts, Dark Mode for reading in low light, folders, rotation lock and native Android sharing.

Facebook is trying to make mobile messaging more conversational with some changes it's been rolling out this past month, but one of those could lead to some awkward moments between you and your friends. Among the new Facebook messaging features that are on its iOS and Android apps are a new, more visible real-time typing indicator and a feature that shows you where your friends are messaging you from, a spokeswoman for the company said. The features, she added, are especially meant to improve group messages.

The latest update to the Facebook iOS and Android apps will now let you tag your friends in status posts and comments. The feature, which has long been available on the Facebook website, can be activated by typing "@" followed by the name of the friend you want to tag in your comment or status update. You can use this feature on the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad or any Android device running the latest version of the Facebook app. Quiz: The week in business Facebook has also added a "Share" button next to the "Like" and "Comment" buttons.

  The tiny, two-inch-long digital TV receiver is cheaper than all of its rivals, and although it isn't quite as capable as the Apple TV or Roku 3 just yet, Google Chromecast has the potential to make a mark. At $35, Chromecast is nearly one third the price of the $99 Apple TV and it is cheaper than any of Roku's options. It can also be controlled by a variety of devices, including smartphones and tablets running Android and iOS operating systems as well as PC and Mac computers.

Facebook has officially announced Facebook Home to make Android-powered smartphones more Facebook-centric. It's a free interface Android users can download as of April 12. "With Home you see your world through people, not apps," Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday at the Facebook Home launch. LIVE DISCUSSION: Join us as we talk about Facebook Home at 2 p.m. With Facebook Home, users see the latest content shared by their friends on the lock screen of their phones.

Vine, the popular Twitter-owned mobile video social network, is now available for Android users. Twitter released a Vine app for Android devices Monday morning, about four months after launching exclusively for Apple devices. Since launching, Vine has been a hit for Twitter, gaining more than 13 million users. Some have called it the Instagram of video. The social network consists of looping six-second videos. Users can easily create Vine videos by touching their phone's device to record.

Will Google's Android 4.4 operating system and new Nexus smartphone come out Oct. 28? Maybe, if you believe in hidden chocolate clues. Earlier this year, Google and KitKat teamed up to name the next version of Android after the chocolate snack. Since then, KitKat has made Android's robot mascot a big part of its Twitter marketing. And in the last few days the company has been sending out cryptic tweets that some are reading as possible clues. LIVE UNBOXING: Acer C720 Chromebook [Video chat]

It's the season for smartwatches. Sony on Tuesday rolled out a smartwatch while a report says Google could release its own watch soon. Smartwatches function similarly to smartphones, but are worn on users' arms like wristwatches. Earlier this month, Samsung rolled out its own smartwatch, the Galaxy Gear, for $299. REVIEW: Galaxy Gear is fun, cool but not worth buying just yet [Video] After being unveiled earlier this year, the Sony SmartWatch 2 is now available for purchase in the U.S. for $199.99.

Facebook users, rejoice: You can now edit posts after they've been published. The Menlo Park, Calif., company announced Thursday that users will be able to go back and edit their status updates after they've been published when they use Facebook on their computers or through the Android app. That means if you post a status with a typo, you will no longer have to delete the entire post and start over. Users will be able to simply edit the error. PHOTOS: Top 11 cool, hidden features in Apple's iOS 7 "To edit a post, you'll just tap the down arrow on your post and choose 'Edit post' to make changes," a Facebook spokeswoman told The Times in an email.

In one of the few interviews Tim Cook does each year, the Apple CEO said it was never the company's intention to make a low-cost iPhone and compete with others in the "junk business. " Speaking with Bloomberg Businessweek , Cook addressed complaints from investors about the cost of the iPhone 5c, a low-cost version of the popular Apple smartphone that many originally believed was aimed at customers in emerging markets such as China. The iPhone 5c is $100 cheaper than the iPhone 5s, but it's still far more expensive than other smartphones on the market.

As more pictures of the rumored Nexus 5 smartphone make their way onto the Internet, its predecessor, the Nexus 4, has sold out. And Google appears to have no plans to bring it back. Google came out with the Nexus 4 late last year, and the device has been a hit with consumers thanks to its sleek design, low price, and no contract requirement. The smartphone became even more popular last month after Google cut the price by $100. That led the device to quickly sell out of the $199 8-gigabyte model two weeks ago, and now, the $249 16 GB-version is also out of stock.

Xbox Music, Microsoft Corp.'s entry into the ever-expanding music-streaming industry, will introduce applications for Android and iOS devices and allow free streaming on the Web, the company said Sunday. Microsoft launched Xbox Music about a year ago, and it's currently available through Xbox 360 consoles, a Windows 8 app and a version that lets subscribers stream through Web browsers. A subscription to the service, which allows access to some 30 million songs, costs about $10 a month or $100 a year.

Google is changing the way it approaches the production of new Android smartphones, seeking to end fragmentation among phones running the many different versions of its OS. For its upcoming line of Nexus smartphones and tablets, Google will give early access to up to five manufacturers in order to bring some form of unity to the devices running the Android operating system. Previously, Google would work with a single manufacturer at a time, helping it produce a lead device.

Following Samsung's lead, HTC will begin selling next month a version of its flagship smartphone, the HTC One, with Google's "stock Android" operating system.  The phone will be sold starting June 26 for $599 in a version that will work with AT&T and T-Mobile networks. The stock phone caters to users who want the default version of Android and not the versions that have been modified by phone manufacturers. PHOTOS: Top smartphones of 2013 The stock versions were reserved for Google's own line of Nexus smartphones and tablets, but earlier this month, Google announced that it would begin selling the Samsung Galaxy S 4 running stock Android.

Samsung and Qualcomm both announced smartwatches, intensifying the war over wearable gadgets. Although Samsung and Qualcomm are now the two biggest players to enter the fray, a handful of small companies have already been battling it out in the emerging smartwatch market. And in the next few months, it promises to get even more crowded and intense, as the likes of Apple, Microsoft and Google look to chime in with their own wrist gear. For now, here are some of the smartwatches already on the market or coming soon.

Ever wondered who first mentioned Justin Bieber on Twitter? Now you can find out. Social analytics firm Topsy announced it has indexed every public tweet that has ever been sent out and has made the information available to the public -- a feat no one else, including Twitter, has been able to accomplish. Topsy specializes in providing social data to companies, so it had already indexed many public tweets going back to July 2010. PHOTOS: Biggest tech flops of 2013 -- so far But Wednesday's update beefs up the company's indexing service with all public tweets going back to 2006, when Twitter launched and was actually called "twtter.