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Portrait studios at Sears and some Wal-Mart stores - the scenes of innumerable family photos - have unexpectedly closed as their operator, CPI Corp., goes out of business. The portrait provider said in a statement on its website that all of its U.S. locations have shut down “after many years of providing family portrait photography.” The St. Louis company has been making photo keepsakes for more than 60 years and offered its services at more than 3,000 North American locations, mostly in Sears and Wal-Mart stores.

Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence is sporting a new hair do. 'The Hunger Games' and "Silver Linings Playbook' star attended the GLAAD media awards with a shorter hairstyle. Her blond hair is now at shoulder-length with choppy layers and side-swept bangs. [ US Weekly ] Ever wondered what designer John Galliano would be like as a mentor or teacher? Here's your chance to find out. The designer will teach a class at Parsons the New School for Design called Show Me Emotion. Galliano will lead the three-day workshop class with Parsons dean of fashion Simon Collins.

You can do a lot with smartphones these days, but unless you're downloading the best apps for your device, you aren't really using it to its full potential. So if you aren't sure what to download, just make sure you have these 10 apps on your iPhone or Android device. Google Maps This app comes preinstalled on Android devices and should be the first app downloaded on iPhones. Besides top-notch design, the app is the best free voice navigation app for driving directions.

Justin Bieber made the hearts of Beliebers worldwide pitter-patter on overdrive when he posted a racy cartoon picture of himself, shirtless, embracing a topless brown-haired girl in bed. The girl was labeled a "Belieber. " Talk about throwing red meat to the masses. Sigh. The "Baby" singer has been scrutinized since the weekend he visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and left a 20-word note in the museum's guest book. He said Frank, who died of typhus while imprisoned at a Nazi concentration camp, was a "great girl.

SAN FRANCISCO - For teens, it has been an essential rite of passage: They turn 13 and join Facebook. Since she signed up three years ago, friend requests and status updates are as much a part of Meera Kumar's life as homework and exams at Menlo School, the elite private school in leafy Atherton, Calif., where she's a 16-year-old sophomore. But when her kid sister Anika turned 13 last year, she gave Facebook a pass. "I guess I haven't been that interested in it," said Anika, who prefers sharing photos with friends on Instagram via her iPhone or video chatting with them onGoogle+.

Superstorms that slammed the East Coast prompted many Southern Californians to take a hard look at their own emergency preparedness plans, including how to keep cellphones charged when the power goes out. With a flurry of battery-boosting devices landing on the market, I tested eight of the latest and most novel designs on a recent ski trip to Colorado, reasoning that besides a storm, earthquake or blackout, the last place you'd want to be stranded with...

A survey released this week found that there were more teens and young adults who said they use Tumblr on a regular basis than those who said they use Facebook. Fifty-nine percent of respondents between the ages of 13 and 25 said they use Tumblr regularly; 54% said they use Facebook on a regular basis. Among those 13 to 18, the percentage who said they use Tumblr regularly was even higher -- 61% compared with 55% who said they use Facebook regularly. The survey was conducted by Y Combinator start-up Survata.

Earlier this month, Vanessa Bryant announced on Instagram that she and Kobe Bryant were officially back together, saying their "divorce action will be dismissed. " The Bryants' relationship may be all good now , but the couple is still irked by a rap line that was released during their estrangement. After Vanessa filed for divorce in 2011, rapper Drake said in the song "Stay Schemin' " that Vanessa didn't deserve a large sum of Bryant's fortune because "...you wasn't with me shootin' in the gym. " That line became an instant hit and has often been repeated by Bryant's fans.

Sure, it was Mariah Carey's birthday this week - strike that, her "anniversary" - but she was the one doling out a present to fans: a shot of herself without makeup and looking lovely. " Love to all the lambily!!! #WWLD," she wrote on Instagram just hours before it was her birthday on the West Coast, captioning the shot of herself with a fluffy stuffed lamb in honor of "Worldwide Lamb Day. " Mariah's fans, dahhhhling, make up the "lambily," of course, and Worldwide Lamb Day suspiciously resembles the diva's birthday.

SAN FRANCISCO — How does a 28-year-old make $400 million in 18 months? With the right idea at the right time in mobile apps for smartphones. Kevin Systrom won the start-up sweepstakes this week when Facebook Inc. said it would pay $1 billion in cash and stock for his photo-sharing app maker, which has a loyal following of 30 million users but never made a dime. Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg called Systrom to personally negotiate the deal for the social media giant, which is expected to fetch a valuation of $100 billion as soon as next month when it begins selling shares to the public.

Kevin Durant won't be winning his fourth straight NBA scoring title this season. His reaction? "Oh well!!" the Oklahoma City star said in an Instagram message Wednesday morning announcing he would not take part in the Thunder's season finale against Milwaukee. Apparently Durant has more important things on his mind than trying to catch New York's Carmelo Anthony in the scoring chase ... such as resting up and staying healthy to lead the top-seeded team in the Western Conference into the playoffs.

In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon explosions, people turned to social media to express their outrage, console one another and share images of the tragedy. The calming words of one Presbyterian minister could be heard above the din: that of Fred Rogers, the late host of the long-running PBS children's television show "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. " "When I was a boy I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'" PHOTOS: Bombings splashed across nation's front pages Comedian Patton Oswalt shared Mr. Rogers' words with his 1.2 million Twitter followers.

Officials are looking into an electronic sign near USC apparently hacked to display inappropriate messages about the Los Angeles Police Department, a university official said Thursday. Various pictures of the sign surfaced on Instagram and Twitter on Thursday morning, showing the crude message, which included references to the Police Department, a posterior and "probing. " John Thomas, chief of USC's Department of Public Safety, confirmed the sign had been hacked but noted it was not on campus.

An electronic sign near USC whose display was changed to flash inappropriate messages about the  Los Angeles Police Department  was unlocked and the message altered using a control panel, the USC police chief said Thursday. Various pictures of the sign surfaced on Instagram and Twitter on Thursday morning, showing the crude message, which included references to the Police Department, a posterior and "probing. " John Thomas, chief of USC's Department of Public Safety, said the department considered it a "prank" and won't be wasting resources looking for the culprits.

Nate Berkus is engaged to Jeremiah Brent, his boyfriend of nearly nine months. The 41-year-old interior designer, TV personality and Oprah protege popped the question Monday at Machu Picchu in Peru, completely surprising Brent because the two were actually on a business trip, his rep confirmed to Us Weekly . "Machu Picchu @nate_berkus @susankfeldman @allmoxie #lifechanging #specialday," Brent tweeted on Monday with an Instagram picture ...

If you think you've seen a lot of teens with iPhones lately, that's because the popular Apple device may be owned by nearly half of all U.S. teens, according to a new survey. Investment bank research firm PiperJaffray on Tuesday released its Taking Stock With Teens survey in which 48% of the teen respondents said they owned an iPhone. That's up from last fall's 40%. The report said the increase was driven by sales of iPhone 5, which hit stores last September. Apple's smartphone was also the most preferred.

Facebook is hoping to pique the interest of young people with a new iPhone messaging app that lets them “poke” their friends. The giant social network on Friday rolled out Poke, which sends texts, photos and videos to friends that self-destruct within 10 seconds. The messaging app is a direct competitor to Snapchat, which has skyrocketed in popularity among teens who want to send private messages that pop up and, once read, disappear. (Old timers on Facebook will remember that old-school poking - as in saying hello -- was once all the rage among the desktop crowd.)

Remember what Justin Bieber looked like flailing away last week as he tried to fight a bothersome paparazzo in London? Imagine that done in words on Instagram, and you have what the Biebs did Thursday morning. The pop star - who recently had a bumpy, headline-fueling trip to London - posted what started as a rant protesting the "countless lies in the press right now" and defending himself specifically against claims that he's headed to rehab and that his grandparents were disappointed with him. And then he said a bunch of nice stuff about himself.  "My family is beyond proud and nothing's been said by them," he wrote.

Portrait studios at Sears and some Wal-Mart stores - the scenes of innumerable family photos - have unexpectedly closed as their operator, CPI Corp., goes out of business. The portrait provider said in a statement on its website that all of its U.S. locations have shut down “after many years of providing family portrait photography.” The St. Louis company has been making photo keepsakes for more than 60 years and offered its services at more than 3,000 North American locations, mostly in Sears and Wal-Mart stores.

SAN FRANCISCO - Get ready for the Facebook phone. The company is close to unveiling a smartphone whose software keeps the social network front and center. It is part of an overall strategy to advance Facebook's ambitions to dominate mobile devices the way it has desktop computers. Facebook Inc. has scheduled a news conference Thursday at its Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters to show off an HTC smartphone that operates on software called Facebook Home. The social network's News Feed, messaging, photo uploading and other features will be integrated into the phone, according to reports.