Technology

Facebook plans to enter into the smart phone market in the next 12-18 months with a phone that they have codenamed ‘Buffy.’ And, yes, that’s because Mark Zuckerberg and company thinks the device will be an iPhone slayer.

One of the first things most people do when they get a smartphone or iPad is buy a case to protect it from accidental drops. Cases themselves range from purely decorative to nearly hardhat-industrial — and now one iPad case manufacturer, G-Form, has put its products to the ultimate test.

According to a survey of 2,227 adults by the Pew Research Center, the average text message user sends or receives an average of 41.5 messages a day. How much someone texts is not surprisingly tied to how old they are. Those in the 18-to-29 age group send or receive an average of 87.7 texts a day, whereas that total is only 4.7 for those in the 65-and-over group.

On November 2 in Tokyo, auto maker Toyota unveiled several robotic devices designed to help paralyzed people and the elderly walk. These robots include sensors that detect the user’s posture, grasp and holding strength, and motor control technology that facilitates someone’s desired motion.

In today's McDaily Webcast rumors are flying about Taylor Swift and Tim McGraw sharing a movie.  Sales predictions are made about Scotty McCreery's debut CD, Clear As Day. And Eric Church and wife Katherine are celebrating the birth of their baby boy.

For those of you who are anxiously awaiting the release of the new Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich, you shouldn’t have to wait much longer. Some new functionality that will be offered on the devices running Ice Cream Sandwich will be Google Wallet.

In today's McDaily Webcast we found what Tim McGraw wants to do in New York. Tiger Woods has a new endorsement. And I say farewell to Steve Jobs.

Apple's co-founder and former CEO, Steve Jobs, who's been battling a rare form of pancreatic cancer for years and had a liver transplant in 2009, has passed away at the age of 56.

Apple’s highly-anticipated ‘Let’s Talk iPhone’ event on Tuesday began with newly-installed CEO Tim Cook reflecting on some of the company’s successes, as well as one new one: the new iPhone. Dubbed the iPhone 4S, the gadget keeps with the company’s tradition of introducing completely new models every other year, with upgrades in between.

Despite the whining about the launch of their “top stories” feature this week, Facebook unveiled and even bigger change at the company’s F8 developer conference in San Francisco: Timeline. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that profile pages will soon automatically put photos, videos, status updates and status changes in chronological order. The timeline will also feature a “way back” section

In a replay from an incident last year, another Apple employee lost another iPhone prototype in yet another Bay Area bar. If this keeps up, they’re going to start surgically implanting new phones into developers’ arms.

Steve Jobs is stepping down as chief executive at Apple, the company said on Wednesday. Jobs will remain at the company as chairman, but he and his iconic black turtleneck will be replaced by former Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook.