SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― At five years old, Twitter is just starting to change the world.Jack Dorsey fired off the first tweets on March 21, 2006, an automated “just setting up my twttr” message which he followed with the first “human” tweet ― “inviting coworkers.”It was Dorsey who proposed the idea for Twitter while working with Biz Stone and Evan Williams at podcasting company Odeo.Since then, Twit

Developing content will be key to success of new television setsWhat’s the use of having a high-fangled 3D TV or a smart TV if there is nothing to watch? This is a question that 30-year-old bride-to-be Kim Eun-jung keeps asking herself as she shops for appliances ahead of her wedding. Her concerns seem universal, as netizens are busily asking similar questions in online communities about whether t

Facebook Inc. plans to test a Groupon-inspired service that will sell discount offers, an effort to use its 500 million-plus members to capitalize on the surging online-deal market.The service will get started in San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas, Atlanta, and Austin, Texas, the company said last week in a statement. It will be part of Facebook’s existing Deals program, which lets businesses offer

Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest carmaker, may lose output of at least 40,000 vehicles after Japan’s strongest earthquake damaged factories and crippled nuclear power plants, causing electricity shortages. Toyota closed 12 plants in the nation through Wednesday, Shiori Hashimoto, a spokeswoman for the company, said by phone Monday. The manufacturer’s profit will be cut by 6 billion yen ($72

Economists uncertain how Japan disaster will affect oil demand, though imports likely to riseNEW YORK (AP) ― The earthquake and tsunami in Japan took some steam out of the rally in oil prices by reducing the country’s oil imports. That won’t last long.Japan consumes about 4.4 million barrels of oil per day, most of it imported. Only the U.S. and China consume more. With steel plants, auto manufact

 WASHINGTON (AFP) - More Americans are getting their news from the Internet than from print newspapers for the first time as audience figures for cable news programs fall, according to a report released on Monday.The State of the News Media 2011 report by the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism said that in another first, online advertising revenue topped that of print newspapers last year.Fo

Groupon Korea on Monday punctuated its launch on the Korean market with a monthly sales target of 10 billion won ($880 million) during the first half of this year.The goal falls behind the annual 200 billion won targeted by Ticket Monster, the nation’s top social commerce operator, but Groupon brushed aside concerns, saying its initial goal would be to create a healthy social commerce environment

But experts say prolonged disaster may pose threat to Korea’s exports, financial marketsThe earthquake in Japan has caused minimal impact on South Korean firms and exports though damage will inevitably escalate should the Japanese economy take longer to recover than expected, the government said Monday. The 9.0-magnitude temblor which occurred on the northeastern coast of the island nation Friday