Google unleashes Facebook rival

Online search giant Google has unveiled a social networking Web site in its latest attempt to take on Facebook, which now claims more than 500 million users, reports the BBC.

Google+ allows individuals to share photos, messages and comments, but also integrates the company's maps and images into the service.

It also aims to help users easily organise contacts within groups. But some analysts say Google has simply reproduced features of Facebook, while adding a video chat function.

Hacking group Anonymous yesterday claimed it is affiliated with the short-lived LulzSec movement, as it leaked sensitive documents, including details about Zimbabwean government officials, reveals V3.co.uk.

LulzSec had claimed it would disband after a 50-day hacking campaign, but that appears to be void as Anonymous has taken to Twitter to announce that the groups have merged.

“We'd like to clarify again: All LulzSec members are accounted for, nobody is hiding. Only the name was abandoned for the greater glory #AntiSec,” Anonymous tweeted.

News Corp aims to sell struggling social network site MySpace this week after three years of massive losses, according to a person familiar with the matter, writes the Associated Press.

The move will likely result in the layoff of more than half of the site's remaining 500 workers. It's a jarring goodbye for a once-hot Internet property, which News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch predicted four years ago would eventually make $1 billion in annual revenue.

MySpace never reached that goal. This year, it is expected to make less than a fifth of that as ad sales plummet, according to research firm eMarketer.

The US Supreme Court has overturned a Californian law banning the sale or rental of violent video games to those aged under 18, reports the BBC.

The court voted seven to two to uphold an appeals court ruling that declared the law contrary to free speech rights enshrined in the US Constitution.

Video game publishers challenged the 2005 measure, which never took effect because of legal proceedings. Supporters argued the law was needed as violent games could harm children.