Google creates new parent company called Alphabet

Google is restructuring itself under a new umbrella company called Alphabet, with CEO Larry Page and co-founder Sergey Brin as leaders overseeing a group of companies.

The largest of those companies will be a “slimmed-down” version of the old Google. Sundar Pichai, a beloved and trusted lieutenant to Page, will serve as Google’s new CEO.

The announcement came with news that Google is rebranding itself as Alphabet a “collection of companies,” the largest of which is Google. Page will be CEO of Alphabet and Google cofounder Sergey Brin will be its president.

Man jailed for 30 years in Thailand for insulting the monarchy on Facebook

A 48-year-old Pongsak Sriboonpeng, had been sentenced to  30 years in prison for insulting Thai monarchy on Facebook.

On Friday Bangkok’s military court found Pongsak Sriboonpeng, 48, guilty of posting messages and pictures defaming the monarchy in six posts on the social media site.

He was sentenced to 10 years on each count with the 60-year jail term halved after he pleaded guilty, his lawyer, Sasinan Thamnithinan, said.

Cristiano Ronaldo teams with Monster for his own line of headphones

Cristiano Ronaldo is a pretty decent footballer. He also has a knack for pitching products. This time around, he teamed up with Monster through his own company, ROC Live Life Loud, for line of co-branded headphones. “Everything in my life is about performance and quality,” said soccer superstar. “We launched ROC Live Life Loud to give my fans around the world direct access to high design and the best sound quality on the market.” The collection features the wireless on-ear ROC Sport Freedom ($250), wireless in-ear ROC Sport SuperSlim ($170) and the wired over-ear ROC Sport Black Platinum ($300). All three models carry glossy black and gold aesthetics and plenty of Monster and ROC branding.

• Engadget

Dr. Dre announces first new album in 16 years

Dr. Dre announced Saturday that he will be releasing his first album since 1999’s “2001.” “Compton: A Soundtrack” will be released on iTunes and Apple Music on Friday.

The new album will include collaborations with artists including Kendrick Lamar, Jill Scott, Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube.

India defy Supreme Court decision, blocks 857 pornography websites

The Indian government this weekend ordered Internet service providers to block access to 857 pornography websites that had been singled out by an anti-pornography activist.

The government acted just weeks after India’s Supreme Court declined a request to block access to online pornography.

Snoop Dogg cash seized at Italy airport

After stopping him on Saturday as he prepared to board a private plane, Italian police seized half of the $422,000 under money laundering laws.

The money is likely to be returned, with a fine deducted, the Italian financial police say.

Andrea Parisi, a lawyer representing the artist, told Reuters: “We clarified everything from a legal point of view. The money came from concerts he had performed around Europe. There was no crime; it was just an administrative infraction.”

Amazon launches music streaming service in the UK

Amazon has entered the UK streaming market with the launch of Prime Music, a new service available to Amazon Prime customers as part of their annual £79 subscription.

Prime Music will provide access to more than one million songs and about 500 specially created playlists.

Amazon’s answer to Spotify, Deezer and Google Play follows the launch of Apple Music and Jay-Z’s Tidal this year.

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Researchers boost solar energy by tapping infrared light

Researchers from UC Riverside have now figured out how to “upconvert” infrared energy into much more useful visible light, a process that could make solar panels up to 30 percent more efficient. To do it, the team combined semiconductors with organic molecules, resulting in a material that essentially helped them “reshape the solar spectrum,” according to lead researcher Christopher Bardeen.

Honda Announces Andriod Auto and CarPlay Support

At its new R&D Center in Mountain View, California, Honda announced that it is adding Apple CarPlay and Andriod Auto to its upcoming vehicles. The first model that will support both car entertainment systems will be the 2016 Honda Accord, which the automaker unveiled at the event.

Microsoft reports a $2.1 billion loss in forth quater

Microsoft’s earnings for the fourth quarter are in, and they show an operating loss of $2.1 billion, despite $22.2 billion in revenue (compared to $23.3 billion last year). A lot of that is due to the previously announced write-down for Nokia (and 7,800 job cuts) that caused an $7.5 billion hit.