As local search evolves on the Web, some directories are turning to users to update profiles and submit reviews based on experience. Social networking is the de rigueur method for up-and-coming directory sites. Social networking is the emerging trend for building Web-based directories. Rather than direct competition with Internet yellow pages sites, smaller sites such as Judy's Book and Insider Pages expand on the flat listings typical of yellow pages with reviews and testimonials about local businesses.

Playboy magazine, losing money in the face of depressed advertising, will go digital later this year in hopes of winning new subscribers and advertisers. The first digital magazine -- which will mirror the print version -- will be available in September after months of testing the technology.

After several months of feverish speculation about a mysterious new service under development, Google unveiled its latest tool Wednesday: Google Talk, a text-chat and voice-communication program that looks nice, but has no obvious advantage over competitors. The moment you fire it up, the sparse white design and primary-color logo make it obvious that this is a Google application. When not in use, Google Talk shrinks down to a "speech bubble" icon on the Windows taskbar (for the time being, it's available for Windows only). Clicking on this opens the main pane, with a searchable list of your contacts, or "friends" …

He was the first anchor to take over a network evening newscast in the 21st century, so it was probably inevitable that Brian Williams would begin channeling his inner Gawker by getting his own daily blog.

AOL News has quietly and quickly sprinted into a leading news search engine, joining Yahoo News, Google News and Topix.net as a primary destination for online news.

Sony Corp. is adding Internet access to its Play Station Portable in a bid to increase the mobile gaming device's appeal as a handheld entertainment center, the company said on Wednesday.

Why Yahoo! will be the center of the million-channel universe.

For years, Silicon Valley hungered for a company mighty enough to best Microsoft. Now it has one such contender: the phenomenally successful Google. But instead of embracing Google as one of their own, many in Silicon Valley are skittish about its size and power. They fret that the very strengths that made Google a search-engine phenomenon are distancing it from the entrepreneurial culture that produced it - and even transforming it into a threat.

Yahoo's recently released audio search engine is an impressive tool for both searcher and music/audio junkies, but this first beta release has rough edges and there is still room for improvement.

Google Inc. is set to introduce its own instant messaging system, the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday, marking the expansion by the Web search leader into text and also voice communications. Citing unnamed sources "familiar with the service," the Los Angeles Times said that Google's Instant Messaging program would be called Google Talk and could be launched as early as Wednesday.