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Features

• ​‘App-etite’ bigger than your phone? Top phone-draining apps revealed

  “Apps are meant to enhance, not to detract from your smartphone experience, but with so many options, we are in danger of overloading our devices."

• Clear as mud: Microsoft struggles to define 'free' for Windows 10

  Microsoft's Keystone Kops-like revelation that Windows 10 testers would get a free copy of the OS -- yes, no, then yes, probably, but with strings -- may be confusing compared to Apple's approach to OS X, but reflects the much more complicated ecosystem the Redmond, Wash. company maintains.

• Windows Phone: The best platform you should never use

  It is with mixed emotions that I tell you that my experiment of using naught but the HTC One (M8) with Windows for a week is officially over. And I have to say: I'm relieved.

• The future of emoticons will embrace everyone

  Katrina Parrott never anticipated that her daughter's incessant texting would lead to a new career in app development.

• Bad bots on the rise: A look at mobile, social, porn, and spam bots.

  From 2012 to 2013, Incapsula, a website security firm focusing on CDN solutions as load balancing, found that bot traffic went from consisting of 51 percent to 61.5 percent of all Internet traffic, a 10.5-percent increase. Thirty-one percent of those bots are malicious, according to data from the report.

• Twitter's slipping user growth spooks investors

  Twitter Wednesday reported that fourth quarter sales more than doubled over the past year, but the company nevertheless spooked investors by acknowledging a slowdown in new user growth and in user engagement.

• Security showdown 2014: And the winner is ...

  Free programs will take you only so far in protecting against viruses, malware, ransomware, especially now that phones and tablets are as commonly targeted as PCs. Many suites promise to protect you, but only a few offer comprehensive security with minimal hassle.

• Top tech stories of 2013: Big Brother, wearables, and the struggles of aging tech giants

  Politics collided with the world of technology this year as stories about U.S. government spying stirred angst both among the country's citizens and foreign governments, and the flawed HeathCare.gov site got American health-care reform off to a rocky start. Meanwhile, the post-PC era put aging tech giants under pressure to reinvent themselves. Here in no particular order are IDG News Service's picks for the top 10 tech stories of the year.

• Why smartphone food photos look horrible

  Martha Stewart wants to show you horrible pictures of nauseating-looking food for some reason. Mike Elgan finds this personally vexing.

• Here comes the age of ambient everything

  Trends in social, search, mobile, wearable and the Internet of things will alter our perception of reality. Change is in the air, says columnist Mike Elgan.

• Wall Street Beat: Does Twitter IPO signal a tech bubble?

  Despite the frothy headlines stirred by Twitter's initial public offering, tech is not in a bubble of the sort that arose before the 2000 dot-com crash.

• 10 tidbits from Twitter's IPO filing

  Twitter made its IPO documents public Thursday and in the process revealed some juicy information about the company, like how much money it makes (or loses) and how much its executives get paid. Here are a few of the details we learned about Twitter today.

• Facebook goes after Twitter and its lock on 'immediacy'

  In a new push to compete with Twitter and its lock on immediacy, Facebook took the wraps off two new APIs that enable news organizations to tap into user comments and display them online or on TV in real time.

• Twitter etiquette: The do's and don'ts of tweeting

  While most Twitter users don't find themselves in court because of their errant or unwise tweets, they could offend a boss, tarnish their name or brand, or even put off a potential employer.

• Eight must-have Facebook and Twitter add-ons

  By no means are Twitter and Facebook perfect: You might wish that Facebook made it more intuitive to hide FarmVille or certain status updates. Or, maybe you wish that Twitter would introduce a new feature like nested tweets. Good news: For many of these website tweaks or suggestions, there's likely to be a script you can download to fit the bill.