Facebook has acquired the group messaging service Beluga today, in an effort to create "new and better ways to communicate and share group experiences."

Says Beluga: "We're excited to continue to build our vision for mobile group messaging as part of the Facebook team."

The company has a free app available for iOS and Android and Beluga says users should utilize the app to "plan a night out or just share updates and photos."

Beluga is run by three former Google execs, one who worked on AdSense, one who worked on AdWords, Google News, and Google Docs and one who worked on Gmail, Gmail Chat, and Mail Goggles.

Says the service (via PCM):

For now, Beluga will continue to function as it does today. Your Beluga account and data will not be lost. We'll be providing more details on future plans for Beluga in the coming weeks.

The Beluga app will likely be integrated into Facebook's Places location feature.

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Twitter has suspended the parody @CeoSteveJobs account today, even though it had over 460,000 followers.

Since its launch, the parody account had made 650 Tweets.

Apple allegedly complained to Twitter about the account earlier this year, claiming that it violated rules about creating "parody" accounts.

Twitter sent the following message to the creator of the account:

Twitter firmly believes in the freedom of expression; however, impersonation that misleads, confuses, or deceives is against our Rules. If you had intended to create a parody, commentary or fan account, we need you to make it clearer in order to avoid confusion.

It is true that in Twitter's rules it clearly states that to have a parody/fan account you must have a qualifier in the username such as "Not" or "Fake."

Twitter has not confirmed whether that was the reason or not, or whether it would be willing to bring the acount back.

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Nintendo has announced today that its 3DS handheld will soon receive Netflix streaming support.

President Reggie Fils-Aime says support is coming during the summer, and the handheld launches in the U.S. on March 27th.

A streaming-only Netflix subscription costs $7.99 per month and gives access to 20,000 movies and TV shows.

Adds Fils-Aime (via USAToday):

Say you are away from home starting to watch a movie on the Nintendo 3DS. When you get home, you can go from the 3DS to streaming on the Wii to your big screen. Users will be able to start on the Wii and switch to 3DS, as well.

Finally, users will get a software update in May that will bring AT&T W-Fi hotspot access. The carrier currently has 10,000 hotspots.

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Google has confirmed today that they have pulled 50 infected apps from the Android Market, although it has not triggered automatic uninstalls yet for those that have already installed it on their devices.

"The apps were 'Trojanized,' for a better word," says Symantec's security response senior manager Tom Parsons. "With the phones being 'rooted,' the attacks can do almost anything, including pulling data off the phone."

Each of the apps were available for over 72 hours on the Market, and between 50,000 and 200,000 were downloaded by users during the time span.

All of the apps were infected with "DreamDroid," code that lets attackers take over Android smartphones, connect them to a command-and-control server and then issue orders.

Google has not yet used their ability to remotely remove malicious apps from phones, and has only used that power once, in June of last year.

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Will be updating as the event goes on...


1:02 PM: Steve Jobs has come on stage to applause.

1:05 PM: Random House adds 17,000 books to iBook store

1:06 PM: Apple has paid out $2 billion to iOS app developers.

1:06 PM: 100 million iPhones sold.

1:07 PM: "Today we're here to talk about Apple's third post-PC blockbuster" iPad made 9.5 billion in revenue, 15 million sold in 2010, 65,000 iPad-specific apps. Compares to Honeycomb which only has 100.

1:15 PM: Introducing iPad 2:

-New chip A5: CPU is 200 pct faster, with graphics 900 pct faster. Same consumption as A4

-Dual cameras

-Gyroscope

-MUCH thinner, from 13.4 mm to 8.8 mm. Thinner than iPhone 4

-Lighter from 1.5 pounds down to 1.3 lbs

-Ships in White and Black

-AT&T and Verizon support at launch

-10 hour batter life

-Same pricing

-March 11th launch in America

-Smart Covers "This isn't a case anymore. It's a cover for the screen...Magnets grasp and auto-align the case. You can put it on in a second....The micro-fiber screen cleans the screen every time you close it, and it's incredibly minimal...And it comes in polyurethane, which is used to make space suits!"

-iOS 4.3: Improved Safari performance, Javascript 2x faster, iTunes Home Sharing, updated AirPlay, PhotoBooth, FaceTime between all iOS devices..coming March 11th

-iMovie for iPad, $5

- Garage Band for iPad

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