TechBiz

By Richard Saintvilus

After search giant Google (GOOG) encroached on Apple's (AAPL) territory with the creation of Android, the late Steve Jobs was quoted as saying he intended to go "thermonuclear" in efforts to retaliate.

It goes without saying that there is no love lost between the two companies as seen by their constant battle for technology supremacy. In fact, I would venture to say that whether they have realized it or not, both firms have performed exceptionally -- solely from their mutual hatred.

By Dana Blankenhorn

The biggest "tell" in what was otherwise a pretty boring Apple WorldWide Developers Conference Monday came during the iOS6 portion of the presentation, when Apple (AAPL) announced full integration with Facebook (FB).

Unlike most of what happened at the event, this went beyond what was rumored. A system for letting developers integrate their own apps with Facebook is also coming out, and it's now accessible directly from inside the App Store.

By Dana Blankenhorn

Say one word, Apple (AAPL), and 10,000 people will click to see what follows. Guaranteed. It's so certain that at least one site, Seeking Alpha, restricts how many times writers can use the word each month, lest they get lazy.

The reason? No man has made more money for small investors, ever, than Steve Jobs. If you bought shares of what was then Apple Computer, on Feb. 20, 1998, at $5 each, you now have shares worth more than $580 each.

This week, the king of search announced sweeping new changes to its ubiquitous mapping software, Google Maps. Among the new features: A three-dimensional version of Google Earth, allowing users to move around, rotate, and interact with computer-generated 3D images of a fully realized cityscape. Google's Peter Birth promises "magic": The new-and-improved Google Maps "creates the illusion you're flying over the city," he says.

Here, four talking points.

By Rocco Pendola

I'm on record as a Facebook (FB) bull. At this point, I still own only my token lot of three shares, but the time will come to buy more.

Even though I see FB becoming one of the market's next $100 stocks, I am more excited by the near certainty that Twitter will go public at some point. Everything Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook have done well, Dick Costolo and Twitter have done better.