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The world's largest video sharing website has added the new feature to its system.

YouTube will now allow users to blur human faces automatically in videos they upload, in an effort to help protect the identities of those who would not want to identified, like political dissidents or children.

"Whether you want to share sensitive protest footage without exposing the faces of the activists involved, or share the winning point in your 8-year-old's basketball game without broadcasting the children's faces to the world, our face blurring technology is a first step towards providing visual anonymity for video on YouTube," YouTube said in a blog post.

Already uploaded videos can be updated with the blur, and originals can be deleted.

"YouTube is proud to be a destination where people worldwide come to share their stories, including activists," YouTube added.

According to a new report from research firm Capstone Investments, Facebook usership has fallen again, at least in the U.S.

The same may be accurate for other major markets, as well, but growth in Asian nations has helped Facebook keep up strong overall growth numbers.

In the U.S., Facebook's user base dropped 0.7 percent over the past three months, after a 1 percent drop in the three months before that.

The investment firm used proprietary software for the report, analyzing user growth in over 200 countries.

In the U.S., Facebook has more than 50 percent market penetration, just like the company has in 23 other countries. In all but 9 of those nations, the user base fell, showing a trend.

"Facebook penetration estimates indicate that growth starts to flatten or decline once a market exceeds 50% population penetration," reads the report. "We believe this could be an issue for future Facebook growth since we estimate that outside of Southeast Asia and some countries in Latin America, most markets are approaching 50% penetration."

Although it seemed like the Walkman brand name had finally been put to sleep permanently, Sony has brought it back.

The Sony F800 Walkman will be the first Sony media player to ship with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Sony's latest has a 3.5-inch touchscreen and runs on a dual-core Nvidia processor. The device will be available in 16GB or 32GB flavors.

F800 buyers will have access to a number of pre-installed apps, including Sony-built media gallery and email apps. Users will have access to the Google Play Store, as well.

Furthermore, the device has built-in Bluetooth, S-Master MX Digital Amplifier and the five Clear Audio technologies.

The 16GB F800 will sell for an expensive $269.99 and the 32GB for $299.99.

A Taiwanese teenager collapsed and died at an Internet cafe after playing Diablo III for 40 straight hours.

18 year-old Chuang had booked a private room at noon on July 13th, and collapsed on the morning of the 15th, after having not eaten during the entire time he was playing.

Before collapsing, an attendant found Chaung napping on his table. After she woke him, he got up, stood briefly and then fainted.

Chaung passed away after reaching the hospital.

While the cause of death is still unknown, the prolonged hours in a sedentary position, combined with no food, almost certainly led to cardiovascular problems.

Earlier this year, another young adult died in a similar fashion after playing 23 hours straight.

The judge presiding over the Kim Dotcom case in New Zealand has stepped down following comments he made about the U.S.

Judge David Harvey made the comment, in which he called the U.S. "the enemy" during an internet conference about copyright. Harvey is an internet law expert, and was specifically chosen for the case.

Says district court chief judge Jan-Marie Doogue: "He recognises that remarks made in the context of a paper he delivered on copyright law at a recent internet conference could reflect on his impartiality and that the appropriate response is for him to step down from the case."

Harvey's full comment, a reference to Walt Kelly, was this: "We have met the enemy and he is [the] U.S."

The case, which will begin next March, will now be heard of Judge Nevin Dawson.

Dotcom, the founder of Megaupload, was arrested earlier this year and charged with copyright infringement as the U.S. and other nations teamed up to take down the world's most popular cyberlocker.

Microsoft has confirmed the exact release date for Windows 8.

The upcoming operating system will be available October 26th, making clear the time frame that was formerly just "late October."

Microsoft called "Metro," the key new feature of Windows 8, the most important interface redesign in over a decade.

Metro is built for touchscreen devices, and Microsoft is releasing its standard desktop OS along with two tablet version, Windows RT for ARM devices and Windows 8 Pro for Intel/AMD.

The company revealed its own tablet, the Surface, last month, to much acclaim.

After months of speculation and rumor, Google unveiled its Nexus 7 tablet last month at their annual I/O event.

Rightfully so, the tablet has received serious notice, as it will be the first true Android experience tablet, one not marred by any third-party UI or OEM-branded apps.

Additionally, the tablet comes with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the first device to receive it, and it certainly shows in the performance.

Read on for the rest of our review on this excellent new entry to the tablet market.

Multiple reports have posted new features coming to Windows Phone 8.

Codenamed Apollo, the upcoming major update for the Windows Phone series is expected to be the biggest upgrade yet to the fledgling mobile OS.

The first feature, which was practically asked for by all current users of Windows Phone 7, is support for microSD cards and the mass storage protocol. Most find mass storage easier than the "media transfer" protocol, and I'd have to agree it's just much easier and user friendly.

Secondly, WP8 will add the ability to take screenshots, a smaller, less important feature, but a great addition nonetheless. iOS always had the ability and Android has had for some time now. You had the ability to do so with Windows Phone before now, but only if you have a developer kit.

With the update, pressing the Windows Key and the camera key at the same time will allow you to take easy screenshots.

Large games publisher Electronic Arts (EA) has admitted today that hardcore gamers still have major issues with the Origin download platform.

In response, the company says it is making Origin the 'best download site' it can be, looking to turn skeptics into fans.

Additionally, EA is offering a new promotion where Kickstarter-funded games can get listed on Origin for free.

Adds Origin boss David DeMartini (via MCV): "The hardcore sometimes has issues with Origin, but they seem to love these crowd-funded games. It was one of the few things we have done that wasn't controversial and nobody had anything negative to say."

DeMartini concludes:

"People forget that when Steam launched, there was a lot of backlash from the core. Origin represents a change, and anytime EA does something that is significant in the industry, it generates a certain amount of reaction.

Really it's just to give customers an opportunity for choice."

According to multiple reports, Samsung and LG employees have been charged with stealing OLED technology and info.

Former researchers at Samsung and executives at LG have been indicted, accused of leaking information related to the production of larger OLED displays. Allegedly, the Samsung researchers leaked the info in an effort to get jobs at LG.

OLED is still in its infancy for larger displays but is used in many smartphones, smart watches, tablets and other small form factor devices. OLED displays emit light rather than using a backlight, allowing for much richer colors, increased brightness and incredibly thin forms.

Companies like Samsung and LG have shown off the first large commercial OLED TVs this year, but with price tags upwards of $10,000, they certainly have not yet reached the mainstream.

AT&T has announced it will be sponsor DefCon Kids, a competition for kids to find the most zero-day bugs in mobile apps.

The carrier has teamed up with 11-year old hacker "CyFi," who reported a number of mobile vulnerabilities to the carrier last year.

One such vulnerability, explains DR, was a "'time-travel' flaw in her mobile gaming app that let her move time ahead on the device so she could further progress in the game. That meant she didn't have to wait for things to happen in the game, for example. These bugs affect any app on any mobile tablet and smartphone operating system platform."

Many popular apps have this flaw and the app developers have not yet fixed it, despite having a year to do so.

Whoever discovers the most bugs during the competition will get a new iPad and $1,000.

The event will be held alongside the adult DefCon from July 27 to 29 and also includes sponsoring from the National Security Agency (NSA), the Defense Department, AllClear ID, HacKid, Max Kelly, and the EFF.

The European Commission, EU's executive body, has announced this week that it has begun an investigation into Microsoft's tactics in regards to browser selection.

Back in 2009, Microsoft made antitrust commitments to the EC, including an obligation to add a "browser choice screen" to its Windows operating systems. By having the screen, users could select which browser they wanted right at first boot and not have to use Microsoft's own Internet Explorer.

Microsoft admitted it "fell short" on its commitments due to a tech erro, and the EC says the company may face "severe" fines: "Due to a technical error, we missed delivering the BCS software to PCs that came with the service pack 1 update to Windows 7."

Windows 7 without SP1, Windows XP and Windows Vista PCs did have the screen, however.

EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia says the screen has not been provided since February 2011, leaving 28 million consumers without options.

The Australian government has released a new paper that details a potential (and scary) new legislation.

According to ZeroPaid, the legislation would give Australian authorities the ability hack your PC for information, among other features.

Additionally:

B. Government is considering the following proposals:
Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979
8. Streamlining and reducing complexity in the lawful access to communications regime – this would include:
a. Creating a single warrant with multiple TI powers
9. Modernising the Industry assistance framework –
a. Implement detailed requirements for industry interception obligations
b. extend the regulatory regime to ancillary service providers not currently covered by the legislation
c. implement a three‐tiered industry participation model Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979
10. Amending the ASIO Act to create an authorised intelligence operations scheme. This will provide ASIO officers and human sources with protection from criminal and civil liability for certain conduct in the course of authorised intelligence operations.
11. Amending the ASIO Act to modernise and streamline ASIO's warrant provisions to:
a. Establish a named person warrant enabling ASIO to request a single warrant specifying multiple (existing) powers against a single target instead of requesting multiple warrants against a single target.
b. Align surveillance device provisions with the Surveillance Devices Act 2007
c. Enable the disruption of a target computer for the purposes of a computer access warrant
d. Enable person searches to be undertaken independently of a premises search
e. Establish classes of persons able to execute warrants.

Yahoo has named Marissa Mayer their new CEO, snatching away one of Google's top executives.

Mayer will be the fifth CEO for the company in as many years, succeeding the interim chief Ross Levinsohn. Levinsohn took over for Scott Thompson this year, who was fired over resume inaccuracies after a high-profile hiring following the firing of Carol Bartz.

During her time at Google, Mayer became a well-known personality, and will now be one of the most powerful women in Silicon Valley. Mayer was part of the team that designed the "look and feel" of Google search, Gmail and Google News.

"I am honored and delighted to lead Yahoo, one of the Internet's premier destinations for more than 700 million users," added the new CEO in a statement.

Mayer spent thirteen years at Google, most recently overseeing 1000 product managers for the company's location and local services, including Google Maps.

The French government is considering an Internet tax on international companies that sell online but pay much less taxes than companies with brick-and-mortar stores in the nation.

Major companies like Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon are being targeted, as the companies combine to bring in sales of five billion euros in France.

The report quoted Yves Le Mouel, head of the French Telecommunications Federation (FFT).

If accurate, the report claims that the government will launch a new study and consider new levies on Internet-based companies.

"Our fiscal system has trouble integrating new transaction forms generated by the digital economy. The result is a loss of income for public finances and a competitive disadvantage for French companies with respect to international groups which have organized themselves to evade or diminish their taxes," reads the news (via EET).