MANILA, Philippines — The world's leading online video-sharing site has undergone some serious re-imagining.

YouTube now incorporates various design elements that make it look like a social networking site. It now includes a news feed, prominently displayed at the center of the home page, and featuring videos uploaded by the user's friends to Google's networking project, Google+.

It has retained the Facebook button, however, allowing YouTube users to share videos with their friends on the rival and market-dominant social networking platform.

No need to worry. All those inane videos are still there.

Eat Chrome's Dust

Data from Internet traffic-counting firm StatCounter show that in November Google's Chrome took the number 2 spot in the Web browser wars. Chrome had a 25.7 percent share, about a half percentage point higher than the 25.2 percent posted by Mozilla's Firefox.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer remains numero uno with 40.6 percent, which is not as intimidating as it seems. IE lost about 6.3 percentage points, which were all sucked in by Chrome, during the period covered by the study.

IE's loss and that of Firefox (5.5 percentage points) allowed Chrome to post a 10.8-point gain in 2011 alone.

Data from Net Applications, however, show that Firefox still leads Chrome with its 22.1 percent against the Google browser's 18.2 percent.

I am a Windows PC user. I do all my work using Microsoft Office tools. My primary Web browser, however, is Google's Chrome. I just love how fast it loads my favorite Web sites.

I guess, this must be the very reason why millions of Internet surfers are using Chrome.

Kindle in Romance Languages

Last week, Amazon started offering ebooks in Spanish and Italian for the Kindle platform. According to the online retailer, the Spanish Kindle Store offers more than 22,000 Kindle books in Spanish.

The Italian Kindle Store, meanwhile, has some 16,000 Kindle books in the Italian language.

Independent authors in Italy and Spain can use Kindle's direct-publishing feature, according to Amazon.

RIM's PlayBook Losses

Research in Motion Ltd. last week said the company would receive a $485-million hit from its PlayBook tablet computer venture. Due to the tablet's anemic sales, RIM has no choice but revise its revenue guidance downward, and include mostly noncash charge in the company's fiscal third quarter.

Earlier this year, the company sold just 500,000 PlayBook units in the first quarter after the tablet computer's market release. Some 150,000 units were sold in the third quarter, the company added.

Hmm. RIM might have to go the HP TouchPad route.

Battle of the Giants

Online search leader Google is wading in to Amazon.com's online retail territory, triggering a mother of all battles between Internet giants.

Google is reportedly in talks with major retailers and shippers, with conversations focusing on establishing a service that would allow consumers to purchase goods online and have their orders delivered within 24 hours for a low fee.

The proposed service would be competing directly with the Amazon Prime program, which offers exactly the same service for a $79 annual fee. Children, remember what your grandparents told you. When giants are a-rumbling, better stay the hell out of the way.