Facebook platform takes aim at e-mail

Facebook platform takes aim at e-mail

SAN FRANCISCO

Facebook unveiled a new messaging platform Monday that takes aim at one of the Internet’s first applications, e-mail.

Though CEO Mark Zuckerberg didn’t go as far as declaring e-mail dead, he sees the four-decade-old technology as secondary to more seamless, faster ways of communicating such as text messages and chats.

The new platform, which will be rolled out to users in the coming months, integrates cell-phone texts, chats, e-mail and the existing Facebook messages. It seeks to bring together all these forms of communication in one inbox, centered on the people sending it rather than the type of technology they use. Facebook will hand out @facebook.com e-mail addresses — mostly to make it easier to communicate with people who aren’t on Facebook.

Rolls to replace engines temporarily

LONDON

Rolls-Royce will replace temporarily any oil-leaking engines like the one that caught fire and blew apart on a Qantas superjumbo jet earlier this month, an aviation official said Monday.

Because airlines keep some spare engines on hand, the long-term impact to the Airbus A380 — the world’s largest jetliner — and its buyers may not be dire, aviation analysts said. However, future deliveries of the A380 could be delayed if the scope of the oil-leak problem turns out to be greater than disclosed and a large number of temporary replacement engines are needed, they said.

Stocks finish mixed

NEW YORK

Stocks slumped to a mixed finish Monday as the dollar posted its second day of gains over concerns that Europe is on the edge of another bailout.

Investors believe that Ireland may seek help from its fellow members in the European Union as its economy sputters. The dollar also spiked in May when Europe bailed out Greece. Ireland’s finances are under strain after the government bailed out five banks after the country’s real-estate boom collapsed.

Associated Press