FX confirms there's twice as much TV now as there was in 2009

A full 409 scripted series aired across broadcast networks, basic and pay cable networks, and over-the-top content delivery networks like Hulu and Netflix — handily beating 2014's already record number of 371.

"I long ago lost the ability to keep track of every scripted series," FX CEO John Landgraf said at the TCA Press Tour this summer.

By contrast, there were just 211 series on air in total in 2009. That means there's been a 94 percent increase in scripted television. The greatest increase has been on broadcast and basic cable, but streaming is on the rise as well — Netflix alone released 10 new original series this year, with plans for over 30 in 2016.

This was the third consecutive year that scripted series count has grown across each distribution platform -– broadcast, basic and pay cable, streaming -– led by significant gains in basic cable and digital services," said Julie Piepenkotter, Executive Vice President of Research for FX Networks. "This statistic is staggering and almost unimaginable from where they were a decade ago.”

Landgraf predicted that the number of scripted TV shows would peak this year or next before finally decreasing, which at least promises overwhelmed viewers a chance to catch up on our seemingly insurmountable "To Watch" lists. Or maybe we'll go back to reading books.

President's feed on Google+

President Barack Obama celebrated his historic reelection victory across social media Tuesday night, right? Not quite.

On Twitter, Obama posted several post-election tweets, including his 'four more years' tweet which broke retweeting records. He posted a simple "thank you" onhis Instagram feed, along with a confetti-filled picture. Both were cross-posted to Facebook, where they have now gained three million and one million Likes, respectively.

But the President's feed on Google+, active for most of Election Day, got left out of the victory celebration. The feed's most recent post as of Wednesday afternoon was "It's time to go vote!", posted Tuesday morning. (See above.)

Obama has 2.3 million followers on Google+, compared to nearly 23 million on Twitter. His Facebook page has been Liked nearly 33 million times. No doubt the President's social media team can be forgiven for focusing on the larger networks.

But in the context of a campaign run on a message of inclusivity, it seems an odd snub. Why not cross-post the victory pictures from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and give his Google+ supporters a chance to comment on them?

Obama launched his Google+ page in November 2011. “We’re still kicking the tires and figuring this out," the first post read, "so let us know what you’d like to see here and your ideas for how we can use this space to help you stay connected to the campaign."

The President did his first Google+ hangout a few months later, winning over at least one Republican questioner in the process.

Google Exec Posts Photos Taken With 'Nexus 10'

Google's Vic Gundotra is having a nice time trying out some new hardware during his beach vacation. At least that's the view from his profile on Google+, where he posted two pictures taken with something called the "Nexus 10."

There currently is no product with that name, but it's been rumored that Googlewill introduce a new Nexus tablet at the company's event on Monday morning. Also, Korean site Seeko on Thursday posted images of what appears to be a manual for the tablet.

The photos Gundotra posted have a resolution of 2,048 x 1,536 (3.1 megapixels), but that's simply the maximum resolution for photos uploaded to Google+ via the service's instant upload, and not necessarily the resolution of the camera on board the device.

Apple wants Samsung to pay another $180 million for copying its design

Apple is demanding Samsung pay an additional $180 million in the companies' long-running patent dispute. The request comes less than two weeks after Samsung finally agreed to pay Apple $548 million in accordance with the original verdict. But now Apple says it's owed additional money for interest and supplemental damages related to five phone models sold after 2012, when Samsung was first found guilty of infringing Apple's patents.

Apple filed the motion yesterday in a US District Court in California. It's unclear which Samsung phones Apple is seeking damages for because a majority of the documents are sealed from public viewing at the moment. The filing was first noticed today by patent expert Florian Mueller, who has been following the intricacies of the case on his blogFOSS Patents.

SAMSUNG PAID $548 MILLION ON DECEMBER 14TH — AND NOW APPLE WANTS MORE

Apple initially asked for $2.5 billion when the lawsuit kicked off in 2011, but that figure was whittled down to less than $1 billion in the 2012 verdict. An appeals court ruled that Apple could not legally trademark the iPhone's appearance in May of this year, leaving Samsung on the hook for $548 million, which it paid on December 14th. Both companies last year agreed to drop litigation outside of the US, but a complex web of appeals means the case is still tied up in court.

Although money has begun changing hands, the patent dispute may be entering an even more contentious phase. Samsung claims the 2012 verdict was incorrect, and it's asked the US Supreme Court to review the evidence and help remedy the country's patent system in the process. If the Supreme Court picks up the case, it could force a retrial and may potentially reshape how design patent cases are handled in the future.

This museum is a shrine to Apple’s greatest designs

Apple doesn't have a museum dedicated to its storied product history, but that hasn't stopped a private collector from establishing one in the capital city of the Czech Republic. The Prague museum, which opened last week, contains the biggest private collection of Apple products and company artifacts, according to its website, although the donor's name remains a secret. Entry costs €11 (about $12), and you can even dine at an on-site raw vegan bistro dedicated to founder Steve

Jobs' infamously strict dietary habits.

The product list appears exhaustive. Not only does the collection include nearly every Apple computer, iPod, and iPhone, but there are also rarities like an Apple Lisa — one of only 100,000 units ever made — and a handful of Jobs' business cards from his time at NeXT and Pixar. Reddit user eirunning85 posted an extensive photo gallery on Imgur following his visit this week, so check it out here if you don't plan on stopping by Prague any time soon (or ever).

Microsoft let people vote for its next game and they chose a word game

Microsoft decided to let fans pick what Windows' next casual game should be, and

today the votes are in: it'll be a word game.

I know what you're thinking: that's not very exciting. Fair assessment, but how exciting could that reveal have ever been? By definition this is a casual game — something kind of dry that you can pick up and put down, something that's never going to impress you or require much learning. Would Hearts or chess have been any more exciting? Okay, I might have been into chess. It just seems like a practical thing to have

Microsoft doesn't say what specific games will be in its Ultimate Word Games collection, but its logo looks a little Scrabble-y, so that's a possibility (although, neither LP or SY are in theScrabble dictionary, so technically "Lets" would be an invalid word; I guess that could explain why it's sort of messily placed). The collection is suppose to include "several word games, multiplayer tournament modes, and new daily challenges every day."

Crowd input isn't stopping here. Microsoft is going to continue to accept input on how it builds the game. Anyone who joins a beta testing group will be able to try out early builds, suggest game types, and offer feedback on how it all works. Someone please suggest changing the logo to contain all legal words.

Google is testing a way for users to log in without a password

Google's plot to kill the password is moving forward. The company is testing a method for users to log into their Google accounts using only a mobile phone and without having to type in a memorized string of characters. Android owner Rohit Paul, who posted about the test on Reddit yesterday, was invited to try it out and provided screenshots of the process.

Once a user authorizes their mobile device, they're able to input their account credentials on any computer and receive a notification on their smartphone. The device must have some type of screen lock security feature, as unlocking your phone is a prerequisite to approving or denying access to the account with this method. You're still given the option to log in with your regular password if you so choose. Google's email to participating users explains how you can deactivate a lost device, as well as add a new one in the event you upgrade your handset.

"We've invited a small group of users to help test a new way to sign-in to their Google accounts, no password required," a Google spokesperson told The Verge in a statement. "'Pizza,' 'password,' and '123456' — your days are numbered."

Beyond alleviating concerns over commonly used passwords, Google says the tool is another defense against hackers that rely on passwords to conduct phishing operations. A phishing attack tricks users into entering sensitive information by replacing legitimate login windows with disguised versions designed to capture and store the data.

This test joins a number of other Google initiatives aimed at improving security. Google has one of the most robust two-factor authentication services of any tech giant, meaning millions of Google account owners now sign in on the web using a code sent to them via text message. The company also has its Authenticator app, which generates a unique code on your mobile device to confirm your identity when signing into Google and third-party web services on a computer. In April, the company released the Password Alert Chrome extension designed to notify users when they may have input their password into a non-Google website.

GOOGLE IS FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF YAHOO

In the case of the password-killing tool, Google is borrowing from Yahoo, which in October announced a security feature called Yahoo Account Key. Arriving as part of the Yahoo Mail redesign, Account Key links your mobile device with your Yahoo account and a notification is sent every time you try and log in on another device. Yahoo had previously transitioned account passwords to single-use SMS codes, and with Account Key it's trying to eliminate them for good. Now Google is following suit, albeit with a smaller test program for the time being.

Google and Microsoft launch Santa trackers that let kids explore the globe

Google and Microsoft are once again giving kids a better way to wait for Santa's arrival than looking at the clock. Both have launched their own Santa tracking websites, which don't just track his course as Day arrives around the globe, but also give kids ways to explore the world and find out more about the places he's flying over. Google lets you click on points of interest to load photos and information from Wikipedia about each location; Microsoft, which is again launching its tracker in partnership with NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command), is taking a similar approach, loading up Bing search results for whichever location you

select.

Both Google and Microsoft go a lot further than putting up a map. They're both also offering games themed for the holiday, some of which are educational. Like last year, Google has a game that lets kids learn to code. And Microsoft has a separate map (seen below) that highlights holiday traditions in different countries around the world. Of course, both have plenty of less educational games too, from Google's elf-filled music makerto Microsoft's Flapping Bird. Whatever makes the wait until 

Google will reportedly challenge Facebook with an intelligent messaging app

Google is said to be building a new messaging app, this time with an intelligent twist: it'll let you chat with your friends or message a Google bot for answers to your questions. The Wall Street Journal reports that Google has been working on this new service for at least a year, though it isn't known when it might launch.

OTHER DEVELOPERS MIGHT HOOK INTO GOOGLE'S SERVICE

It isn't stated how powerful Google wants this intelligent bot to be at launch. Likely, it would be able to do everything that a normal Google search can, offering up answers when it can and providing links when it can't. That means you might be able to message it for information on the weather or to look up details on a restaurant. The Journal reports that Google will likely allow other developers to build chatbots that run on the service, so you could receive an answer from an app that has the information you're looking for. Google declined to comment.

The intention is to prevent Google from losing out on search to other messaging services, like Facebook's, that have been building in intelligent bots of their own. Google doesn't currently have a successful messaging app — even Hangouts is kind of a mess — so the implication that Google is building yet another one is reasonable. It could always opt to build this service into an existing chat app as well.

The service sounds like it's meant to directly compete with Facebook M, a bot that Facebook is testing inside of Messenger. Like what Google is said to be doing, M automatically searches the web for answers to questions, but it takes that one step further: for more complicated queries, a human assistant will take over, allowing M to do things far beyond what a computer could. The Journal doesn't mention Google considering anything outside of the digital realm — that's its area of expertise, anyway — but it'll need to offer something at least as powerful if it wants to hook users. Then there's just the small question of whether Google can get people chatting with their friends, too.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai open to naming next Android OS after an Indian dessert

Google CEO Sundar Pichai is in his home country India, on his first overseas visit since taking over as the chief of Google Inc. in August. Since India is projected to have more Android users than the US by 2016, Pichai spent his first day emphasising on India's importance for Google. However, today he opened up about his dramatic journey to the top position at the internet giant.

Yesterday, Pichai announced Google's plans and investments in India, most significantly setting up free public Wi-Fi networks at 100 train stations by 2016, starting with Mumbai's Central Station in January. Google will also help rural women from 3,00,000 villages get online in the next three years and set up a new campus in Hyderabad. It also hopes to introduce its balloon-powered Project Loon to bring low-cost internet connectivity to the country.

Today, the 43-year-old spoke candidly about his journey and early years in India with college students at Delhi University. Here are some interesting facts he revealed about himself.

1. He dreamt of being a cricketer when he was young and is a huge fan of legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar. Pichai revealed that he still prefers Test cricket to the shorter Twenty20 format. also recalled watching an India-Australia Test match in his home city Chennai in 1986 as a 14-year-old.

2. He's an equally ardent football fan, especially of Barcelona and Lionel Messi. "When I was young in the 1980s, I remember driving my mom crazy because I used to wake up in the middle of the night to watch the Brazilian team," he said.

3. He bought his first mobile phone, a Motorola Star TAC in 1995 and his first smartphone in 2006.

4. There are between 20 to 30 smartphones in his house now.

5. His first software project was a rudimentary version of chess and other games.

6. If he has his way, the next Android version may be named after an Indian dessert. Responding to a question on why no Android OS had been named after an Indian dessert, Pichai said he'd suggest holding an online poll to name the next version of the OS and let Indians vote.

7. The rumours about his phenonemal memory are true. He could remember every single number that he dialled when was in India. "It was because the landline numbers back then were only five or six digits," he said. "But when I moved to the US and got hold of a smartphone."

8. If he hadn't been the Google CEO, he would've still been building software products. "I always loved technology growing up and used to read about what was happening in Silicon Valley and wanted to be part of it," he said.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.