Yes, We Need All These Witnesses, and No, I'm Not Smoking Crack
Already frustrated with the amount of paperwork in the Apple vs. Samsung case, Judge Lucy Koh boiled over with frustration on Thursday after lawyers for the sides filed a new round of objections over ...
Changes coming in Version 1.1 of the Twitter API
At the end of June, I wrote about how we're working to deliver a consistent Twitter experience, and how we would soon introduce stricter guidelines about how the Twitter API is used. I'd like to give...
Apple boss tries to gut retail operation
One of the smartest decisions that Apple made over the last decade was to open retail stores worldwide, giving users a chance to get some hands on time with its products. One of the worst decisions c...
Apple's TV Vision: Sharing, Full On-Demand, Icons
TV Device Interface Would Simplify Programming; Company Faces Hurdles With Cable Operators — Apple Inc.'s vision for a new device that can be used as a set-top box includes features designed to simp...
Facebook Shares Fall to New Lows as Lockup Ends
Facebook Inc. shares sank 6.3% to a record low on Thursday, falling below $20 a share on a day when some early investors were allowed to unload their stakes, adding further pressure on the beaten-down...
Braintree, a Payments Company, Buys Venmo for $26.2 Million
The mobile payments war continues to escalate. — Braintree, a payments company that supplies technology to process credit card transactions on a mobile phone, said it purchased Venmo, a start-up tha...
Why Apple really bought AuthenTec: It wanted “new technology” for upcoming products, and quickly
On July 27, seemingly out of nowhere, security company AuthenTec announced in a regulatory filing that it had agreed to a $356 million acquisition offer from Apple, making it one of the Apple's bigges...
Instagram 3.0 bets on location with Photo Map, adds infinite scrolling
Looking forward, Systrom envisions an Instagram that instantly pipes photos into one location-tagged stream for concertgoers, or one stream of photos tagged in front of the Eiffel Tower. “All sorts o...
Three years later, deleting your photos on Facebook now actually works
It has been more than three years since Ars first started covering Facebook's inability to remove “deleted” photos from its servers, but this particular saga appears to be coming to an end.
Hipsta-dramatic: Hipstamatic lays off all but core employees, including designers and engineers
Toy camera app company Hipstamatic has fired all but 5 of its core staff, including engineers and designers, The Next Web has learned. The company had been staffed up and working on a new release …
Google Play gift cards are real - and here's what they look like
We've already seen the Google Play Store app getting prepped for gift cards — and now we've scored the cards themselves. (Or, at least, a look at the outer wrapping.) We've been slipped a few pics o...
Square Debuts Monthly Pricing Option For Small Businesses With Zero Swiping Fees
On the heels of announcing a mega-deal with Starbucks, mobile payments processing company Square is announcing another piece of key news—specialized, lower pricing per swipe for small businesses.
State Department withdraws $16.5m contract for Kindle ebook readers
The US State Department's $16.5 million contract with Amazon for Kindle ebook readers has been officially canceled. The details of the contract were proposed back in June and would have netted the St...
Ustream's BFF brings simple broadcasting to Facebook's News Feed
If you've spent any amount of time on the internet, chances are you've come across Ustream. The company's focus is streaming-as-broadcasting, with a platform designed to scale to support tens of thou...
Why I Changed My Mind On Klout (And Invested)
Klout has been one of my go to punchlines for some time now. For example - in May I wrote a post titled “My Detailed Thoughts On Klout” that contained a single word in the post itself: “Why?” — The...
Boom! Apple Invents Next-Gen Virtual Drawing App to Take on Adobe's Photoshop & Illustrator
In June, Macworld reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed in an email to an Apple customer that the company is working on “something really great” to address the professional market.
[Updated: Screenshots] Google Is Gearing Up To Finally Introduce Play Store Gift Cards And A Wishlist [APK Teardown]
A new Google Play Store v3.8.15 apk started rolling out to Android devices today, but upon running through its UI, I was unable to uncover anything different from the versions before that.
Changes coming in Version 1.1 of the Twitter API
At the end of June, I wrote about how we're working to deliver a consistent Twitter experience, and how we would soon introduce stricter guidelines about how the Twitter API is used. I'd like to give...
Lenovo dings Microsoft Surface: We'll provide better hardware
Lenovo executives believe it can beat Microsoft on hardware and claims not to be worried about Microsoft's Surface tablet. — During Lenovo's first fiscal quarter 2013 earnings call, executives didn'...
Dish Network Said To Plan Nationwide Satellite Broadband
Dish Network Corp. is preparing to introduce a nationwide broadband-Internet service using a satellite from sister company EchoStar Corp. (SATS), according to three people familiar with the situation.
Nokia sales chief warns Samsung to ‘take note’ of next generation Lumia
Now that Nokia has revealed when its big Windows Phone 8 launch event will be, it's time for the company to start building up the hype and it's doing it by taking aim at its biggest competitor: Samsun...
Google Flips The Switch On Smart App Updates In The Play Store [Video]
There seems to be quite a lot of movement happening behind the scenes at the Play Store - yesterday we discovered that Google Play Store gift cards and wishlist are getting prepped for launch, and tod...
‘Friends’ can share your Facebook profile with the government, court rules
A federal judge has ruled that investigators can go through your Facebook profile if one of your friends gives them permission to do so. The decision, which is part of a New York City racketeering tr...
Zynga Puts Real Money Into Gambling Lobby
Zynga Inc. has begun investing in state and federal lobbying efforts around gambling with real money, even as the social gaming firm predicts the U.S. won't be an initial market for the potentially lu...
WikiLeaks' Julian Assange granted asylum in Ecuador
Julian Assange has been granted political asylum by the Ecuadorian government after taking refuge in its London embassy in June. — LONDON — Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been granted politica...
Facebook stock slumps 5% as insiders get first chance to sell
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Facebook's life as a public company has been a nightmare from day one, and the pain continued on Thursday as some company insiders got their first chance to dump shares.
Diaspora's Next Act: Social Remixing Site Makr.io
If you were to come across a group of people sitting in a room together, all with their own laptops out, sending each other jokes online, you might think that was a little weird, right? — “Antisocia...
The Google+ app for iOS opens web URLs in Chrome if installed, how soon until all Google apps do that?
Earlier today, Google released an update to its Google+ app for iOS, expanding support for Hangouts. But tucked in there is a one-line update not which could have some interesting implications …
Google Doubles Down On Rewards For Bug Reports With $2 Million In Hacking Prizes
If Google hadn't made the message clear enough already: It really, really wants you to hack its software. — On Wednesday the company announced that it's holding another competition for hackers to ta...
Apple says Retail Stores still hiring, recent staffing changes were a ‘mistake’, are being reversed
Apple says that recent reports about Retail Store employee hours being cut and hiring events being halted were misleading. Still, it says that some staffing changes were made, but that they were a mi...
Photobucket's first major redesign focuses on ‘telling stories’ and backing up photos
The slightly retro but still massively popular video and photo sharing service Photobucket will begin gradually rolling out the first major redesign in its nearly ten-year history today.
E-commerce startups
Very few successful e-commerce companies were started in the 2000s. Since then, e-commerce startups have enjoyed a revival. Dozens of companies have gotten traction and venture dollars have followed...
New Zealand High Court: FBI Must Release Its Evidence Against Kim Dotcom
The US's case against Kim Dotcom and Megaupload continues to run into significant problems. While the US Justice Department (with an assist from New Zealand law enforcement) has continued to insist …
Verizon, Comcast Airwaves Accord Wins Antitrust Approval
The U.S. Justice Department allowed Verizon Wireless's purchase of unused airwaves from Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) and other cable companies to go forward on conditions that limit the companies' agreements...