Google challenges U.S. gag order, citing First Amendment  —  Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government.

As Fab Raises Another $150 Million at a $1 Billion Valuation, E-Commerce Industry Looks On Warily  —  Here's an interesting exercise I tried recently when talking with entrepreneurs and venture capitalists involved in e-commerce: “I say ‘Fab,’ you say?”  —  “Inspiring.”  —  “Ballsy.”  —  “Ambitious.”

Apple testing deep LinkedIn integration for iOS 7  —  Further bolstering the presence of third-party social networks in iOS, Apple is testing deep LinkedIn integration for the upcoming release of iOS 7, according to code-based references found inside of the first beta of iOS 7.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MDP benchmarks: prepare for ludicrous speed  —  Today we had a chance to play with Qualcomm's latest dev tablet (MDP) which packs the company's mighty Snapdragon 800 SoC (MSM8974).  The device is slightly larger than last year's MDP and features a 11.6-inch 1920 x 1080 pixel display …

The Price to Pay for Facebook's Free Wi-Fi?  A Scrap of Privacy  —  The idea of offering people free Wi-Fi in exchange for their physical coordinates began at Facebook as a one-off experiment, a project by two engineers during an all-nighter in May 2012.  Since then, Facebook has gradually spread …

Power Testing: Can Two New Laptops Really Last All Day?  —  Most consumers pay little or no attention to the processors and other chips that power their computers, and rightly so.  In recent years, changes to the design of these chips haven't made major, noticeable differences in everyday computing tasks.

Microsoft Said to Add Qualcomm as Surface RT Supplier  —  Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), seeking to break into the market for tablet computers, will update its Surface RT using chips from Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), people with knowledge of the company's plans said.  —  Some new versions of Surface …

Privacy authorities issue Google a ‘please explain’ on Glass  —  Summary: Ten privacy authorities from countries including Australia, Canada, and Israel have sent a joint letter to Google asking the company to address privacy concerns over Google Glass.  —  Josh Taylor

Nvidia to license graphics technology: CEO  —  (Reuters) - Nvidia Chief Executive Jen-Hsun Huang said he will license graphics technology to other companies, a new model for the chipmaker that could lead to new business with Apple, Samsung and other mobile device makers.

Researchers able to predict Apple iOS-generated hotspot passwords  —  Summary: Although iOS generates seemingly random passwords for its hotspots to eliminate the use of ‘default’ passwords, researchers at a German university have found that they are able to break these passwords in under a minute.

Google's Effort to Skirt Regulation May Invite More Scrutiny  —  Google's motto is “don't be evil.”  But its recent acquisition of Waze, reportedly for $1 billion in cash, shows that just because you're not evil, it doesn't mean you can't be aggressive in pushing the boundaries of the law.

Grasping for a Vine: Video for Instagram Will Be Sole Reveal at Facebook Event Thursday  —  Instagram plans to release a video product this Thursday at a press event at Facebook's headquarters, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter, marking the first time the robust …

Netflix will launch in the Netherlands in late 2013, as its international expansion slows  —  Love Amsterdam?  So does Netflix: The streaming service revealed that it's going to launch in the Netherlands later this year.  —  Netflix revealed the next target of its ongoing international …

Onion Pi turns Raspberry Pi into Tor proxy and wireless access point  —  The do-it-yourselfers at Adafruit have provided step-by-step instructions for turning a Raspberry Pi into a Tor proxy and wireless access point.  A good project for users looking to anonymize their Internet traffic …

Ubuntu phone OS has eight carriers signed on to boost development  —  Canonical has formed a “Carrier Advisory Group” of eight mobile operators who will collaborate to influence the development of Ubuntu for smartphones.  —  Canonical said the first members of the group are Deutsche Telekom …

Amazon's Invasion of the CIA Is a Seismic Shift in Cloud Computing  —  The rumors are true.  Amazon is providing cloud services to the CIA.  But what's most intriguing about the multi-million-dollar deal is not what Amazon is doing, but how the company is doing it — and what that means …

Google adds ‘carousel’ of search results for nearby restaurants, bars and other local places  —  Google is updating its search results pages on the desktop today to show an interactive “carousel” of nearby restaurants, bars and other local places.  —  It works as expected; type in a query such as …

Dell Committee Slams Icahn's Latest Offer, Saying It Falls Short  —  The special committee of Dell's board of directors overseeing its go-private process fired back at activist investor Carl Icahn's latest proposal today in a letter to shareholders, saying it is “not, in its present state …

Dish abandons Sprint bid for now to focus on Clearwire  —  (Reuters) - Dish Network Corp said it would not make a new offer to buy No. 3 U.S. wireless provider Sprint Nextel in time for a Tuesday deadline and will instead focus on its tender offer for Clearwire Corp.

FCC nominee Wheeler says will promote competition  —  (Reuters) - Tom Wheeler, President Barack Obama's pick to lead the Federal Communications Commission, on Tuesday pledged to champion competition in the telecommunications industry and said an upcoming auction of airwaves is the biggest challenge facing the regulator.