Microsoft Office for iPad: Separating fact from fiction  —  Summary: If the Daily.com is right, Microsoft's Office for iPad could be launching well ahead of Office for Windows 8 on ARM tablets.  —  The Daily.com — the folks that brought us last year's rumor that Microsoft planned …

Comcast unveils $4.99 per month Streampix service, taking aim at Netflix  —  Streampix movies will be available on the iPad  —  Comcast this week is rolling out a new video streaming service called Streampix, an offering that will be available only to subscribers of the giant cable company.

Research, no motion: How the BlackBerry CEOs lost an empire  —  “We are no longer a company that is innovative and energetic, we are drowning in paperwork.”  —  By many accounts, the problems at RIM go deeper than just outdated software.  Things reached a crisis point in 2011, which could be known as “The Year of the Open Letter.”

Flickr Is Getting a Major Makeover  —  The new Flickr photo view, slated to roll out 2/28/2012.  —  Markus Spiering has, as they say, a good eye.  Most of his resume was in mobile before he became a senior product manager for Flickr.  In March 2011, he slipped into the head product role, lording over Flickr's 45 or so employees.

Google defense cites study arguing for stronger privacy regulation  —  Summary: Recent reports suggest that Google is attempting to circumvent industry-standard privacy protections in both Safari and Internet Explorer.  Google's defense cites a study from Carnegie Mellon.

Aussies' fix for ‘stagnated’ email  —  Email has “stagnated” and three Australians who quit Google say they have built a product that will change the way we interact with email and allow us to get through our bulging inboxes “20 per cent faster”.  —  Cameron Adams, 32, and Dhanji Prasanna …

Qualcomm just announced the chip that would be a one-stop shop for Apple's mobile needs  —  Chipmaker Qualcomm today took the wraps off a new piece of silicon—a fifth iteration of its Gobi reference platform.  It packs comprehensive support for TD-SCDMA, TD-LTE, LTE on FDD and TDD networks worldwide and embedded GPS capability.

U.S. Official Warns About ‘Anonymous’ Power Play  —  U.S. Official Signals Growing Concern Over Anonymous Group's Capabilities  —  The director of the National Security Agency has warned that the hacking group Anonymous could have the ability within the next year or two to bring about a limited power outage through a cyberattack.

Over-the-Air TV Catches Second Wind, Aided by Web  —  It's cool to have rabbit ears again.  —  Largely relegated to obscurity decades ago, old-fashioned television broadcasts—over the airwaves and not via cable or satellite—are enjoying an unexpected revival in the digital era.

Android is most-used smartphone OS in UK, overtaking Apple, data shows  —  With its iPhone, Apple may be the most-used brand, but Android now has more than a third of installed base of consumers  —  Android has taken over from Apple and now has the largest share of the installed base …

Legal claims can be served via Facebook, High Court judge rules  —  Legal claims can now be served via Facebook in Britain, after a landmark ruling in the English High Court.  —  Facebook can be used to serve legal claims in Britain, following a ruling by a High Court judge

Silicon Valley: The rise of the adolescent CEOs  —  (Reuters) - Josh Buckley, chief executive of an online gaming start-up, is looking forward to next month's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, particularly for the parties and the accompanying schmoozing with industry A-listers.

Canonical reveals Ubuntu for Android  —  Canonical is making good on its promise to bring its popular Ubuntu flavor of Linux to a broader range of devices by announcing Ubuntu for Android, a release that will enable a full desktop computing experience on a docked Android smartphone.

Amazon Appstore more lucrative for many devs than Android Market  —  Investment in Amazon Appstore is paying off in a big way for many top developers, a good chunk of whom are pulling in more money for their apps on Amazon than through Google's Android Market.

Netflix And The Weinstein Company Enter Into Their First Multi-Year Streaming Deal  —  Netflix streaming just got a bit more classy.  The Weinstein Company is releasing “a diverse slate” of its titles exclusively to Netflix streaming.  These titles will hit the service within a year …

eBay to Acquire WHI Solutions  —  eBay Inc. has reached a definitive agreement to acquire WHI Solutions (WHI), a provider of software and digital catalog solutions for auto parts distributors and retailers. … I'm a fairly stereotypical guy for the most part... I like my beer, my sports, and my action movies.

The U.N. Threat to Internet Freedom  —  Top-down, international regulation is antithetical to the Net, which has flourished under its current governance model.  —  On Feb. 27, a diplomatic process will begin in Geneva that could result in a new treaty giving the United Nations unprecedented powers over the Internet.

Scroogle, Privacy-First Search Engine, Shuts Down for Good … Scroogle, the search engine operated by privacy militant and self-appointed Wikipedia watchdog Daniel Brandt, has folded for real.  After enduring DDOS attacks “around the clock” that sent a flood of unsustainable traffic to his servers …