Apple likely to begin production of 7.85-inch iPads in 3Q12, say sources  —  Makers in Apple's iPad supply chain have started delivering samples of 7.85-inch iPads for verification, with volume production likely to begin in the third quarter of 2012 at the earliest, according to industry sources.

Google's new privacy policy starts March 1; 4 ways to prepare  —  Google Inc. headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., in 2004.  (Paul Sakuma / Associated Press)  —  Google Inc. is changing its privacy policy Thursday, a move that is causing a lot of anxiety among Internet activists and some users.

Lytro review  —  You've never seen a camera like this before There are a few easy ways to make a digital camera better: make the sensor bigger, improve the quality of the lens, speed up the processor.  But those are incremental improvements on a basic technology that hasn't changed much in a long time.

foursquare is joining the OpenStreetMap movement!  Say hi to pretty new maps!  —  We usually use this blog for big product announcements, but, as a startup, we also often think about how we can make life easier for other startups.  Today, we're doing both - a little announcement …

Constitutional Showdown Voided: Feds Decrypt Laptop Without Defendant's Help  —  Colorado federal authorities have decrypted a laptop seized from a bank-fraud defendant, mooting a judge's order that the defendant unlock the hard drive so the government could use its contents as evidence against her.

Delicious Founder Creates New People Search Engine, Skills.to  —  Joshua Schachter and his team of star developers at TastyLabs have begun work on a second project, an endorsement and people search engine called Skills.to.  The site lets you endorse people for their skills in various fields …

Microsoft's Windows 8 Preview event videos now available  —  Still not satisfied after our minute by minute liveblog of Microsoft's Windows 8 Consumer Preview event this morning from Barcelona and detailed hands-on impressions?  Video of the entire presentation, along with a few demo trailers …

Facebook introduces Premium: A marketer's dream, a user's nightmare?  —  “People worry that technology will disconnect us, but study after study...has shown that it strengthens us,” said Facebook's COO Sheryl Sandberg today in New York City.  —  What Facebook's technology is doing, is connecting brands with human beings.

Google Grows in New York City  —  Google Inc. has dramatically expanded its presence in Manhattan in the past year, adding roughly 750 people to its outpost in 2011 in the most prominent example of a technology company shifting its focus toward New York.  —  After acquiring four New York companies …

Record Labels Threaten the Open Internet, isoHunt Tells Court  —  In 2010 a conglomerate of record labels - including the ‘Big Four’ of Sony, EMI, Warner and Universal - went after BitTorrent site isoHunt.  —  The site and its owner are accused of facilitating copyright infringement on a massive scale.

Android Design V2: Now with stencils  —  [This post is by Android designer Alex Faaborg, on behalf of the entire User Experience team.  —Tim Bray]  —  When we initially released Android Design, by far the number one request we received was for us to release stencils as well.

After Five Years, Draw Something Is an Overnight Hit for OMGPOP.  Now What?  —  OMGPOP is a gaming company that has been plugging away at it for some five years, backed by $16 million in venture funding.  It's had okay but not overwhelming results.  —  Until this month, when it released Draw Something.

Ireland Signs Controversial ‘Irish SOPA’ Into Law; Kicks Off New Censorship Regime  —  Remember how EMI sued the Irish government for failing to pass a SOPA-like law that will force ISPs to act as copyright cops and censor and block access to websites that the entertainment industry doesn't like?

Apple reportedly considering 14-inch MacBook Air  —  Apple is reportedly considering launching a 14-inch MacBook Air and may start mass production in the near future to fully enter the Asia PC market, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.  —  Currently, 14-inch panels …

Who decides what gets sold in the bookstore?  —  We can probably agree that the local supermarket has no moral or ethical or business obligation to sell cherry-flavored Cap'n Crunch.  If the owner doesn't like cherries, she doesn't have to sell them.  —  And the cereal maker shouldn't work under …