2012 Update from the CEO  —  Velocity, execution and focus Sergey and I founded Google because we believed that building a great search experience would improve people's lives and, hopefully, the world.  And in the decade-plus that's followed, we've been constantly delighted by the ways …

Shutting down spammers  —  Twitter continues to grow at a record pace — we now have 140 million active users and more than 340 million Tweets each day.  As our reach expands, we become a more attractive target for spammers.  While spam is a small fraction of the incredible content you can find on Twitter …

To Fill Out Its App Store, Microsoft Wields Its Checkbook  —  Nowadays, cellphones are all about apps.  And Microsoft is so determined to have lots of brand-name apps for its Windows Phone app store that it's willing to pay for them.  —  All an app developer has to do is sign on the dotted line.

Android Device Makers Are Mutinying, Says Insider  —  Amazon showed device makers that they don't need Google to succeed.  —  Google's Android device makers aren't happy.  They're tired of making commodity devices that are merely vehicles for Google's Android OS, each indistinguishable …

Exclusive: Yahoo's Chief Product Officer Blake Irving Resigns  —  According to sources close to the situation, Yahoo's Chief Product Officer Blake Irving has turned in his resignation and it has been accepted by the company.  —  The process for Irving's departure is a bit more formal since …

Security hole in Facebook iOS app doesn't require jailbreak or theft, and Dropbox has it too  —  Earlier today, security researcher Gareth Wright revealed the discovery of a security hole in the Facebook app for mobile devices running Android and iOS.  The simple ‘hack’ allows a user to copy …

Pinterest now the third most popular social network after Facebook & Twitter  —  As if there was ever any doubt that the “pin” is winning, a new report from Experian says Pinterest is now the third most popular social network in the U.S. behind Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook Picks Nasdaq for I.P.O.  —  Facebook, which is preparing for its highly anticipated initial public offering, has picked a home.  —  The social network will list its shares on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol “FB,” according a person familiar with the matter, who demanded anonymity because the discussions were private.

HTC Profit Declines 70% After ‘Dropping the Ball’ on Phones  —  HTC Corp. (2498), Asia's second-largest smartphone maker, posted its biggest drop in profit since listing a decade ago after sales declined amid competition from Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.

More on the Google Project Glass including the first spotting on Sergey Brin  —  .  —  Besides the Scobelizer spotting of the Google Glass on co-founder Sergey Brin above, we're hearing some additional information about the project.  First of all, the brand was changed from 'Project Wingfront …

Samsung estimates Q1 2012 sales of $39 billion, $5.1 billion profit  —  As it did in the fourth quarter, Samsung has released guidance for what it expects will be its Q1 2012 revenue and profit.  The company estimates that it will earn between 44 and 46 trillion Korean won in consolidated sales …

Jobs's Biographer to Page: What Part of “I'm Going to Destroy Android” Didn't You Understand?  —  Google CEO Larry Page's revisionist approach to Steve Jobs's infamous ire over the company's Android operating system isn't sitting well with the late Apple CEO's biographer, Walter Isaacson.

Viacom v. YouTube ruling is a bummer for Google and the UGC community  —  After five years in the courts, the Viacom International, Inc., v. YouTube, Inc. litigation has finally produced an appellate opinion.  The result is a loss for Google/YouTube and the UGC community generally.

Exclusive: a behind-the-scenes look at Facebook release engineering  —  Facebook is headquartered in Menlo Park, California at a site that used belong to Sun Microsystems.  A large sign with Facebook's distinctive “like” symbol—a hand making the thumbs-up gesture—marks the entrance.

Why tech vendors fund patent ‘trolls’  —  Experts say it's about protection from lawsuits and access to a large pool of patents  —  Major technology vendors are financing the activities of so-called patent trolls, according to experts, court documents and patent and other legal filings, a Computerworld investigation has found.

Apple's Highest Priority Is Obviousness  —  Good piece from Sebastiaan de With, riffing on my bit last week regarding the tension between simplicity and obviousness.  But I gently disagree with this: … Apple has started using gestures more widely, but they're not requiring them.

Samsung: We're still not into 3D smartphones  —  By now you may have already seen a handful of “leaks” on Samsung's imminent Galaxy S III, but if you ask us, they all smell like a cruel prank on anticipating fans.  As far as we're concerned, the only reliable tidbits so far are the GT-i9300 …

Google Launches Android App To Improve Its Indoor Location Accuracy  —  Google Maps, Bing Maps and a number of startups have been offering indoor maps for large venues like airports, malls and stadiums for quite a while.  The problem with indoor mapping, though, is that it's pretty hard …

Next-gen Chromebooks built on faster Ivy Bridge chips?  —  It looks like Google will fulfill its promise of faster Chromebooks by using Intel's Sandy Bridge and imminent Ivy Bridge processors, a big step up from the current Atom-based products.  —  Chromebooks run Google's Chrome OS …

Wall Street Examines Fine Print in a Bill for Start-Ups  —  Wall Street is examining whether it will benefit from a little-known section of a broad new law that President Obama is expected to sign on Thursday.  —  Provisions tucked into the so-called JOBS Act, or the Jumpstart Our Business Startups …