Announcing the Windows 8 Editions  —  Today I would like to share information with you on the editions that will be available for “Windows 8” when it is released to market.  We have talked about Windows 8 as Windows reimagined, from the chipset to the user experience.

Google Drive detailed: 5 GB for free, launching next week for Mac, Windows, Android and iOS  —  Sometimes we get lucky, and today is one of those days.  I got a draft release from a partner of Google's upcoming Google Drive service and it gives away a wealth of information about how Google plans to take on the incumbent Dropbox.

Samsung Galaxy S III launch details reveal multiple models, official device of 2012 Olympics  —  As we get closer to the official announcement of Samsung's Galaxy S III, more information is beginning to surface.  In addition to our exclusive reports on the device's specifications and materials …

European carriers: Lumia phones are ‘not good enough’ to compete with iPhone and Android  —  They say everyone's a critic these days, but here's a group whose critique matters: European carriers.  Reuters has been asking questions at four major European telecom operators and reports that they're …

Path Announces $30M+ Round Of Funding, Investors Include Sir Richard Branson  —  Well, it's officially official: Following a wave of rumors and reports, Path just announced that it has raised more than $30 million in new funding.  —  “We are delighted to announce that last week we closed …

Samuel L. Jackson and Siri Star in New iPhone 4S Commercial (Update: Zooey Deschanel Too)  —  As noted by The Next Web, U.S. carrier Verizon Wireless aired a new iPhone 4S commercial featuring actor Samuel L. Jackson and Siri, the company's virtual assistant for the iPhone 4S.

Six degrees of aggregation  —  How The Huffington Post ate the Internet Of the many and conflicting stories about how Huffington Post came to be—how it boasts 68 sections, three international editions (with more to come), 1.2 billion monthly page views and 54 million comments in the past year alone …

RIM Said to Discuss Hiring Bank to Help Weigh Strategy Options  —  Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), the troubled maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, is in talks to hire a financial adviser that can help it weigh strategic options, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

The Lonely BlackBerry Store  —  RIM's Sole Stand-Alone Outlet Serves as Reminder of Failed Corporate Strategy  —  FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich.—On a gray stretch of highway 25 miles northwest of Detroit, in a strip mall next to an OfficeMax and a dry cleaners, sits the only stand-alone BlackBerry retail store in North America.

Exclusive: Tupac Coachella Hologram Creator Tells How He Resurrected Rapper  —  'It was [Dr.] Dre's vision to bring this back to life,' says Nick Smith president of the company that created the Tupac hologram at Coachella.  The Coachella festival is a place where minds routinely get blown …

Zynga Flashes $1.8 Billion Searching for the New FarmVille: Tech  —  Zynga Inc. (ZNGA) merger chief Barry Cottle plans to step up the pace of acquisitions, spending hundreds of millions of dollars in search of a new social-gaming blockbuster on par with hits “FarmVille” and “CityVille.”

Feds shutter online narcotics store that used TOR to hide its tracks  —  Federal authorities have arrested eight men accused of distributing more than $1 million worth of LSD, ecstasy, and other narcotics with an online storefront that used the TOR anonymity service to mask their Internet addresses.

Hulu, the Online TV Site, Adds Original Programming  —  Five years ago, some of the most powerful players in television banded together to introduce Hulu, a streaming service intended to revolutionize the TV industry.  —  This week, Hulu will look more like a traditional network than an Internet pioneer.

Carly Dumps Her Pink Dresses, as T-Mobile Aims for an Image Makeover  —  T-Mobile's Carly is trading in her pink dresses for leather and a Ducati motorcycle.  —  In new commercials debuting later on, the carrier's spokeswoman throws her trademark dress on the ground and takes to the open road with the tagline “No More Mr. Nice Girl.”

Twitter and Facebook posts fall under strict broadcasting rules for French election  —  Tweeting exit poll results from the upcoming French presidential election will be against the law, it has emerged.  In France, there are strict rules that prohibit the broadcasting of polls or exit surveys until …

Oracle: Google execs knew they needed permission for Java  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Google engineers and executives knew they needed permission to use Java software tools when they created the popular Android mobile program, but Google went ahead without a license, an Oracle attorney told jurors Monday in federal court.

United Continental CFO Now an Apple VP of Sales  —  Zane Rowe, executive VP and Chief Financial Officer for United Continental, the holding company that owns United Airlines, has a new job — at Apple.  Rowe, who has served as United's CFO since October 2010, is leaving the airline …

Apple II Forever: a 35th-Anniversary Tribute to Apple's First Iconic Product  —  Thirty-five years ago, on April 16 and 17, 1977, more than twelve thousand proto-geeks flooded into San Francisco's Civic Auditorium.  They were there to attend a new event called the West Coast Computer Faire …

Twitter Mobile Ads Can Now Be Targeted By Platform  —  Twitter has announced another incremental step in the development of its ad products: Promoted Tweets can now be targeted to users of specific mobile platforms.  —  Twitter's also announcing that Promoted Tweets are now showing to Blackberry users.

3D printing biz heats up with $1.4B merger of Stratasys and Objet  —  Two of the leading players in the 3D printing market have merged, with Stratasys and Objet Ltd. joining forces in a $1.4 billion deal, the two companies announced this morning.  —  The transaction between the two will position …

Microsoft delivers preview of its Windows Azure-hosted media services platform  —  Summary: Microsoft is taking the wraps off the latest iteration of its Media Platform, which is now hosted on Windows Azure and includes third-party integrations, at the NAB show.

Google-backed research fights review spam  —  Seeing through the sockpuppet  —  University of Illinois at Chicago researchers are taking aim at fake reviews, which they say can seriously damage online businesses.  —  In particular, the Google-backed study is designed to seek out organized groups …

Mobile ad firm Madvertise buys Turkey's Mobilike  —  Most Berlin startups are looking to get acquired, but here's one that's doing the buying: Madvertise, which has just picked up Turkey's top mobile advertising company Mobilike for an undisclosed sum.  —  Madvertise is already …