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.

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 …

Ellison Takes The Stand Against Google Today in Java Trial  —  Oracle CEO Larry Ellison will take to the witness stand in his company's lawsuit against the search giant Google.  In what's been described as the world series of intellectual property lawsuits, Ellison will be examined …

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.

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.

Introducing the Innovator's Patent Agreement  —  One of the great things about Twitter is working with so many talented folks who dream up and build incredible products day in and day out.  Like many companies, we apply for patents on a bunch of these inventions.

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.”

Going With the Flow: Google's Secret Switch to the Next Wave of Networking  —  In early 1999, an associate computer science professor at UC Santa Barbara climbed the steps to the second floor headquarters of a small startup in Palo Alto, and wound up surprising himself by accepting a job offer.

Read It Later rebrands as “Pocket”, goes free.  Lets its 4.5m users save articles, videos, images & more.  —  I recently met up with the team behind Read It Later over a drink in San Francisco.  The product lets you quickly bookmark any page of text on the web, quite often articles, to read later.

Oakley Tests Technology That Would Rival Google's Project Glass  —  Oakley Inc. is developing technology that can project information directly onto lenses, putting the sunglass maker into potential competition with Google Inc. (GOOG)  —  The technology would let Oakley …

Pebble smartwatch breaks Kickstarter's $3.3 million record...with a full month still to go  —  Not content with hitting $1 million of funding in just over one day, Kickstarter project Pebble has broken the record for funding on the crowdsourced site with a whole month still to go.

Watch Out, Best Buy, Ikea Will Soon Sell Their Own HDTV System And It's Awesome  —  Ikea is entering a brave new world: home entertainment systems.  The company unveiled its UPPLEVA line today with a smart YouTube ad (embedded after the jump).  The video spot quickly explains that the UPPLEVA line …

Megaupload Worked on a Multi-Billion Dollar IPO  —  According to a US indictment, Kim Dotcom and the rest of the “Mega Conspiracy” were running a criminal operation.  —  They are accused of engaging in a racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement …

HTC's shares tumble; CFO change, Samsung launch weigh  —  (Reuters) - Shares of HTC Corp fell as much as 6 percent on Tuesday after a change in its chief financial officer and the imminent launch of a new phone by arch rival Samsung Electronics raised concerns over the Taiwanese firm's recovery.

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.

Amazon Android Developers Can Now Charge More Than $20 For In-App Purchases  —  Amazon is now letting developers charge higher prices for in-app purchases thanks to new parental controls it just strengthened.  —  The company sent out an e-mail to developers today that said:

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.

Mavericks Invent Future Internet Where Cisco Is Meaningless  —  PALO ALTO, California — Martin Casado stands up, reaches across the table, and tears a sheet of paper from a notebook.  The notebook belongs to Alan Cohen, who works alongside Casado at Nicira, the most intriguing startup in Silicon Valley …

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.

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.”

Facebook's Instagram Buy Won't Alter Twitter Strategy  —  Twitter last year looked into buying Instagram, the hot photo-sharing app snapped up last week by Facebook for $1 billion.  But Twitter's chief executive said during a Tokyo visit Monday that Facebook's move won't push his company …

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 …

Gnip unlocks real-time social data from Tumblr's 50 million blogs  —  It was only a few days ago that we wrote about Boulder-based Gnip pulling in social data from China's Sina Weibo.  While those 300 million users do account for a huge amount of information, the growth of Tumblr makes Sina Weibo look like child's play.

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 …