Apple = Sony  —  Apple will decline in the post Steve Jobs era.  Here's why.  —  Sociologist Max Weber created a typology of organizations in his 1947 book The Theory of Social and Economic Organization.  He described three categories: 1) Legal/bureaucratic (think IBM or the U.S. government) …

Spotify Said Developing Pandora-Like Online Radio Service  —  Spotify Ltd., the London-based online music provider, is developing a U.S. Internet radio service that would directly challenge Pandora Media Inc. (P), said two people with knowledge of the situation.

Verizon's Summer / Fall 2012 smartphone roadmap  —  While Samsung's Galaxy S3 has been the star of the rumor show for the past few months — with BGR leading the pack — we now have a clear picture of the smartphone landscape for late summer and early fall this year.

Google tries to win on a technicality, claims Oracle's Java copyrights were filed wrong  —  Things just took a very interesting turn in the Oracle vs. Google courtroom.  Google's attorneys just asked to introduce two documents into evidence from the US Copyright Office that show there's …

New York Times R&D Group Launches First Commercial Product (and It's for Brands)  —  Ricochet Helps Brands Drive Traffic to Relevant Articles, Surrounded by the Right Ads  —  The New York Times R&D Lab has spent the last six and a half years building what its chief calls the equivalent of “concept cars” for the media world.

Apple planning to build private off-campus restaurant to stop competitors from overhearing staff conversations  —  Apple has had a planning request approved for a new off-campus restaurant by the Cupertino Planning Commission, providing employees with a place to eat and discuss company plans …

Apple ‘10 years’ behind Microsoft on security: Kaspersky  —  Welcome to Microsoft's world, Eugene Kaspersky tells Apple  —  The recent Flashback/Flashfake malware outbreak targeting Apple's Mac computers is likely to be just the start of a new wave of attacks aimed at the system …

Trimble Navigation to buy Google's SketchUp  —  (Reuters) - Trimble Navigation Ltd has agreed to buy SketchUp 3D modeling platform from Google Inc for an undisclosed price, the companies said.  —  As part of the SketchUp platform, Trimble will partner Google in developing SketchUp's 3D Warehouse …

Walmart.com Lets You Pay With Cash When Shopping Online  —  Walmart.com is launching today “Pay with Cash,” a new feature that enables users to place orders online and then pay for them at a nearby Walmart.  —  In an interview, Joel Anderson, president and CEO of Walmart.com …

Providence Said Selling Hulu Stake at $2 Billion Value  —  Hulu.com owners Walt Disney Co. (DIS), Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) and News Corp. (NWSA) are close to buying out Providence Equity Partners Inc.'s stake at a price that values the company at $2 billion, said two people with knowledge of the matter.

Exclusive: Amazon Starts Bringing the Art of Recommendations to Daily Deals  —  Amazon is taking its first step in bringing the recommendation technology that the e-commerce site is known for to the daily deals space.  —  To be sure, no one has yet solved targeting in the space …

Steve Jobs' Plan for a Willy Wonka-Style Celebration of the Millionth iMac  —  Among the many anecdotes about Steve Jobs included in Ken Segall's new book, Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success, one in particular stands out for its glimpse into Jobs' character …

Why Anonymity Matters  —  Gawker Media is flying in the face of conventional media wisdom.  While other outlets are doing away with anonymity, we've built anonymous accounts into our new comment system.  We'll accept some disorder if that's the price of freedom in one's personal life, in politics and the press.

VCs are feeling super confident after a dismal 2011, survey says  —  In the first quarter of 2012, investor confidence rose to the highest point it's been in more than a year.  The latest Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Confidence Index — which measures how much statup investing confidence VCs have …

Zynga reports highest ever bookings for Q1 at $329M  —  Zynga's made $329 million in bookings and $320 million in revenue for the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 15 percent and 32 percent year-on-year, respectively.  —  Daily active users are up 6 percent year-on-year from 62 million to 65 million.

Airbnb Streamlines Booking Process for Last-Minute Travel  —  The average reservation on Airbnb is made a month in advance, and completing a booking can take up to eight days.  —  So Airbnb has created an alternative booking service for last-minute travel that it calls Match …

Twitter Updates iPhone and Android Apps: Improves Discover Tab, Search & Push Notifications  —  Twitter just announced the latest updates to its mobile apps for Android and iOS.  With these updates, these apps get a number of much-needed new features, including an improved Discover tab …

One in four iPad purchases are made by first-time Apple owners  —  The iPad has been highly successful at drawing new customers to Apple, as a new study has found that about 25 percent of buyers in the U.S. have made the iPad their first-ever Apple product.  —  The data was released on Thursday …

Netgear announces first 802.11ac router, offers up to 1.3Gbps and is coming in May for $199.99  —  Early adopters, take note: Netgear is officially going to make your 802.11n router out of date next month.  The company has announced that it'll ship the first 802.11ac (also known as “5G Wi-Fi” …

Groupon Must Avoid Taking ‘Stupid Risks,’ CEO Says  —  On the heels of an embarrassing financial revision last month, Groupon Inc. is seeking to steady the ship.  —  The Chicago-based daily deals site is expected to announce several new senior executive hires in the coming weeks and is in talks …

comScore: Amazon Kindle Fire is 54.4% of US Android tablets  —  comScore shows Kindle Fire propping up Android  —  Amazon's Kindle Fire now makes up the absolute majority of the Android tablet platform in the US, comScore found in a fresh study.  The e-reader and tablet crossover represented 54.4 percent …

Finally, Professional Social Network LinkedIn Gives Users An iPad App  —  Although the iPad has been available for more than two years, LinkedIn has yet to offer its users a native app despite the fact that mobile engagement has been growing at a fast pace for the network.

Indian online retailer HomeShop18 eyes $100 mln U.S. IPO  —  * To invest in technology and back-end infrastructure  —  * CEO says open to listing but can't give any timeframe  —  Indian media group Network 18 is moving towards a U.S. listing of its wholly owned online retail arm, HomeShop18 …

CrowdStar No Longer Developing Social Games for Facebook  —  CrowdStar's CEO Peter Relan said in an interview that the longtime social games maker is no longer developing for Facebook.  —  Instead, the company is focused on building games for smartphones.  —  “We are maintaining the old games …