Zynga Launches Cross-Platform Network, Multiplayer And New Chat Features, Plus More Games  —  Big news out of Zynga HQ.  The company is building what it calls a “social lobby” for all players to meet and play across all social networks and platforms, broadly called the “Zynga With Friends Network.”

As the battle for the living room heats up, Brightcove bets big on Apple TV  —  “The mythical Apple television set that everyone talks about is already here,” said Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Brightcove, sipping an iced cappuccino with The Verge on a particularly hot New York morning.

Kindle Fire 2 may hit as soon as July  —  Last year, Amazon launched the Kindle Fire in September.  The next-generation Kindles are expected to launch a little earlier this year.  —  (Credit: CNET)  —  What's next for Kindle hardware?  —  Well, a credible source has told CNET that Amazon …

Dell introduces new XPS 14 and XPS 15 laptops  —  Naturally, with the added processing power and the inclusion of a disc drive, the XPS 15 gains a little heft over the XPS 14, carrying a thickness of 0.91-inches and a starting weight at 5.79 pounds.  It also shaves three hours off …

Apple Offers New Dedicated Podcast App for iOS  —  Earlier this month, it was rumored that Apple would be launching a standalone podcast app in iOS 6.  Instead of waiting for the next version of iOS, Apple posted the Podcast app on the App Store today.  [App Store]

McAfee discovers $78 million worth of sophisticated cyber attacks against banking systems  —  Security firms McAfee and Guardian Analytics have published a joint fraud report, dubbed Operation High Roller, on new methods of siphoning money from banking systems.

In a Big Network of Computers, Evidence of Machine Learning  —  MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Inside Google's secretive X laboratory, known for inventing self-driving cars and augmented reality glasses, a small group of researchers began working several years ago on a simulation of the human brain.

Scientists crack RSA SecurID 800 tokens, steal cryptographic keys  —  Scientists crack RSA SecurID 800 tokens, steal cryptographic keys  —  Scientists penetrate hardened security devices in under 15 minutes.  —  RSA's SecurID 800 is one of at least five commercially available security devices susceptible …

Vizio Announces The Co-Star, A $99 Google TV Box With OnLive Gaming Built In  —  Watch out, Sony, Vizio is chasing your tail.  Just yesterday Sony revealed its latest Google TV hardware, a $199 remake of the company's first GTV products.  And now today, Vizio took to the wires and announced …

VIDEO: Hands on with Windows Phone 7.8's amazing new Start Screen  —  Yesterday I snuck over to the engineering building and “borrowed” a Nokia Lumia 900 running a VERY early build of Windows Phone 7.8, so I could shoot a video of the amazing new Start Screen.

EU Commissioner Reveals He Will Simply Ignore Any Rejection Of ACTA By European Parliament Next Week  —  The day before the EU's International Trade committee (INTA) recommended that the European Parliament should reject ACTA, the EU commissioner with responsibility for the treaty, Karel De Gucht …

Social-Mobile-LOCAL: “Local” Will Be The Biggest Of The Three  —  While “Social-Mobile-Local” is certainly an overused buzz phrase, most of the attention has been placed on the “social” and “mobile” parts of the phrase.  In social, the spectacular rise of Facebook and Twitter is clearly a disruptive and critical trend.

Top Five YouTube Partner Channels Drive Nearly 1.5 Billion Monthly Streams  —  May 2012 marks the first month that Nielsen is publicly reported streaming measurement on thousands of YouTube partners.  The top five YouTube Partner channels, led by Vevo, Warner Music Group and Machinima, combined for nearly 1.5 billion total streams.

Former Facebooker Scoops Up $1.4 Million for Freshplum, Sales Analytics for the Little Guy  —  Pricing physical goods can be relatively straightforward: Fixed costs like labor and materials are calculable, while watching competitors and market demand can aid you in finding a solid target price.

Nokia 808 PureView review  —  A camera that can make phone calls — or something more?  At Mobile World Congress this year, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop cast a wary eye over the catalog of shiny new phones introduced by his competitors and posed the challenge, “which ones will you remember?”

Wallaby Combines All Your Credit Cards Into One, Makes Sure You Earn The Most Rewards  —  Wallaby, which is launching its beta today, reminds me a bit of banking startup Simple.  Just like Simple automatically manages your finances for you and automatically shuffles your money between …

Jeff Huber Has The Hardest Job At Google  —  Let's return to the case of Jeff Huber, Google's senior vice president of Geo and Commerce.  —  Last week, we published a story headlined: “Depending On Whom You Ask, This Google Exec Is Either ‘Weak’ Or He Just Drew The Short Straw.”

Dropbox Bans BitTorrent Startup Boxopus Over Piracy Concerns  —  On Saturday we covered Boxopus, a new startup that allows people to download torrents directly to their dropbox folders.  —  The news was quickly picked up by many other technology sites and as a result the service's member count surged to more than 50,000.

Wi-Fi Alliance begins certifying Passpoint devices  —  The Wi-Fi Alliance has opened up its certification lab doors and is now inviting vendors to submit their handsets and access points for Hotspot 2.0 certification.  If they pass muster, they will receive the Alliance's Passpoint stamp of approval …

And the Winner of the Next Social Networking Jackpot Is...  Microsoft Monday said it would spend $1.2 billion cash in a much-anticipated acquisition of Yammer, a sort of Twitter for businesses.  —  The nearly 4-year-old startup is only the latest acquisition in a string of similar deals.

Miami Heat Owner Sues Blogger & Google Over ‘Unflattering’ Photo  —  What is it with super rich sports owners and SLAPP suits?  Remember Redskins owner Dan Snyder?  Well here's a situation that seems even more ridiculous.  Ranaan Katz is a minority owner of the Miami Heat, who just won the NBA championship.

Science Acquires Indian Startup Pinpuff to Measure and Monetize Influence On Pinterest  —  For the last six months, Los Angeles-based technology studio Science has been launching one ecommerce business after another — including Dollar Shave Club, Wittlebee, and DogVacay …

Sprint iPhone Sales Stronger at Big-Box Retailers Than at Apple Stores  —  The iPhone is a big seller at Apple's retail stores, but not necessarily Sprint's version of the device.  A new study by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) has found that Sprint iPhones sell far better …

Cisco announces the EA6500, its first 802.11ac router, and launches Connect Cloud platform  —  For those looking for 801.11ac gigabit wireless when they buy their next router, Cisco will soon have a suitable option.  The company today announced its forthcoming Linksys EA6500 router …

Lightroom 4 Now Available as Part of Creative Cloud  —  I'm pleased to announce the availability of Lightroom 4 as part of Creative Cloud.  —  We're excited to get Lightroom, our end-to-end solution for both amateur and professional photographers, into the hands of Creative Cloud customers …

The face and the brand  —  In the five years since the iPhone launched, Apple created a total of 35,852 retail jobs.  —  Some of those jobs came from new store openings.  The total store count went from 172 to 361, more than doubling.  But the growth in employment was faster: from about 6400 to 42,200, more than quintupling.

Next-generation recommendation engine Nara launches, taking on $4m  —  Today Nara has launched itself into the market, in a bid to make the web more personal, by generating recommendations that individuals can use on a daily basis, at a much higher level of accuracy than was previously possible.