Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $39.99  —  We set out to make it as easy as possible for everyone to upgrade to Windows 8.  Starting at general availability, if your PC is running Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 you will qualify to download an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for just $39.99 in 131 markets.

Twitter Transparency Report  —  Wednesday marks Independence Day here in the United States.  Beyond the fireworks and barbecue, July 4th serves as an important reminder of the need to hold governments accountable, especially on behalf of those who may not have a chance to do so themselves.

Facebook clarifies email address confusion, contact sync is a bug that will be fixed  —  We just got off the phone with Andrew Bosworth, Facebook's Director of Engineering, who sought to clear up some of the confusion recently about the company's decision to hide all email addresses besides …

Exclusive: Amazon buys 3D mapping startup UpNext  —  It looks like Amazon is building up its presence in the mapping business.  The tech giant today closed a deal to acquire 3D mapping startup UpNext, GigaOM has learned.  —  For Amazon, which doesn't have a mapping service of its own …

Judge rejects Samsung's request to allow U.S. tablet sales  —  (Reuters) - A U.S. judge rejected on Monday Samsung Electronics Co. request to lift an injunction against U.S. sales of its Galaxy Tab 10.1, a tablet computer than runs on Google Inc's Android and competes with Apple Inc.'s iPad.

Microsoft Writing Off Nearly All of the $6.3 Billion It Paid for aQuantive  —  Microsoft said on Monday that it is taking a $6.2 billion non-cash charge to account for its disappointing 2007 acquisition of Internet advertising firm aQuantive.  —  That's a huge charge …

Google's Nexus 7 tablet infringes Nokia patents  —  THE GOOGLE NEXUS 7 is already in hot water, as Nokia claims that the tablet infringes some of its patents.  —  Announced last week, the Asus built Nexus 7 is Google's first own-brand tablet and boasts Android 4.1 Jelly Bean …

Apple Tweaks Genius Bar To Increase Capacity  —  In reaction to an ever-increasing number of visitors to its Genius Bars and limited space to seat them, Apple is testing out a new configuration that increases Genius Bar capacity, and emphasizes the use of iPads to manage service records.

When His Project Was Canceled, an Unemployed Programmer Kept Sneaking Into Apple to Finish the Job  —  by Julia Dahl … Ron Avitzur knew his project was doomed.  By the time his bosses cut the cord in August 1993, his team was actually relieved.  The graphing calculator program …

Apple Loses Bid for Emergency Ban on HTC Phone Imports  —  HTC Corp. (2498) can continue to bring its newest smartphones into the U.S. while a trade agency investigates whether the phones violate an order that the Taiwanese company stop infringing an Apple Inc. (AAPL) (AAPL) patent.

New York Judge Overrules Twitter: Tweets Broadcast to the Public ‘Belong to the Public’  —  Things are not looking very good for Malcolm Harris, the Occupy Wall Street protestor who was arrested for disorderly conduct for taking place in the 2011 protest march across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Samsung Galaxy S III Arrives at AT&T stores July 6  —  Great news, the wait is finally over!  I'm excited to share with you that the Samsung Galaxy S III will arrive in AT&T stores on July 6th.  —  Thousands of customers, who just couldn't wait, have already preordered it and have the device in hand.

To fight piracy, Microsoft tightens MSDN and TechNet terms again  —  Summary: Microsoft is about to crack down on software pirates who exploit its generous MSDN and TechNet programs.  If you're a current subscriber, you may get caught in the crossfire.  —  Ed Bott  —  Follow @edbott

HBO Go update supports Android tablets up to ICS  —  When HBO Go launched for the Kindle Fire a few weeks ago it seemed odd that the app still didn't officially support other Android tablets, but now that has changed. v1.5 is now available on Google Play, and the release notes indicate …

Google stole sharing idea for Hangouts and YouTube, lawsuit claims  —  A New York start-up claims that a video sharing feature in YouTube and Google+ is based on concepts that it showed to Google when the two companies met to discuss collaboration strategies in 2011.

Google's Hybrid Approach to Research  —  In this viewpoint, we describe how we organize computer science research at Google.  We focus on how we integrate research and development and discuss the benefits and risks of our approach.  The challenge in organizing R&D is great because CS is an increasingly broad and diverse field.

Facebook adds new timeline icons for married same-sex couples  —  Facebook has rolled out a new feature providing additional recognition for its users who are married to a person of the same sex.  Now these users who have indicated on their Facebook timeline that they are married will be recognized …

Nokia: We have a Windows Phone ‘contingency plan’  —  Nokia has a plan in its back pocket should a deal with Microsoft fall through, or the forthcoming Windows Phone 8 software update fail to generate interest, according to Nokia's board chairman.  —  Speaking on his debut television appearance …

iCloud Beta Previews Web Versions of Notes and Reminders  —  Leaks first appeared in May that Apple was planning to add web versions of the Reminders and Notes iOS apps to iCloud.com for access from desktop Macs and PCs.  —  The iCloud Beta portal has since been activated for developers enrolled the iOS 6 beta at beta.icloud.com.

New Arc soft keyboard may be coming to Windows Phone 8  —  More than a year ago we reported on Microsoft designing a “one handed and next gen soft keyboard” for Windows Phone 8.  —  We now have a picture of the keyboard in question, courtesy of a leaked Microsoft Research presentation.

Mozilla's Boot To Gecko Becomes Firefox OS, Scores Support From Sprint, Deutsche Telekom, ZTE, And More  —  Mozilla's Boot to Gecko project has come a long way in just under a year — what began with the idea of building a mobile operating system based on open web standards like HTML5 has led …

Seesmic officially launches Ping, its social account management tool  —  Seesmic, the company that started as a video chatroom, has officially launched “Ping”, its social account management tool.  There are other tools out there already doing similar things, such as Hootsuite …

Cisco's cloud vision: Mandatory, monetized, and killed at their discretion  —  Last week, a number of Cisco customers began reporting problems with three specific Linksys-branded routers.  When owners of the E2700, E3500, or E4500 attempted to log in to their devices, they were asked …

QR Code Fatigue  —  When 29-year-old manufacturing worker Michael Hellesen sees a Quick Response code around his hometown of Racine, Wis., he sometimes scans it using an application he downloaded to his Google (GOOG) Android smartphone.  More often than not, it takes Hellesen to a brand's website.

Google sees advantage in making new gadget in USA  —  (Reuters) - When Google Inc decided to build its Nexus Q home entertainment device in Silicon Valley rather than in China, it was not fretting about the bottom line.  It was fretting about speed.  —  “We wanted to innovate fast.

Google Makes Offer To EU Regulators To End Antitrust Probe  —  Google Inc. (GOOG) offered concessions to European Union regulators in an effort to end an antitrust investigation into allegations that the operator of the world's largest search engine discriminates against rivals.