Exclusive: Yahoo and Facebook Strike Patent Peace Deal, Significantly Expanding Ad and Content Partnership  —  Executives at Yahoo and Facebook have completed an extensive strategic deal, as part of a final settlement of their contentious patent infringement lawsuit and countersuit.

Simpler search  —  We're constantly working to make Twitter search the simplest way to discover what's happening in real time.  To that end, today we're introducing search autocomplete and ‘People you follow’ search results to twitter.com.  In addition to recent improvements like related query suggestions …

So, That's It For Thunderbird  —  Mozilla is not “stopping” Thunderbird development, it has just decided that: “continued innovation on Thunderbird is not the best use of our resources given our ambitious organizational goals.”  And it's pulling people off the project.  But it's not stopping?

AT&T to launch new blocking service for stolen devices on July 10th  —  AT&T will launch a new service for reporting and blocking stolen devices on Tuesday, according to a trusted source.  The service will allow customers to deny voice, data and SMS access to any individual phone or tablet …

Introducing BitTorrent Torque  —  Over a decade ago we introduced BitTorrent technology and BitTorrent clients, and the Internet was profoundly changed.  This week we are aiming to revolutionize the web once again by integrating the power of BitTorrent with the most familiar experience on a computer: the browser.

Facebook to Target Ads Based on App Usage  —  Facebook Inc. is launching a new type of mobile advertising that targets consumers based on the apps they use, pushing the limits of how companies track what people do on their phones.  —  The social network is tracking the apps that people use through …

Microsoft vets weigh in: Here's what needs to change  —  The opening spread of the upcoming Vanity Fair piece on Microsoft and Steve Ballmer.  —  Stephen Toulouse worked at Microsoft for 18 years before leaving earlier this year, so he read Kurt Eichenwald's Vanity Fair piece on the company's “Lost Decade” with a former insider's eye.

At ‘Hacker Hostels,’ Living on the Cheap and Dreaming of Digital Glory  —  SAN FRANCISCO — From the outside it's just a beige three-story building in a quiet residential neighborhood.  But inside, in a third-floor apartment, there are enough Ikea bunk beds to sleep 10 people, crammed into two bedrooms.

Hulu CEO: I Don't Want To Run Yahoo  —  Yesterday, Yahoo's CEO search was down to two names: interim CEO Ross Levinsohn and Hulu CEO Jason Kilar.  —  Now it's down to one.  A Hulu spokesperson just sent us a statement confirming that Yahoo was interested in Kilar but that he doesn't want the job.

Under the Hood: Timeline apps behind Facebook engineering  —  A big part of working at Facebook is dogfooding our own products.  Before new features roll out to the public, our team uses them frequently and thoroughly to figure out what we can do better.  So when we started building Open Graph …

Apple Removes Negative Reviews From Apps Affected By DRM Bug [Updated]  —  Earlier this week, an error in Apple's DRM code generation for App Store apps caused a number of app updates to crash on launch.  The issue, initially reported by Instapaper developer Marco Arment …

What Amazon Brings to the Smartphone Market  —  The notion that Amazon might do a smartphone is not new, though a new Bloomberg report suggests that one might hit the market sooner rather than later.  —  And, while clearly a novice at making phones, Amazon brings a lot of know-how and relevant skills …

FINS: Facebook to Launch Job Postings Board—Sources  —  Facebook Inc. (FB) is planning to launch its own job board later this summer, said people familiar with the matter.  The board will aggregate the job postings of third-party providers, making them available for search by Facebook users.

Top problems with iPhone 4S, Galaxy S III, other leading phones revealed in new report  —  Though some people seem to form unhealthy attachments and allegiances to their smartphones, no handset will ever be perfect.  The screen is too small, the screen is too big, the battery doesn't last long enough …

Samsung Galaxy Note II rumored for August unveiling with 5.5-inch display  —  Samsung's successor to the Galaxy Note is expected to be unveiled in August at the IFA consumer electronics trade show in Germany.  MK Business News reports that the Galaxy Note II will be unveiled at the show, with a launch date rumored for October.

Just By Itself, HP Increased Tech Industry Layoffs Tenfold This Year  —  Layoffs in the tech industry are 10 times higher so far this year than they were for the same period in 2011—and it's all thanks to the hard cuts CEO Meg Whitman has put in place at Hewlett-Packard.

Apple's next iPhone rumored to feature quad-core processor  —  Apple's next-generation iPhone will be powered by a quad-core ARM processor based on Samsung's Exynos 4 architecture, according to a new report.  —  The claim comes from the sometimes-reliable DigiTimes, which cited …

After Android Trial, Google Demands $4 Million From Oracle  —  Google wants $4 million from Oracle to cover the costs it incurred during this spring's epic legal battle over the Android mobile operating system.  —  In a brief filed with in federal court on Thursday night …