An update to our search algorithms  —  We aim to provide a great experience for our users and have developed over 200 signals to ensure our search algorithms deliver the best possible results.  Starting next week, we will begin taking into account a new signal in our rankings …

Photos of purported next-gen iPhone's thinner, higher capacity battery: 3.8V, 1440 mAh  —  As the launch of the next iPhone approaches, lots of parts have been leaking out and we've been able to put the pieces together almost like a reverse iFixit teardown.

$110 Says All the New Kindles Are Coming Next Week  —  If you want to know if Amazon's new Kindles are coming out—and what they'll be—don't listen to analysts or supply chains or, yes, blogs.  One trip to Amazon today will tell you nearly everything you need to know about when, and what, Amazon's about to unleash on the world.

How Google's stealth support is buoying Samsung in Apple fight  —  The company has been quietly providing support to several Android partners, CNET has learned.  —  Google may have kept a low profile amid the legal clashing between Samsung Electronics and Apple, but the company hasn't abandoned its Android partners.

Microsoft now using ‘Modern UI Style’ to refer to Windows 8 ‘Metro Style’ apps  —  Microsoft may have nixed its “Metro” branding for the new tile-based design in Windows 8 and Windows Phone, but the company appears to be split over its replacement naming.  Earlier this week it was reported …

Apple sold 5.7 million tablets in the U.S. last quarter, court documents show.  Samsung sold 37,000  —  Reports of Galaxy Tab sales, like Mark Twain's death, have been greatly exaggerated  —  FORTUNE — In early December 2010, dozens of reporters happily repeated Samsung's claim …

Attack of the acqui-hires  —  Why tech companies buy the cow, even though they can get the milk for free.  —  FORTUNE — I'm a sucker for VC exits.  Even when I don't know the purchase and sale prices, there is something instinctively positive about a portfolio company being acquired by Google or Facebook or LinkedIn.

Another Big Social Marketing Exit: Gannett Will Buy BLiNQ Media For Up To $92M  —  On the heels of Google buying Wildfire and Salesforce nabbing Buddy Media, we have heard from two very reliable sources, plus a third anonymous source, that Gannett Co., the media giant that owns USA Today and other properties, is buying BLiNQ Media.

DowninthedumpsVille: Morale Sinking at Zynga Along With Stock Drop  —  Will more Zynga employees be on their way out the door, as the company continues to struggle after going public only eight months ago?  —  Yes, indeed, if morale at the San Francisco-based social games company continues to sink as quickly as its stock has been.

Microsoft Said To Plan To Keep Facebook Stake As Lockup Ends  —  Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) will probably hang on to its stock in social-network operator Facebook Inc. (FB) after a ban on share sales expires next week, a person with knowledge of the company's plans said.

Apple files hint at re-engineered iMac and Mac Pro models, potentially without optical drives  —  Internal configuration files in Mountain Lion make apparent references to yet-unreleased new generations of Apple's iMac (iMac13,) and Mac Pro (MacPro6,), both in the context of USB booting options …

Odgaard: “I will continue working on TextMate as long as I am a Mac user”  —  Odgaard ostensibly instructs his niece on the finer points of software freedom on a recent holiday.  —  Lead TextMate developer Allan Odgaard's decision yesterday to open source the code for the long-awaited version 2.0 was met with a lot of criticism.

Exclusive: Yahoo's Mayer Eyeing Twitter's Stanton for Big Media Role  —  Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has been trying to recruit Katie Jacobs Stanton, Twitter's head of international markets, to take a major job on the media side of the Silicon Valley Internet giant, according to multiple sources close to the situation.

Airbnb had a record 60,000 bookings last Saturday, 75% of them were from new users to the site  —  Staying in someone else's house or apartment instead of in a hotel room may still seem like a foreign concept to some, but that isn't slowing Airbnb, which is on a tear with the premise as of late.