Apple ‘AirPlay Direct’ planned for September launch  —  Hifi manufacturers are preparing for Apple to launch ‘AirPlay Direct’ technology that allows wireless music playback without the need for a WiFi network.  —  Apple's Steve Jobs launched AirPlay in 2010

Judge Koh Sets Dec. 6 Hearing on Apple's Request to Ban Several Samsung Phones  —  Though the verdict is in, the paperwork continues in the patent dispute between Apple and Samsung.  —  Aiming to put some limits on things, Judge Lucy Koh on Tuesday established a schedule for post-trial filings …

How To Be a Genius: This Is Apple's Secret Employee Training Manual  —  We recently showed you just how badly some of Apple's retail elite behave when no one's watching, but surely they were taught better, right?  You bet they were: Apple tells its new recruits exactly what what to think and say.

The Talented Ms. Hornstein: How @Shirls Fooled The Valley  —  Silicon Valley is full of hustlers, and that's often a good thing.  But there's a difference between hustling and flat-out lying, and when people deceive company after company, it's time to call them out.

Isis Mobile-Payment System To Debut In September After Delays  —  Isis, the mobile-payment joint venture backed by AT&T Inc. (T), Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA Inc., is on track for a debut in September, following months of delays and a change in strategy last year.

“There Will Not Be Crazy, Flashy, Graphical Doodads Flying and Popping Up All Over the Google Site.  Ever.”  —  “There will be no banner ads on the Google homepage or web search results pages.  There will not be crazy, flashy, graphical doodads flying and popping up all over the Google site.

The Andreessen Horowitz Effect  —  In the three short years since Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz set up shop as venture capitalists on Sand Hill Road, they've already established Andreessen Horowitz as one of the top VC firms in Silicon Valley, right up there with Accel, Benchmark, Greylock, Kleiner, and Sequoia.

Exclusive: Zynga's Chief Creative Officer Mike Verdu Exits to Start a New Company  —  Mike Verdu confirmed to AllThingsD that he is leaving Zynga to start his own game company in which Zynga will be an investor.  —  As Chief Creative Officer at Zynga, Verdu oversaw a number of the company's game studios …

Google Reinstates Controversial Music-Streaming App Grooveshark  —  More than a year after Google Inc. removed the controversial Grooveshark music-streaming service from its app store for Android smartphones, the app was quietly reinstated Tuesday afternoon, despite ongoing copyright infringement lawsuits against the company.

OnLive lost: how the paradise of streaming games was undone by one man's ego  —  “I'm the one that brought you here.  I'm the one that ultimately made decisions, and I'm the one that ultimately takes responsibility.  So I am sorry, and it didn't end up exactly as we'd hoped.”

SkyDrive for Android phones now available  —  A few weeks ago we announced our intention to release an official SkyDrive app for Android phones.  Today we're excited to announce that the app is now available for download.  We want to ensure that you're able to have your files accessible across …

New quad-core Intel Atom SoCs target PCs, servers, and tablets  —  Enlarge / The Bay Trail platform will be available for just about any application you can think of.  —  Intel via Baidu  —  Leaked Intel documents have revealed details of the company's next-generation Atom platform.

Uh Oh!  Amazon Researchers Say Pinterest Doesn't Generate A Lot Of Sales  —  Zappos Labs, the research arm of the Zappos online apparel site, has been experimenting with Pinterest—and the results are not encouraging.  —  Will Young, director of Zappos Labs, told Bloomberg that Pinterest users …

How I cracked my neighbor's WiFi password without breaking a sweat  —  The four-way handshake, in which a wireless device (STA) validates itself to a WiFi access point and vice versa.  —  Last week's feature explaining why passwords are under assault like never before touched a nerve with many Ars readers, and with good reason.

Apple Unsuccessfully Tried to Purchase Exclusive Access to TSMC Chip Production for iOS Devices  —  Bloomberg reports that Apple and Qualcomm each put forth investment bids topping $1 billion in attempting to secure exclusive access to chip supplies from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company …

Hackers vow ‘hellfire’ in latest major data leak  —  Team GhostShell says it published one million records, allegedly from banks, government agencies, consulting firms and others — and claims there's more to come.  —  A group of hackers has released a vast quantity of data from banks …

Half of All Mobile Phones Will Be Smartphones by 2013, Two Years Earlier Than Forecast  —  Those smartphones are growing up so fast.  —  It seems like just yesterday they were sending their first emails from their baby keyboards, and now they are poised to take over the world.

TiVo Stream Gets Viewers Off the Couch  —  With my time limited, I'm continuously working to chip away at the ever-growing list of programs and movies on my TiVo.  —  For the past week, I've been testing a device that solves a lot of my problems: TiVo Stream.

RealNetworks cutting up to 160 jobs in overhaul  —  Another big layoff is happening at RealNetworks as the struggling digital media company tries to reorganize and regain its foothold.  —  Up to 160 jobs are being cut, reducing Real's employment by up to 14 percent.

Time Warner Cable invests $25M to build 1Gbps fiber network  —  Time Warner Cable is following Google's lead with a 1Gbps fiber network in New York City, except Time Warner will focus on business customers and it hasn't yet announced pricing.  —  Time Warner Cable announced Tuesday …

Britain May Ease IPO Rules To Prevent $15 Billion Drain  —  As Avast Software NV (AVST) planned its initial public offering last year, Chief Executive Officer Vincent Steckler considered listing the Czech anti-virus software maker in London before finally settling on the Nasdaq Stock Market in New York.

New Java 7 exploit can potentially affect Macs  —  While there are no known attempts to use a newly discovered vulnerability to target Mac users, the exploit has been successfully triggered in both Safari and Firefox on Macs running Mountain Lion.  —  A new vulnerability was found last week in the latest Java 7 runtime from Oracle.