iPhone 5 Pre-Orders Top Two Million in First 24 Hours  —  Apple® today announced pre-orders of its iPhone® 5 topped two million in just 24 hours, more than double the previous record of one million held by iPhone 4S.  Demand for iPhone 5 exceeds the initial supply and while the majority …

Google takes on Instagram and Facebook by acquiring top iOS photo app Snapseed  —  Google has agreed to acquire Nik Software, the German developer of photography app Snapseed, for an undisclosed amount.  Sources close to the deal tell The Verge that while Nik Software produces all sorts …

Nokia confirms: Amazon has licensed its Location Platform for maps and geocoding  —  It's not that a big surprise anymore, after Reuters earlier reported that Amazon teamed up with Nokia for mapping services, but to my knowledge the Finnish smartphone and mobile software maker has never actually confirmed this to date.

Square Finally Closes $200 Million Round at a $3.25 Billion Valuation  —  Square has finally closed its fourth round of funding, which values the three-year-old company at a jaw-dropping $3.25 billion.  —  The payments company is perhaps best known for allowing small businesses …

Microsoft confirms October 25 launch for Windows 8  —  Summary: Microsoft officials are now confirming the Windows 8 — and Surface RT — launch will be on October 25 in New York City.  —  Mary Jo Foley  —  It's not a big surprise to readers of this blog, but Microsoft officials confirmed …

Google's Loss=Yandex's Gain In iOS6: Russian Search Giant Nabs Apple Maps API; Search Deal In The Works  —  Apple's gradual extrication from Google services is having a knock-on effect in international markets — and Google's competitors elsewhere.  In Russia, the local search leader Yandex …

Skype preparing to launch video messaging and ‘Metro’ design  —  Skype is preparing to update its range of clients to support a new video messaging option, The Verge has learned.  The feature will launch in time for the holidays, possibly as early as next month — according to sources familiar with Skype's plans.

Winklevoss Twins of Facebook Fame Return to Invest in SumZero  —  The Winklevoss twins lost the biggest social-network showdown ever when their rival, Mark Zuckerberg, walked away with Facebook.  Now they are trying again—with a social network for professional investors.

Kindle Fire HD Teardown  —  The Kindle Fire HD has landed on the doorstep of iFixit.  Naturally, we've embarked on the epic voyage of exploring the electronic innards of the Kindle Fire HD.  What will we find?  Follow along as we methodically break down each component.

Samsung to unveil Galaxy S4 in Feb 2013  —  Summary: New handset expected to sport 5-inch screen, and will see some “external changes” but retain its rectangle shape with rounded corners concept; to be unveiled at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona next year.  —  Ellyne Phneah

As predicted, Google+ passes 400M registered users, now has 100M monthly active users  —  As part of Google's announcement to acquire Snapseed's creator Nik software, Vic Gundotra, the Senior Vice President of Engineering for Google, just announced a new milestone for Google+ …

H-P Tries On a Sleeker Look  —  Taking a Cue From Apple, CEO Whitman Makes Better Design Central to Turnaround  —  When Meg Whitman took over as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co. a year ago, she got a company-issued laptop.  —  “They gave me a brick,” she said, referring to the device's weight and chunky appearance.

Everything's broken and nobody's upset  —  Software doesn't work.  I'm shocked at how often we put up with it.  Here's just a few issues - [literally] off the top of my head - that I personally dealt with last week.  — My iPhone 4s has 3 gigs of “OTHER” taking up space, according to iTunes.

Critical zero-day bug in Internet Explorer under active attack  —  Remotely triggered vuln can affect a wide variety of IE and Windows versions.  —  Researchers have uncovered active malware attacks that exploit a critical and previously unknown vulnerability in the latest versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser.

First third-party Lightning to 30-pin adapters show up on Amazon for $10-18 (Ebay too)  —  Look what just popped up on Amazon: A company called Nanotch is offering pre-orders for 30-pin to Lightning adapters.  There had been concern when a report last month said the 9-pin adapters …

App-controlled LIFX bulbs reinvent the humble household light  —  For years and years, the dimmer switch was about as fancy as it got for lightbulbs — but a team of designers is intending to change all that.  —  The LIFX lightbulb (pronounced “life ex") is a Kickstarter project that seeks to “reinvent” the humble household light.

Coders Behind the Flame Malware Left Incriminating Clues on Control Servers  —  The attackers behind the nation-state espionage tool known as Flame accidentally left behind tantalizing clues that provide information about their identities and that suggest the attack began earlier and was more widespread than previously believed.