Review: Refined iOS 6 highlighted by stunning Maps overhaul  —  Every iOS release has its marquee feature, and with iOS 6 it's unquestionably Maps.  The app has gotten a in-depth makeover, perhaps the most thorough ever to be applied to one of iOS's built-in applications.

Windows Phone 8X by HTC has a 4.3-inch display and Beats, launches early November  —  HTC is unveiling its flagship Windows Phone 8 handset today, the Windows Phone 8X.  The branding might sound Microsoft-like, but there's a good reason for that — the two companies have joined forces …

iPhone 5/A6 SunSpider Performance: Faster than Intel's Atom Z2460  —  The first iPhone 5 reviews have lifted, confirming the leaked Geekbench data we saw in our earlier post.  Apple's A6 appears to feature two custom ARM cores running at up to 1GHz.  A new datapoint comes courtesy …

The Lost Chapter  —  2003: Cambridge, Massachusetts  —  In college, my computer's filing system was relatively straightforward: I had a folder for each year of school, and within each of those folders there were additional folders for each course I was taking.

Sir Jonathan Ive and entire Apple design team fly to London to collect prestigious D&AD awards  —  Apple has been named the best brand and the best design studio of the last 50 years at the D&AD Awards, one of the world's most prestigious prizes for advertising and design.

Google Updates Android Maps App as Apple Moves On  —  The fight over mobile maps is on.  —  Google plans to add new features to its Google Maps app for Android phones on Wednesday.  Conveniently, it is the same day that Apple's latest mobile operating system is due to be released …

Introducing Groupon Payments  —  In the past, our merchant partners have often told us that their traditional payment systems are expensive and cumbersome-so we stepped up to the plate and developed our own payments service guaranteed to be the simplest and lowest cost option for Groupon merchants to accept credit cards.

Former TechCrunch Editor Erick Schonfeld To Run DEMO  —  The technology conference wars just got a bit more dramatic.  Former TechCrunch editor Erick Schonfeld is taking over the management of DEMO from VentureBeat editor in chief Matt Marshall, who is returning to the tech blog exclusively …

Mobile Pwn2Own: iPhone 4S hacked by Dutch team  —  Summary: How long would it take a determined attacker to hack into Apple's iPhone 4S from scratch?  A Dutch research team uses the Pwn2Own contest to provide the answer.  —  Ryan Naraine  —  AMSTERDAM — How long would it take a determined attacker …

Sources: Zynga Chief Security Officer Nils Puhlmann Has Resigned From Company  —  We're hearing that Nils Puhlmann, the cloud security expert who has worked as Zynga's Chief Security Officer since 2009, resigned from the company yesterday, according to several sources familiar with the matter.

MakerBot unveils Replicator 2, 2X and launches retail store, we go eyes-on  —  The Replicator may have just been pushed off this writer's Christmas list.  (Note to self: send updated letter to Santa.)  But, this isn't a loss for MakerBot Industries, because it's being replaced by the Replicator 2 …

True to form, Samsung mocks iPhone 5 buyers in latest commercial  —  We caught Samsung preparing its latest salvo against Apple last week, and now the company's next big attack ad is finally here.  Staying true to the theme of its earlier commercials, Samsung's new ad mocks those waiting early …

AOL Names Karen Dykstra As Finance Chief  —  AOL Inc. named former hedge-fund executive Karen Dykstra as its chief financial officer, filling a role vacant at the Internet company since June, when the former finance chief was promoted.  —  Ms. Dykstra is a former partner at Plainfield Asset Management LLC …

Apple releases OS X 10.8.2 with single sign on for Facebook, iMessage number merging and more  —  Hot on the heels of the release of iOS 6 (catch our full review here) Apple has just pushed out the update for OS X 10.8.2 which gives a huge set of new features.

John Legere Named as Chief Executive Officer of T-Mobile USA  —  Deutsche Telekom (OTCQX: DTEGY), one of Europe's leading telecommunications and information technology service companies and the parent company of T-Mobile USA, today announced that John Legere, a 32-year veteran of the U.S …

Here's what the new gaming experience on Amazon's Kindle Fire tablets will look like  —  Two weeks ago, Amazon introduced its latest tablet, the Kindle Fire HD, which comes in two screen sizes, 7 inches and 8.9 inches.  The new Kindle Fire tablets will offer players a revamped gaming experience …