Say Hello to Gifts, Facebook's New Mobile Revenue Stream  —  Facebook on Thursday unveiled Gifts, the company's major initiative into the world of social gift giving and e-commerce.  —  It's exactly what it sounds like.  Users can choose, mail and pay for real world, physical gifts …

A New Google App Gives You Local Information — Before You Ask for It  —  Google has created a new mobile app that gives people facts about the places around them — unprompted, without the need to even ask for the information.  —  The app, Field Trip, offers historical trivia about a park …

EU regulators set to charge Microsoft over breached deal  —  (Reuters) - EU regulators are preparing to charge Microsoft Corp for failing to comply with a 2009 ruling ordering it to offer users a choice of web browsers, the EU's antitrust chief said on Thursday.

Instagram Beats Twitter in Daily Mobile Users for the First Time, Data Says  —  Pictures beat words: In August, U.S. smartphone owners visited Instagram from their smartphones more frequently and for longer periods of time than they visited Twitter.  —  That data comes from comScore …

Bad Piggies Is A Hit, Taking Just 3 Hours To Hit The Top Spot In The U.S. App Store  —  And just like that, Rovio is back to number 1.  The Finnish gaming company today launched Bad Piggies, an entirely new game that features some of the same characters from the smash hit, Angry Birds.

“iCloud Backup”  —  Last year, I bought my 87-year-old grandfather an iPad 2 to replace the who-knows-what PC that was frustrating him constantly.  He only used the PC for email and playing music, so it was a no-brainer.  —  Since my grandparents live in Arizona and I usually …

RIM's Fiscal Q2 2013 Results: Net Loss Of $235 Million On $2.9 Billion In Revenue, 7.4 Million BlackBerrys Shipped  —  After a roller coaster of a week, RIM has just released its fiscal Q2 2013 financials and — shocker — they're not as bad as some thought.

New Zealand Prime Minister Apologizes To Kim Dotcom  —  “Of course I apologize to Mr Dotcom, and I apologize to New Zealanders.”  —  These were the humbling words of New Zealand Prime Minister John Key today after a report from Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Paul Neazor found …

Snubbed by Apple, Foursquare makes its maps experience better on iPhone  —  How does the saying go?  The best offense is a good defense.  —  Fresh off rejection, Foursquare is making a full court press on iOS with the release of an iPhone 5 and iOS 6-ready version of its check-in application that touts …

Growing Its Influence, Klout Gets Strategic Investment From Microsoft — And Serious Bing Integration  —  Klout hasn't just defied influential tech pundits, its social reputation scorecard has won them over.  Now the sometimes-controversial startup is aiming at search.

Netflix gets iPhone 5 and iOS 6 support, takes advantage of the new 16:9 screen  —  Netflix today updated its native iOS app with iPhone 5 and iOS 6 support.  You can grab the latest version now from the official Apple App store.  —  The requirements for the app now read: “Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

FCC chair grants AT&T's wish for a nationwide 4G band  —  AT&T asked, and the Federal Communications Commission most definitely listened.  Three months after AT&T submitted a complex proposal to turn a very cellular-unfriendly band into pristine 4G airwaves, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski appears set …

Camera+, a Top-Selling iPhone App, Expands to iPad  —  Camera+, an iPhone camera app that has been a top seller in the App Store for years, expanded to the iPad on Thursday.  Not many people shoot photos with an iPad, but the core features of the app are its editing suite and integration of Apple's iCloud online storage service.

Apple seeks patent for Siri automated assistant  —  Apple is seeking ownership of the technology and features that drive its voice-controlled Siri personal assistant found on iOS devices.  —  The company's extensive 51-page application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is entitled “Intelligent Automated Assistant.”

Samsung teases Galaxy Note 2 launch party on Oct. 24  —  We already know that five carriers will get the 5.5-inch phone/tablet hybrid, but Samsung looks like it will hold a grand opening anyway.  —  Just one look at the stylus in Samsung's Save the Date invite we received today will tell …

Schmidt raps Apple for patent trolling  —  Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt made it clear Thursday that he is against patent wars in the mobile phone industry, expressing his frustration with Apple's recent move to file a myriad of legal attacks against users of the Android operating system (OS), including Samsung Electronics.

What's next for iPhone?  Flexible displays with tactile keyboard, laser mics and surround speakers built-in  —  When Apple announced iPhone 5, there was a collective sigh from tech blogosphere .  “Boooriiing...” - complained geeks around the world.  “It's the same design from 3 years ago” - added pundits.

Seen in the wild: An Apple trade show booth  —  Here at the Surge Conference in Baltimore, Md. I stumbled upon this Apple booth on the trade show floor.  Sure, many of the developers and operations engineers attending the conference toted MacBooks of some sort, but Apple doesn't show up at trade shows pitching its wares anymore.

Amazon Could Be Working On A Square Competitor  —  Rumors have been coming in that Amazon is readying a mobile payments product that could compete with Square, Intuit GoPayment and PayPal Here.  A tipster and an industry source both tell us that Amazon is going after smaller chains of retailers …

Dish Network launches nationwide satellite broadband service with ViaSat, Hughes, calls it dishNET  —  Dish Network's long-gestating tie-up with ViaSat and Hughes has finally arrived under the name dishNET.  Sounding like an implement you'd use to clean dirty dinner plates …

Future has made £5 million from iPad magazines in a year  —  Magazine publisher Future hinted it will upgrade its digital strategy at scale later this year, as it announced impressive sales thanks to Apple'sz iTunes Newsstand.  —  “Sales of digital editions on Apple devices …

Inside story: How Facebook decided to go native on iOS  —  Facebook's new app for iPhone and iPad has made an impression on users with a significant improvement in speed and performance.  In the world of software development, the project has also gotten lots of attention because of the company's decision …

Google No Longer Passes Search Referrer Data In iOS 6 From Safari Search Box  —  Another source of Google search referrer data appears lost.  Searches through Google that happen in Apple's Safari browser's search box on iOS 6, Apple's latest mobile operating system, no longer pass along search terms to publishers.

Intel says Clover Trail tablets will get 10 hours of battery life, deliver full Windows 8 compatibility  —  Microsoft's been calling Windows 8 a no-compromise operating system since day one, but tablet buyers are going to have to make a difficult choice.  They can pick up a sleek …

LG Display Files Patent Suit Against Samsung  —  SEOUL—LG Display Co. said it filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against its biggest rival, Samsung Electronics Co., in a South Korea civil court over the use of advanced OLED displays in smartphones and tablet PCs.