Exclusive: Apple Nabs Amazon A9 Exec Stasior to Run Siri — But Does Hire Signal a Bigger Move Into Search?  —  Apple has hired major Amazon exec and prominent search technologist William Stasior to run its Siri unit, according to sources.  —  At the online retail giant, Stasior has been in charge of A9 …

Apple also planning new Mac minis for launch alongside smaller iPad  —  Alongside the smaller iPad, Apple plans to announce a new version of its Mac mini.  Sources say that these Mac minis will come in two standard configurations, with different storage and processor options, and a third model that runs OS X Server.

The $56 Million Man: Yahoo Confirms Hiring of Google's De Castro as COO  —  Yahoo said today in a regulatory filing that it had hired one of Google's top sales execs, Henrique De Castro, as its COO.  —  Earlier today, I had reported that CEO Marissa Mayer had been close to nabbing the exec …

Starting v. Building a Company … Fred Wilson has a series of classes on building sustainable companies.  His related blog posts highlight the differences for me between “starting” and “building” companies.  —  It's never been easier to start a company in Silicon Valley and New York.

First Microsoft Surface ad airs on national TV ahead of October 26th release  —  Microsoft's first ad for its Surface tablet will start to air on national TV this evening.  The software maker will air the ad during Monday Night Football on ESPN.  Following the initial Windows 8 TV ads …

Xbox: The new face of ‘entertainment’ at Microsoft, beyond just video games  —  The most striking takeaway from a recent meeting I had with Xbox Music GM Jerry Johnson wasn't the Spotify-like service he was in New York City to show off, but rather what he said about a much larger internal change at Microsoft.

Apple's new iPod touch takes a step back: No light sensor  —  After raving about my new iPod touch last week, I've continued to happily use the device; until this weekend, that is.  I actually thought my iPod touch was broken, in fact.  Turns out that the device is just fine and functioning as it should.

Muslims protest ‘age of mockery’ as thousands descend on Google HQ  —  Thousands of Muslims have pledged a series of protests against Google HQ for a “hateful and offensive” anti-Islam video, saying they now live in an “age of mockery”.  —  A protest by 10,000 Muslims outside the offices …

Textbook Publisher Pearson Takes Down 1.5 Million Teacher And Student Blogs With A Single DMCA Notice  —  If there's one thing we've seen plenty of here at Techdirt, it's the damage a single DMCA takedown notice can do.  From shuttering a legitimate ebook lending site to removing negative reviews …

Circa's New iOS App Will Change The Way You Consume News  —  The way that we consume information on the Internet has changed dramatically over the years.  The main reason is because there is simply more content available to us than we could ever consume during our time on Earth.

Americans Paying More for LTE Service  —  BERLIN — Does LTE, the superfast wireless service based on Long Term Evolution technology, cost too much in the United States?  A recent study by the research arm of the GSM Association, a group based in London that represents mobile operators, suggests that may be the case.

Google ‘to be told to unravel privacy policy’  —  French data protection commissioner's ruling that web giant must separate user data could have global impact, say sources  —  Google will be told on Tuesday to unravel the controversial changes introduced in March to its European privacy policy, legal sources have told the Guardian.

Basic solidarity in WikiLeaks & Anonymous  —  Freedom isn't free, justice isn't free and solidarity isn't free.  They all require generosity, self-discipline, courage and a sense of perspective.  Groups with unity flourish and those without unity are destroyed and replaced by those who have it.

Google Amps Up Personal Search to Combine Gmail, Calendar, Drive and More  —  Google is slowly but surely combining its various products so that users can find all their stuff in one place.  —  Starting today, Gmail users will be able to search across their mail, contacts …

Google TV finally gets added to a TV set-top box... in Korea  —  Google has sealed its first set-top box deal for its Google TV platform: Customers of South Korea's LG UPlus IPTV subscription service can now chose to get a Google TV-powered set-top box instead of their plain old cable box.

Zynga Files Suit Against Former Staffer, Claiming Theft of Trade Secrets  —  Following the departure of several high-level employees, Zynga is striking back by filing a lawsuit against one of its former general managers, alleging “the wholesale theft of some of its most sensitive and commercially valuable data.”

Apple Appeals Tokyo Court's Ruling for Samsung in Lawsuit  —  Apple Inc. (AAPL) appealed a Tokyo ruling that said Samsung Electronics Co. didn't infringe on the iPhone maker's patent as the world's top two smartphone sellers continue their global legal dispute.

Samsung official cites serious chip rift with Apple — report  —  Samsung has probably been the largest single component supplier to Apple and has collaborated with Apple on chip development.  That relationship may be coming to an end, according to a report.

Foursquare Takes On Yelp With New Homepage Search Box  —  Perhaps it was always inevitable that Foursquare would shift its emphasis from location-based social networking to local search.  Indeed, the site has been moving in this direction for quite some time, and very self-consciously for the better part of the past year.

In the High-Tech Patent Wars, an Inventor's Lament  —  A long, narrative article we ran last week on the challenges facing the patent system, “The Patent, Used as a Sword,” prompted a lot of comments, and we posted more than 275 of them.  —  But I thought it might be worthwhile to present one more …

Yahoo Loses Government Relations Head to Airbnb (Internal Memo Time!)  —  Yahoo's David Hantman, who has been its deputy general counsel and VP of global public policy, is taking a similar job at the online rentals start-up Airbnb, according to an internal memo he sent today.

Samsung reveals lineup, pricing on Windows 8 hybrids & ultrabooks (photos)  —  NEW YORK CITY — Korean electronics giant Samsung has been steadily revenaling details about its lineup of Windows 8 PCs and tablet hybrids, but tonight we finally have what appears to be the finalized lineup and prices of the new devices.

Square officially ends its New York taxi pilot  —  After seven months of testing an iPad-based payment system in New York taxis, Square is officially terminating its pilot, well short of its original planned ending date, according to a letter sent to the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission on Friday.