Apple's smaller iPad to likely start at a minimum of $329 in the U.S.  —  Apple's entry price for its upcoming smaller iPad is between the base model of the new, fifth-generation iPod touch ($299) and the currently shipping WiFi-only 16GB iPad 2 ($399).  According to our sources …

Zuck's Advice To Startups: Explore Before You Commit, Listen, Build Something Fundamental, Don't Copy  —  Facebook didn't guess that users wanted to share photos.  It learned it, Mark Zuckerberg explained in his talk at Y Combinator Startup School.  “We really listened to what our users wanted …

Top Facebook executive Joanna Shields resigns to head up London's Tech City  —  Joanna Shields, one of Facebook's most senior executives, is to quit the social media giant and join David Cameron's project to create a competitor to California's Silicon Valley in East London.

Initial Surface US pre-orders sold out, some UK orders delayed to November 2nd [update]  —  Microsoft's initial stock of Surface RT devices has sold out in the United States.  The 32GB base model, at $499, sold out earlier in the week, but all stock has now been depleted with a wait …

Dissecting The Sony Nexus X, The Fake That Launched A Thousand Stories  —  So hey, remember that Sony Nexus X image that made the rounds earlier this week?  The one that more than a few commentors called a hoax after I ran a story about it?  Well, the skeptics among you were right …

Facebook, Twitter apps no longer on Xbox 360 marketplace [Update]  —  The Xbox 360 Facebook app featured a design that hadn't been updated in years.  —  When Microsoft began rolling out the new version of its Xbox 360 dashboard earlier this week, two things it didn't bring along for the ride …

To Turn The Crowd Into Venture Capitalists, FundersClub Raises $6M Seed Round — Biggest In YC History  —  If you need more proof that FundersClub wants to radically change startup funding by letting non-VCs invest, it just closed a $6 million seed round, the largest ever from a Y Combinator company.

In Silicon Valley, Perks Now Begin at Home  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Phil Libin, chief executive of Evernote, turned to his wife last year and asked if she had suggestions for how the software company might improve the lives of its employees and their families.  His wife, who also works at Evernote, didn't miss a beat: housecleaning.

Google's Knowledge Graph Now Explains Connections Between Your Query And Items In “People Also Search For” Section  —  Google just announced a small but interesting update to its Knowledge Graph panels.  Instead of just showing you a list of related items that other people also searched for …