Apple Said to Be Exploring Switch From Intel Chips for the Mac  —  Apple Inc. (AAPL) is exploring ways to replace Intel Corp. (INTC) processors in its Mac personal computers with a version of the chip technology it uses in the iPhone and iPad, according to people familiar with the company's research.

Announcing Instagram Profiles on the Web!  —  You've asked for Instagram on the web and we've listened.  Over the next few days, we'll be rolling out Instagram profiles on the web!  Your web profile features a selection of your recently shared photographs just above your profile photo and bio …

Foursquare Explore now has ratings powered by where people actually like to go, not just star ratings  —  With today's iOS update, we've made finding the best place on-the-go even easier.  Now when you search for somewhere to go in Explore, you'll see a score from 1 to 10 next to the name of a place.

Facebook For iOS Gets Photo Filters And Multi-Shot Sharing, Beating Twitter To The Punch  —  Don't trust the release notes.  Facebook has just added photo filters to its iOS app, though the feature wasn't announced in the version 5.1 “What's New” that highlights multi-photo uploads, slide-out chat buddy list, and Gift giving.

Mary Meeker Gives Mid-Year Internet Trends Report: Android Adoption Ramping Up 6X Faster Than iPhone  —  KPCB partner Mary Meeker usually publishes her famed Internet Trends report once a year, but gave a small San Francisco crowd a mid-year update tonight.  The biggest new facts?

New Jersey's emergency email voting is a risky experiment, warn experts  —  Will displaced voters be disenfranchised?  —  Tomorrow's election is coming, and there's nothing New Jersey can do to postpone it.  So to cope with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which left millions …

Microsoft Surface tested as balloting device in Virginia  —  Here's an interesting milestone for Microsoft Surface: One of the tablets is being tested in Virginia this week as a balloting device for state and national elections there.  —  The test is being conducted by Democracy Live …

Microsoft to retire Windows Live Messenger in favor of Skype  —  Microsoft is working towards retiring its Windows Live Messenger client in favor of Skype.  The Verge has learned through several sources that Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger service will be retired in the coming months and integrated into Skype.

Rumor: radical brand makeover inbound for Samsung  —  According to a report from Australia's Channel News, Samsung is prepping its multi-billion dollar self for a makeover.  The folks down under have caught wind stating that Samsung is looking for a completely new look that will hopefully …

Google Voice Search Vs. Siri: Who's the Best iPhone Assistant?  —  With Google's release of its brand new search app for iOS, we decided to put Siri in the ring with Voice Search—now available on your iPhone—to see if she could defend her own turf.  —  Overall performance on both sides was generally sound.

Craigslist losing revenue from housing ads as competition heats up  —  The classifieds site is still a cash cow, but its revenue from real estate ads is down more than 23 percent  —  Rumors of Craigslist's death have been greatly exaggerated, but the dot-com era site may be losing its dominance in the American real estate market.

Bravo's new startup show needs less Ways, more means  —  This evening Bravo aired the hotly anticipated first episode of its technology-focused reality show “Start-Ups: Silicon Valley.”  The show has been an object of chatter for months among tech media and Valley pundits …

iPad mini Display Technology Shoot-Out  —  The iPad mini has finally arrived - Apple's much anticipated response to the incredibly successful 7 inch Tablets pioneered by Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and more recently by Google with its Nexus 7.  So far they are the only Tablets that have made a dent in Apple's near monopoly on Tablets.

Microsoft's new tune: Only 16GB open on a 32GB Surface, not “more than 20GB,” as promised  —  When the Surface's pricing and storage options were announced, it received praise coming with, at minimum, 32 gigabytes of internal storage.  That's twice what the low-cost, full-size, and current-model iPad sports, it was noted.

Xbox team's ‘consumer detector’ would dis-Kinect freeloading TV viewers  —  A newly surfaced patent filing from Microsoft's Xbox Incubation team details one of the new innovations they've been thinking about.  This one could be very popular among major movie and television studios.

France to Probe Mobile Upstart  —  Antitrust Agency to Study if Roaming Pact Gives Illiad Unit ‘Lasting Advantage’  —  PARIS—The French government asked the country's antitrust authority to study whether France's new cut-rate mobile-phone operator is benefiting from a sweetheart roaming agreement …

Judge cancels trial, tosses Apple's FRAND lawsuit against Google's Motorola Mobility  —  Following a hearing in the morning, a federal judge in the Western District of Wisconsin has canceled an Apple v. Motorola Mobility trial that was scheduled to start today at 1 PM Central Time and has dismissed …

Yes, Apple will approve Google Maps for iOS  —  What a much-discussed story in the Guardian misunderstands about developers — and about Apple.  —  The tech blogosphere went into a mild panic today over a report in the Guardian saying that a native Google Maps app for iOS would “struggle for Apple approval.”

Staples to have Amazon lockers in U.S. stores: spokeswoman  —  Staples Inc, the largest U.S. office supply retailer, has agreed to install “Amazon Lockers” in its U.S. stores, a Staples spokeswoman said on Mon day.  —  The Amazon lockers at Staples will allow online shoppers to have packages sent to the office supply chain's stores.