HTC and Apple Settle Patent Dispute  —  All Patent Litigation Between the Companies Dismissed  —  HTC and Apple® have reached a global settlement that includes the dismissal of all current lawsuits and a ten-year license agreement.  The license extends to current and future patents held by both parties.

The Surface Of Mars: My Date With A Microsoft Kiosk  —  “What's the best feature of the Surface?”  —  “Um, everything.”  —  Thus began my experience at a local mall buying a Microsoft Surface.  —  Yes, I bought a Surface — me, the lover of all things Apple and perhaps the biggest fan of the iPad out there.

Minding The (Apple)Store  —  As I've written many times in the past, I'm part of the vast chorus that praises the Apple Store.  And not just for the uncluttered product displays, the no-pressure sales people (who aren't on commission), or the Genius Bar that provides expert help, but for the impressive architecture.

Where Did Spotify's Billion Dollars Go?  Ask Netflix.  —  Six months ago, Spotify was going to be worth $4 billion.  Now it looks like a new funding round will value the streaming music company at $3 billion.  —  Where did that billion dollars go?  —  The most obvious answer is that all sorts …

Innovation is a Fight  —  Apple is eventually doomed.  Yes, the most valuable company on the planet will slowly fade into stagnant mediocrity.  It will be replaced by something that they will not predict and they will not see coming.  This horrifically efficient culling is a fact of life …

YouTube Preps Big New Round of Content Investments  —  Some Partners Will Get Another Check; Others May Quietly Go Away  —  Nearly a year after YouTube sprinkled $100 million across the online video ecosystem to create more than a hundred new “channels,” it's doubling down.

Is Dailybooth, THE original Web photo sharing service, closing down?  (Update: Yes)  —  Dailybooth, one of the first startups that helped bring online photo taking and sharing to the masses, is to close its doors, according to users who have received a shutdown note from the service.

Tweetro Slams into Twitter 100K Token Limit  —  Users of the very popular 3rd party Twitter app Tweetro just received this email from Atta Elayyan the UX Designer and Co-Founder of Lazyworm Applications Ltd. and it is not good news: … Included in the email was a graphic showing the downloads …

Online viewers start leaving if video doesn't play in 2 seconds, says study  —  As revenues decline for traditional forms of online advertising, video is emerging as a bright spot for many media companies.  It offers an opportunity for long engagement and hefty ad rates — but also a challenge to make it work.

Oliver Luckett of theAudience, Building Online Fan Bases  —  EVEN in an industry accustomed to madcap characters, Oliver Luckett cuts a “Who was that?” swath across Hollywood.  —  Raised in Mississippi and with the accent to prove it, Mr. Luckett, 38, is known for zooming around town in an Aston Martin …

Microsoft to use Jay-Z, Gwen Stefani, and other celebrities to promote Windows Phone 8  —  After an on stage appearance by Jessica Alba at Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 launch recently, the company and its partners are starting to use even more celebrities to promote Redmond's latest mobile OS.