Google Maps is now available for iPhone  —  People around the world have been asking for Google Maps on iPhone.  Starting today, we're pleased to announce that Google Maps is here—rolling out across the world in the Apple App Store.  It's designed from the ground up to combine the comprehensiveness …

Sprint Seeks to Buy Rest of Clearwire for About $2.1 Billion  —  Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) proposed to acquire shares in wireless partner Clearwire Corp. it doesn't already own in a deal that the third-largest U.S. carrier says would cost about $2.1 billion.  —  Sprint, which owns …

Meet Young Sohn, the Man Charged with Revamping Samsung's Technology Strategy from Silicon Valley  —  Samsung chief strategy officer Young Sohn explains why he still uses Apple devices at home—and what his company needs to do to stay ahead.  —  Why It Matters

Dell Quits Smartphone Business Globally, Drops Android  —  Jeff Clarke, Dell's vice chairman and president, Global Operations and End User Computing Solutions at Dell World (day 1)  —  Dell is definitely pulling the plug on the smartphone business, globally.

Mr. Zuckerberg, Tear Down This Wall  —  The web was created to knock down walls.  You could create a page on a Unix workstation in Switzerland that could be viewed perfectly on a Windows laptop in California, all thanks to the miracle of common formats and open standards.

Microsoft says Windows Phone 8 increased app submissions by 40%, to keep full staff on for holidays  —  Microsoft on Wednesday announced a rather interesting statistic for Windows Phone 8: the launch of the platform in late October has resulted in a sustained 40% increase in Windows Phone app submissions.

Dish Networks Wins a $9 Billion Spectrum Prize  —  For more than a decade, telecom moguls and hedge fund titans have wrangled with regulators in a bid to wring billions of dollars out of thin air.  This week, the government crowned a winner.  —  The Federal Communications Commission late Tuesday …

Amazon Puts Instant Video On iPhone And iPod Touch, Cloud Player Music On Roku And Samsung Smart TVs  —  Amazon has announced a number of new platform expansions for its streaming media services today, including Cloud Player apps for Samsung Smart TVs and Roku set top boxes …

The Google Homepage Is Now Built into Chrome - Screenshots  —  Google is making it official, search engines are coming to the new tab page.  The only surprise is that it's not just Google, the team devised a new API which should enable any search engine to integrate with the Chrome new tab page to any degree it wants.

Amazon launches Kindle apps and e-bookstore in China, hinting at imminent Kindle arrival  —  Amazon has paved the way for the long-awaited launch of its Kindle e-reader in China after the company quietly launched Chinese versions of its Kindle apps for iOS and Android and a localized Kindle electronic bookstore.

Announcing City Notes, A New Mobile Travel Startup By... Me!  —  Short version: I just launched a new company, City Notes, which I've been working on for several months.  We are making what we hope will be the best and most interesting travel guides for iPhones and iPads.

U.S. Senator Promising Legislative Action Allowing In-Air Use of Electronic Devices if FAA Doesn't Act  —  U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) has sent a letter to the head of the Federal Aviation Administration saying the flying public is “growing increasingly skeptical” …

All the beautifully redesigned 1Password 4 for iOS wants to do is help you forget your passwords  —  “They're still holding on to this idea that they must know their passwords,” says David Teare, founder of AgileBits.  He's talking to me about the common types of password users in advance …

Google Play Magazines arrives in UK for light reading ‘on the couch or on the go’  —  If you're across the pond and have been warming up a spot on your Android tablet or smartphone for Google Play Magazines, there's good news — it's now in the UK Play Store.

Google rules out Gmail and Drive apps for Windows 8  —  Google has revealed that it has no plans to develop dedicated apps for Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8 for its business app products such as Gmail or Drive.  —  Speaking to V3, the firm's product management director at Google Apps …

London buses now accept NFC contactless payments, if you have the magic logo  —  Transport for London has emailed customers to announce the activation of NFC contactless payments on the city's fleet of 8,500 buses, despite any hiccups on the tube.  From today, anyone who swipes a debit …

Khosla Ventures Retains Condoleezza Rice, Robert Gates As Advisors To Help Portfolio Companies Navigate International Issues  —  Khosla Ventures is announcing a strategic relationship with RiceHadleyGates LLC, a consulting firm started by Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

U.S. federal agency to test RIM's BlackBerry 10  —  (Reuters) - Research In Motion said a U.S. federal agency, which recently outlined plans to move away from BlackBerry in favor of Apple Inc's iPhone, is now set to begin testing RIM's new BlackBerry 10 platform and devices.

New gTLD lottery tickets now on sale  —  ICANN has started selling its $100-a-pop New gTLD Prioritization Draw raffle tickets in Los Angeles, with a little less than a week to go until the make-or-break drawing.  —  The organization is understandably eager not to balls it up this time …

European Commission accepts settlement from Apple and four major publishers over ebook price-fixing  —  After offering to settle the price fixing case back in September, Apple and four major publishers - Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette Livre and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck …

U.K.'s First 4G Network To Expand To 17 More Towns By March 2013; Carrier EE Also Upgrading 3G To Fastest Variant: DC-HSPA  —  EE, the carrier behind the U.K.'s first 4G network has announced its rollout will expand to 17 more towns by March 2013.  It will also increase the network density …

Apple Campus Helps Hometown Shine  —  Commercial Rents and Building Activity Have Popped in Cupertino Since the Tech Giant Unveiled Plans for Futuristic Building  —  First the personal-computer industry, then the smartphone and then the tablet.  The latest area touched by Apple Inc.'s innovation: its hometown of Cupertino.

Microsoft Rankles Advertisers With Web User-Privacy Plan  —  Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is sticking with a decision to make it harder to track users' online behavior, earning plaudits from privacy groups while drawing fire from the advertisers its money-losing Web unit needs most.