Apple Working On a Less-Expensive iPhone  —  Apple Inc. is working on a lower-end iPhone, according to people briefed on the matter, a big shift in strategy as its supremacy in smartphones has slipped.  —  While Apple has explored such a device for years, the plan has been progressing …

Qualcomm's insane CES 2013 keynote in pictures and tweets  —  A night of cringeworthy conversations, product demos, and music  —  2013 was the first time in many years that Microsoft didn't host the opening keynote for the Consumer Electronics Show here in Las Vegas.

Aereo Raises $38 Million to Take Its Cord-Cutting Service to 22 More Cities  —  Right now you can only watch Aereo, the Web TV service the TV networks hate, if you live in New York City.  —  That will change soon, Aereo says: The startup plans to roll out 22 more U.S. cities this year, starting in “late spring.”

Microsoft: 60 million Windows 8 licenses sold to date  —  Summary: Microsoft has sold 60 million Windows 8 licenses to PC makers and those upgrading as of early January, officials said at the Consumer Electronics Show.  —  Microsoft officials said the company has sold 60 million Windows 8 licenses to date.

Improving Twitter search with real-time human computation  —  One of the magical things about Twitter is that it opens a window to the world in real-time.  An event happens, and seconds later, people share it across the planet.  —  Consider, for example, what happened when Flight 1549 crashed in the Hudson River:

Facebook invites press to 'see what we're building'  —  Facebook just pinged members of the press with an invitation for a big event on January 15th, which immediately follows the madness here at CES this week.  Facebook doesn't host many large events at its corporate headquarters — a hint that something big is likely in the works.

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, Google CIO To Unveil Free WiFi In NYC's Chelsea Neighborhood  —  Google has slowly been building up its service provider cred, with an ambitious fiber project in Kansas City and free WiFi initiatives through a partnership with Boingo.

Target will now price-match Amazon, other retailers year-round  —  Matching Amazon's pricing during the holidays is one thing, but Target today announced it plans to continue the practice on a year-round basis.  The extended policy will apply to competitors other than the internet retailer …

Improved sharing & new HTML5 features for SkyDrive.com  —  We're ringing in the new year with a few improvements to SkyDrive.com.  You now have a single, unified view into how each of your files is shared so you can more easily control who has access to your files.

Panasonic shows off 20-inch Windows 8 tablet with insane 4K resolution  —  4K's unquestionably the buzzword of CES 2013, but it's typically used in conjunction with “TV.”  Panasonic's taking it a different direction, though, using its keynote at the show to introduce a 20-inch Windows 8 tablet with 4K resolution.

Is Facebook worth it?  Film execs confide they may cut movie ads  —  Some movie executives are increasingly skeptical that Facebook ads and promotional campaigns that ask users to ‘like’ a movie can deliver big box-office returns.  —  Major studios are taking a hard look at the cost of winning friends on Facebook.

Kickstarter's best of 2012: 2.2M backers, $319M raised, 18K projects funded  —  Kickstarter released it's “best-of” list for 2012, and the numbers are impressive: 2,41 million people funded at least one project and pledging a total of $319 million.  That's more than $600 per minute over the course …

Could Verizon, AT&T Follow T-Mobile in Ending Subsidies?  —  The biggest U.S. wireless carriers are watching T-Mobile USA's experiment with ending smartphone subsidies, but they aren't sure if subscribers are ready to make the change.  —  Major wireless carriers tend to subsidize the cost …

AT&T sold a record 10m smartphones in Q4 2012, helped by best-ever sales of Android and Apple devices  —  US operator AT&T announced today a new for sales of smartphones by the company, after it saw sales top the 10 million unit market for the first time in its history in the fourth quarter of 2012 …

Hands-on with Razer's Edge, a $999 gaming tablet / home console  —  The PC ecosystem is no longer as simple as it once was — first there were desktops, then laptops, then tablets, then all-in-ones.  Buying a PC now is more nebulous than it ever was.  You could build your very own rig …

“The telephone network is obsolete”: Get ready for the all-IP telco  —  Two months ago, AT&T petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to plan for the retirement of traditional phone networks and transition to what AT&T sees as an inevitability: the all-IP telco.

Svbtle funding  —  Just a quick update: we've recently raised a round of financing from great investors like CrunchFund, Betaworks, Y Combinator, and more, including some fantastic angels.  Now we have the resources and absolute focus that will allow us to build not only a great collection of people …

Hulu Debuts Previews Of Its 2013 Original Programming And Exclusive Series  —  Continuing its expansion into original content and exclusive third-party content, Hulu is today offering previews of its new programming for 2013, which includes its first animated Hulu Original Series, “The Awesomes …

ZTE joins the 5-inch, 1080p smartphone party with the ultra-thin Grand S (hands-on)  —  It seems like every cellphone manufacturer agreed on the same set of specs for their flagship devices in the early part of 2013.  ZTE's new Grand S is highlighted by a 5-inch, 1080p display …

Sony Goes Big Into 4K: OLED Ultra HD, 4K Video Service and Consumer Camcorder  —  Image: Sony.  —  LAS VEGAS — You're not surprised, are you?  Sony took the stage this evening at its press conference at CES 2013 to unveil a whole array of electronics, including, yes, a 4K TV.

Airbnb's growing pains mirrored in New York City, where half its listings are illegal rentals  —  Apartment rental site Airbnb's revolutionary simplicity has made it easy for tens of thousands of people to both list and discover lodging options in private residences and book them easily, quickly, and safely.

Dish chairman says mobile plans to take time to coalesce  —  (Reuters) - Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen said on Monday it could take months to finalize his plans to enter the wireless industry because of regulatory and technology complications, but his company has no intention of selling spectrum it spent billions acquiring.

Firefox 18 gets up to 25% faster JavaScript with IonMonkey, built-in PDF viewer, and Retina support  —  Mozilla on Tuesday officially launched Firefox 18 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android.  The improvements include a new JavaScript compiler, a built-in PDF viewer, as well as Retina support (on Macs) and touch events (for mobile).

Apple CEO Tim Cook meets high-level officials, US ambassador on visit to China  —  While Google chairman Eric Schmidt is enjoying a much-criticised visit to North Korea, Apple is coordinating an Asia visit of its own, after its CEO Tim Cook met with China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology …

Gawker expands into India as part of Nick Denton's plan for world domination  —  Gawker Media is starting the new year off with a bang: founder Nick Denton announced on Tuesday that the blog network is expanding into India by way of a partnership with the Times of India, one of that country's largest media entities.