Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia smartphones in ‘solid’ Q4 2012; results ‘exceeded expectations’  —  Straight out of left field, Nokia has today announced that its fourth quarter of 2012 was surprisingly solid, making its stock price spike.  —  Revealing its preliminary financial results for Q4 2012 …

Three top U.S. wireless carriers to embrace BlackBerry 10  —  (Reuters) - Three of the top U.S. cellphone carriers signaled this week that they would support Research In Motion's (RIM.TO) BlackBerry 10 products, the first of which are due to be unveiled Jan 30, offering a hopeful sign for RIM's comeback effort.

Amazon's “AutoRip” Service Goes Live, Giving Customers Free MP3s For CDs Purchased On Amazon As Far Back As 1998 (Hands On)  —  Amazon is today introducing a new service called Amazon AutoRip, which automatically gives customers free MP3 versions of any CDs they've purchased from Amazon since the launch of its Music Store back in 1998.

Google's Schmidt Says He Pressed North Korea on Web Barriers  —  BEIJING—Google Inc. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said he told North Korean officials that they must drop barriers to global Internet access if they hope to develop their economy.  —  “As the world becomes increasingly connected …

Surface Pro: an in-depth look at Microsoft's super tablet  —  Microsoft might not be at CES this year, but that hasn't stopped the company's CEO jumping on stage to pass the annual keynote responsibility over to Qualcomm.  While its OEMs are out in force with crazy Windows 8 designs and unreleased hardware …

Apple Now Locking Screenshots for Submitted Apps, Shutting Down Popular Scam Tactic  —  Apple today announced on its Developer Portal that screenshots added to app descriptions will be locked in place once an app has been approved. … This small but important update shuts down a widely used scam tactic …

4K at CES 2013: the dream gets real  —  Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, LG, and now Vizio too — the 4K bandwagon is fully loaded and ready to get rolling  —  Almost exactly a year ago, upon these parched steppes of Nevada we know as Las Vegas, Vizio told us it was keen to get into the 4K TV market, but the timing wasn't right quite yet.

How does BuzzFeed intend to crack a $1B valuation?  By embracing journalism's past  —  It was just over a year ago that BuzzFeed hired editor-in-chief Ben Smith away from Politico to help build the cat-happy publication into a major media company.  In the intervening months …

Samsung seeks broader chip base as Apple cuts loose  —  (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co is looking to supply chips to more Chinese and other emerging smartphone makers, the head of its system chip business said, to counter any fall-off in demand from Apple Inc, which is weaning itself off Samsung chips used in its iPhones and iPads.

FreedomPop's iPhone Sleeve stuck in FCC certification, costing firm $550,000  —  LAS VEGAS—MVNO FreedomPop said its WiMAX-capable iPhone Sleeve has been delayed in the FCC's approval process due to an untested design element.  The company said the unexpected delay in obtaining approval has cost the company a total of $550,000 so far.

Polaroid's Jelly Bean tablets could give Google a run for its money  —  Polaroid isn't typically a name that comes to mind when people think of Android.  While the company has released a few Android-powered cameras, it has never fully embrace the operating system.

ZTE Planning to Sell Mozilla-Powered Phone in Europe  —  ZTE Corp. (000063) is working with a European wireless carrier to introduce a smartphone based on software built by Mozilla Corp. this year, saidCheng Lixin, chief executive officer of ZTE's U.S. unit.

Is San Francisco The Brooklyn To Silicon Valley's Unbuilt Manhattan?  —  Like many people who moved to San Francisco in the early 1990s, I did it because San Francisco was cheap.  It didn't have the lowest rents—in the California of three recessions ago, a Silver Lake bungalow or blocks …

A more complete picture of the iTunes economy  —  As it did yesterday, on occasion Apple reports the cumulative total downloads and payments to developers.  Since this is done in variable time intervals, it makes analysis of the value of the app store difficult.  —  But not impossible.

Photos of Tweet Locations Bring 140 Characters to Life  —  In their project Geolocation, Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman scan the public Twitter feed for tweets that are geotagged and then travel to those locations to take pictures where the original tweet was sent.

Apple slashes price on Thunderbolt cable, releases additional shorter model  —  Apple has reduced the price of its 2.0 m Thunderbolt cable from $49 to $39.  The Thunderbolt cable, which can be used for data transfers and for display attachment purposes, was originally released in mid-2011.

How GitHub Helps You Hack the Government  —  On April 9th of last year, someone called Iceeey proposed a change to an obscure document written by the federal government's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  —  The document wasn't that important.  It was a form for transit subsidy requests.

In Ergen's Clearwire Gambit, Spectrum Is the Prize  —  Charlie Ergen, chairman of Dish Network Corp., is in a familiar position: He can win even by losing.  —  Mr. Ergen's attempt to snatch wireless provider Clearwire Corp. out of the hands of its current merger partner, Sprint Nextel Corp. …

Lenovo confirms Windows Phone 8 handset plans  —  Summary: JD Howard, vice president of Lenovo's Mobile Internet and Digital Home unit, confirms it is planning for a Windows Phone 8 device and, if approved, there's a “good chance” of a 2013 release.  —  Kevin Kwang

Google begins allowing all developers to respond to user comments and reviews on Google Play  —  Google has continued to encourage communication between developers and users on Google Play after it begin to allow all developers to respond to comments and reviews about their apps in its download store.

Foxconn Confirms Bribery Investigation After Chinese Authorities Detain Employee  —  Foxconn, the Taiwan-based electronics manufacturing giant that works with companies like Apple, Samsung and Sony, has confirmed that it is being investigated on charges of bribery by Chinese authorities.