Official Statement from the family and partner of Aaron Swartz  —  Our beloved brother, son, friend, and partner Aaron Swartz hanged himself on Friday in his Brooklyn apartment.  We are in shock, and have not yet come to terms with his passing.  —  Aaron's insatiable curiosity, creativity …

Learning by Sharing: Snark-free CES observations  —  Wheels up, returning from CES.  Seems like a good time to reflect and share some of my observations.  —  Sharing raw data is an important part of building a strong cohesive team.  Raw data allows everyone on a team to see the inputs …

The Boy Who Cried Facebook Phone  —  In The Lord of the Rings, when Sauron's forces capture Gollum, they torture him in Mordor but are only able to get two things out of him: “Shire” and “Baggins”.  Over the past few days, we've had similar frustrations in trying to track down the content …

Disruptions: Design Rivals Technology in Importance  —  Last year, at Apple's event to announce the iPad Mini, I was wandering around the gadget petting zoo the company sets up after each product unveiling.  As I turned a corner, I bumped into Timothy D. Cook, Apple's chief executive, who immediately wanted to show me something.

Viggle Isn't Buying GetGlue, After All  —  Last fall social TV company Viggle announced that it was buying competitor GetGlue in a deal that could have been worth $70 million or more.  —  But that deal never closed, and tonight GetGlue says that it never will.  —  A blog post by GetGlue founder Alex Iskold doesn't say much.

Samsung: How the Korean firm got to be the biggest tech company in the world  —  Consider the phablet.  Back in 2011, when Samsung first unveiled the Galaxy Note—a 5.3-inch smartphone that was big enough to be a minitablet, hence the ugly portmanteau—the world's tech pundits couldn't stifle their giggles.

Microsoft's partners fly the Windows 8 flag, but the future is Surface  —  How long can the old guard shoulder the weight?  —  Microsoft might not have been at CES this year, but its partners and OEMs were out in full force.  A quiet showing from Redmond at a time when the company is trying …