Research In Motion rebrands itself as BlackBerry  —  At today's BlackBerry 10 event, CEO Thorsten Heins announced that his company will no longer be known as Research In Motion.  As of today, RIM is being rebranded as BlackBerry.  “We have reinvented the company, and we want to represent this in our brand,” Heins said.

Exclusive: Nest has raised another $80M, now shipping 40K+ thermostats a month  —  Learning thermostat maker Nest has closed on $80 million to keep growing, and we've heard it's shipping 50,000 thermostats per month.  The round was raised at an $800 million valuation and the company could reach …

Apple's $1 Billion Verdict Against Samsung Left Intact  —  Apple Inc. (AAPL)'s $1.05 billion damages award against Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) from its patent- infringement trial in San Jose, California, was left intact after a judge denied Apple's bid to increase the award.

Microsoft's Steve Ballmer Does Not Fear Dropbox or an Office-less IPad  —  When Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer does his bounding these days, it's often in front of an 82-inch interactive display mounted to the wall of his office.  Ballmer gets to poke at the screen—a Perceptive Pixel LCD—like a more-energetic version of Wolf Blitzer.

Slightly Smaller Apple TV 3,2 (A1469) Contains A5X SoC, BCM4334 Combo  —  Yesterday along with iOS 6.1 being pushed to iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches, Apple released an update to the Apple TV 2,1 and 3,1, and curiously enough released another image for an unannounced Apple TV 3,2 product with model A1469.

Dell Founder Said to Seek Majority Control Using Personal Funds  —  Michael Dell is seeking majority control of Dell Inc. (DELL) under the buyout that would combine his 15.7 percent stake in the company with as much as $1 billion of his personal funds, said people familiar with the matter.

Facebook Seen Reporting Faster Sales Growth on Mobile-Ad Demand  —  Facebook Inc. (FB) Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg is reaping benefits of a deeper push into mobile advertising at the social network he founded almost a decade ago.  —  Results due after the close of trading today …

Zynga's chief game designer, Brian Reynolds, resigns  —  Brian Reynolds has a booming laugh, but it won't be heard in the halls of Zynga anymore.  The company's chief game designer has resigned, according to games news site Polygon.  —  Zynga has confirmed the departure …

Lenovo Profit Rises 34% on Avoiding PC Slump, Smartphones  —  Lenovo Group Ltd. (992), the world's second-biggest maker of personal computers, reported a 34 percent jump in third-quarter profit after increasing its market share and boosting smartphone sales.

China's Ministry of Culture: We're NOT Considering Lifting the Game Console Ban  —  As we wrote earlier this week, an anonymous source in China Daily supposedly inside the Ministry of Culture claimed that the Ministry was considering dropping China's decade-long ban on the sale of game consoles.

Wonder No More.  Yandex Pulls Social Discovery App After Facebook Closes Door On Graph API Use + Says It's A Competing Search Engine  —  Some closure on the story of how Yandex — the Russian search giant — built a social discovery app that relied on Facebook interconnection to gather data …

iPhone Users Rack Up the Highest Carrier Bills  —  The iPhone may command a higher carrier subsidy than its typical Android rival.  It may eat into operators' profit margins when sales volumes spike after the debut of a new model.  But it also generates more in carrier fees than any other smartphone.

Reed Hastings on Arrested Development, House of Cards, and the Future of Netflix  —  The quirky little start-up that once printed money by mailing you DVDs is hell-bent on morphing into the HBO—and the network, and the any-show, any-time streaming service—of tomorrow.

Peak Mac?  —  Was 2012 a one-off year of treading water for Apple's Mac business?  Or has the Mac peaked for good?  —  After years of impressive growth, Mac shipments declined in 2012.  During the December quarter, Mac shipments dropped a conspicuous 22% from the year before, their biggest decline in at least 10 years.

Investors Shrug Off a Weak Earnings Report From Amazon  —  Amazon sold many more things in the fourth quarter while barely bothering to eke out a profit.  —  Revenue went up 22 percent to $21.27 billion, while earnings per share fell to 21 cents from 38 cents in the fourth quarter of 2011.