Exclusive: Apple's Cook, music mogul Iovine discuss new music service  —  (Reuters) - Apple Inc has held talks with Beats Electronics LLC, the audio technology firm co-founded by influential hip-hop producer Dr Dre and music mogul Jimmy Iovine, on a potential partnership involving Beats …

YouTube to launch music streaming service, take on Spotify  —  Exclusive: Google is planning to roll out a music streaming service to capitalize on the power of YouTube.  FORTUNE — YouTube, the world's largest digital repository of streaming media, will launch a subscription music service later this year.

The new $99 Roku 3: Overhauled interface, faster chip, and private listening mode (hands-on)  —  CNET Editors' Take  —  Roku is turning up the heat in the battle of the living room streaming boxes, announcing today its newest flagship model, the Roku 3 ($99).

Valve readies prototype Steam Box video game console  —  Gabe Newell is being given Bafta's highest accolade at the 2013 awards  —  Valve expects to offer prototypes of its upcoming video games console for testing within four months time.  —  The firm's chief executive Gabe Newell revealed …

Facebook Will Launch Content-Specific News Feeds, Bigger Photos And Ads On Thursday  —  At a big press event on Thursday, Facebook plans to launch new ways to filter the news feed.  These include a Photos feed of Facebook and Instagram photos, as well as a revamped Music feed of what friends …

Samsung-Sharp Deal Could Reshape Tech Alliances  —  South Korea's Samsung Electronics is in talks to invest about $107 million in struggling Japanese electronics firm Sharp Corp. , a deal that not only highlights Korea's ascendancy over Japan as a global electronics giant, but could well reshape alliances in the competitive industry.

Why the Galaxy S4 won't be shedding its plastic roots  —  Samsung will likely stick to a design aesthetic that has worked in the past, despite its rivals opting to use metal and other premium-feeling materials.  —  As great an all-around smartphone as the Galaxy S III is …

Apple Launches $1099 21.5-Inch iMac With 3.3 GHz Dual-Core i3 Processor for Educational Institutions  —  Apple appears to have quietly introduced an updated version of its low-end 21.5-inch iMac for educational institutions, taking advantage of a cheaper dual-core Intel Core i3 processor …

Google Play celebrates first birthday with week of free downloads and discounts  —  It's already been a year since the Android Market was renamed Google Play, and the folks in Mountain View are offering up a boatload of free party favors throughout the week to celebrate.

Why I switched from iPhone to Android  —  About a month and a half ago, I walked into an AT&T Store, handed over my iPhone 4S, and asked to be switched from my unlimited iPhone data plan to a new LTE data plan.  —  I bought the first-generation iPhone and I bought it early …

Intel Capital makes a big bet on Android with investment in Bluestacks (exclusive)  —  Add Intel Capital to the growing list of companies eager to work with Bluestacks.  —  Intel has invested an undisclosed amount in the startup, BlueStacks told VentureBeat today.

HTC Reports Lowest Sales Since Jan 2010, Worst Revenue Decline In 4 Months, As February Sales Fell 44% To $384M  —  The new HTC One unveiled last month is increasingly feeling like last-chance saloon for the troubled Taiwan handset maker.  Today HTC noted that its sales for the month …

Microsoft Offers Price Breaks  —  Discounts on Windows 8 and Office Designed to Spur More Touch-Screen Laptops  —  Microsoft Corp. has recently been offering price breaks on its Windows 8 and Office software to help spur the development of small, touch-enabled laptop computers, people familiar with the situation said.

Evernote: We're Adding Two-Factor Authentication  —  After data breach and wide password reset, Evernote accelerates plans to offer additional security to users.  Evernote, after suffering a data breach that caused the company to reset passwords for all of its 50 million users …

Google Play gift cards now available in the UK at Tesco and Morrisons  —  ?10, ?  25 and ?  50  —  Google has announced that Google Play gift cards are now available in the UK starting 6 March.??  —  Rolling out to all UK branches of Tesco and Morrisons in the coming weeks, users will be able to purchase ?

Return of the Borg: How Twitter Rebuilt Google's Secret Weapon  —  John Wilkes says that joining Google was like swallowing the red pill in The Matrix.  —  Four years ago, Wilkes knew Google only from the outside.  He was among the millions whose daily lives so deeply depend on things like Google Search and Gmail and Google Maps.

Venture capital kingpin Kleiner Perkins acknowledges weak results  —  (Reuters) - Blue-chip venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers expressed frustration with poor fund performance and promised to do better at gatherings for investors last month, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Microsoft Adds Android Support To Windows Azure Mobile Services  —  Last year, Microsoft launched Azure Mobile Services, a cloud backend for mobile applications.  But at the time, it only supported Windows 8, and the team then added iOS and Windows Phone 8 support a short while later.