The “Facebook Phone” Lives  —  Nice scoop by Josh Constine of TechCrunch: … Others have since backed this up as well.  —  I was a few months off, but this is basically what I had heard back in January as well.  —  There seems to be some disagreement over whether or not this would constitute a “fork” of Android.

Hot Gaming Startup Supercell Is Closing A Round Above $100M At Valuation Around $800M  —  Supercell is a very quiet, humble mobile gaming company out of the very quiet and humble city of Helsinki, Finland.  Unlike their brasher, Angry Birds-making brethren a 15-minute drive away in Espoo …

iMessage denial of service ‘prank’ spams users rapidly with messages, crashes iOS Messages app  —  Over the last couple of days, a group of iOS developers has been targeted with a series of rapid-fire texts sent over Apple's iMessage system.  The messages, likely transmitted via …

Biting the hand that feeds you: why are record labels fighting Pandora?  —  Labels want streaming and web radio to grow the pie, but want their share too  —  A few years ago, leaders from the major record companies planted the seeds from which they hoped would spring the next generation of music distributors.

Actually, Amazon Paid About $150 Million for Goodreads  —  According to sources, Amazon paid about $150 million for Goodreads, the popular books recommendation service.  But that number could close in on $200 million, if certain performance metrics are met.

Frustrated with iCloud, Apple's developer community speaks up en masse  —  Apple's iCloud is marketed to us end users as a convenient and centralized way to manage data on all of our Macs and iOS devices: sync contacts and bookmarks, re-download music and apps, back up iOS devices …

China “resolutely opposes” U.S. curbs on IT imports: state media  —  (Reuters) - China expressed “resolute opposition” and “strong dissatisfaction” with a new U.S. cyber-espionage rule limiting imports of Chinese-made information technology products, state media reported on Saturday.

Demand Surges for Supercomputers  —  Demand is suddenly surging for the largest scientific computers, driven by technology changes seen in two powerful systems unveiled this week.  —  The supercomputers, installed in Illinois and Texas—each requiring about the space of a basketball court …

2020 Census will be done by Internet  —  Add paper census questionnaires to the long list of everyday items becoming quaint vestiges of tired technology, like landline phones, television armoires and butterfly ballots.  —  The Census Bureau already has started offering an Internet option …

Why is China's state-run media targeting Apple?  Five theories  —  Consumer protection?  Negative marketing?  Negotiating ploy?  Payback?  Squeeze?  — The drumbeat hasn't stopped.  Not only has China's Central TV been running regular follow ups to its March 15 expose on Apple's (AAPL) …