Twitter's New Music App Launches Friday  —  Next up on the jukebox — Twitter Music.  —  The microblogging service plans to launch its new standalone music application on Friday, according to sources familiar with the matter.  —  (Update 7:59 pm PT: Of note — another source claims …

Unfazed By Bitcoin's Wild Swings And Mysterious Origins, Silicon Valley VCs Place Their Bets  —  Bitcoin's record highs and the ensuring surge in hacking attempts and thefts may be grabbing headlines.  However, beneath the chaos, Silicon Valley's best-known venture firms are finally starting …

Apple Agrees to Pay $53M to Settle iPhone Warranty Lawsuit  —  Apple is agreeing to pay $53 million to settle a class action accusing the company of failing to honor warranties on iPhones and iPod Touches, according to an agreement obtained today by Wired.  —  The settlement, (.pdf) …

Apple and Universal Music agreement on streaming iRadio service imminent  —  Apple is expected to sign the largest record label perhaps as soon as next week, sources say.  Warner Music is right behind.  —  Apple is expected to sign its first internet radio licensing agreement …

Tech Firms Push to Hire More Workers From Abroad  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Vishal Sankhla, an Indian engineer, is among those at the center of a storm over how to fix the nation's immigration system.  —  Mr. Sankhla got a master's degree in electrical engineering nine years ago from the University …

T-Mobile Begins $99 iPhone 5 Sales, Sees Lines At Retail Stores  —  T-Mobile is kicking off its official sales of the iPhone 5 today, marking the first time the U.S.' fourth largest carrier has offered an Apple smartphone.  Thanks to T-Mo's new Uncarrier plans, the iPhone 5 can be had starting at just $99 …

BlackBerry to ask regulators to probe report on returns  —  (Reuters) - BlackBerry said on Friday it would ask securities regulators in Canada and the United States to probe a report about retail return rates for its new Z10 smartphone that it called “false and misleading.”

Microsoft Launches GeoFlow 3D Data Visualization Tool For Excel  —  Microsoft has released a public preview of GeoFlow today, a new 3D visualization tool for Excel which allow users to create, navigate and interact with time-sensitive data applied to a digital map.

Bing Delivers Five Times as Many Malicious Websites as Google  —  Searches on Bing returned five times more links to malicious websites than Google searches, according to an 18-month study from German independent testing lab AV-Test.  Though search engines have worked to suppress malicious results …

France threatens EU action over Apple App Store ban  —  (Reuters) - France plans to ask the European Commission for tighter regulation of Internet companies following Apple's decision to remove a French-designed app from its App Store.  —  Last Friday, Apple banned AppGratis …

Chat Heads come to Facebook Messenger for Android  —  Preparing its apps for the launch of its Home launcher, Facebook has pushed an update for its Android Messenger app, allowing users to take advantage of the new Chat Heads feature.  Like in Facebook Home, the Messenger app displays …

Letter To Jennifer Allen Regarding False And Defamatory Statements  —  The following letter from my attorneys was delivered to Jennifer Allen this afternoon, in response to her previous claims.  I believe the letter speaks for itself.  —  Eric M. George  —  Browne George Ross  —  Via E-Mail and U.S. Mail

Opinion: Antitrust complaint against Android is an attack on open source  —  Microsoft and Oracle say it's “predatory” for companies to give away software.  —  On Tuesday, we reported on a new complaint filed by “Fairsearch,” an anti-Google group that counts Microsoft, Oracle, Nokia …

Yep, LinkedIn Acquires Newsreader Startup Pulse for $90 Million  —  LinkedIn announced on Thursday it has acquired mobile news aggregation startup Pulse, as Kara Swisher reported last month that it would, signaling another step by the massive professional network toward becoming an online content powerhouse.

Trends in 160+ locations  —  Today, we're introducing Trends in more than 160 new locations.  Included in that list are a number of countries that will be getting Trends for the first time: Belgium, Greece, Kenya, Norway, Poland, Portugal, and Ukraine, plus more than 130 new cities in countries that already have Trends.

Obama administration: CISPA bill must do more to protect privacy  —  The Obama administration issued a statement Thursday that indicated it's not likely to support a cybersecurity bill approved by the U.S. House Intelligence Committee this week.  While stopping short of an outright veto threat …

O2 Refresh uncouples phone and airtime tariffs in the UK for easier upgrades  —  When you get a new mobile phone and set up a new contract, you're tied into it for a set period of time.  If you want to upgrade to a new phone partway through your contract you'll need to pay off at least some …