Amazon Acquires Video Gaming Studio Double Helix Games  —  Amazon has acquired a gaming studio called Double Helix Games, TechCrunch has learned, and Amazon now confirms.  The deal was for both talent and IP, we understand.  Financial terms have not been disclosed.

Twitter Crushes With Q4 Revenue Of $242.7M, But Shows Slow User Growth To 241M Actives  —  After the bell this afternoon, Twitter reported its maiden earnings as a public company, with fourth-quarter revenue of $242.7 million and earnings per share of $0.02 (non-GAAP).

Twitter Data Grants: Pilot project giving a few research institutions access to public and historical Twitter data  —  Introducing Twitter Data Grants  —  Today we're introducing a pilot project we're calling Twitter Data Grants, through which we'll give a handful of research institutions access to our public and historical data.

Sony to exit VAIO PC business, spin off TV business, cut 5000 jobs worldwide  —  Sony sells its VAIO PC business, makes TV arm its own subsidiary  —  Sony said it was “addressing various options” as recently as yesterday when it came to its VAIO PC and laptop arm, and while announcing …

Apple pulls popular Bitcoin wallet app Blockchain from App Store, used by over a million people  —  Apple Yanks World's Most Popular Bitcoin Wallet From App Store  —  Apple has removed the world's most popular bitcoin wallet from its App Store.  —  Late Wednesday, the tech giant yanked …

Google, Intellectual Ventures case over patents ends in U.S. mistrial  —  (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday declared a mistrial in a lawsuit brought by private patent owner Intellectual Ventures against Google Inc's Motorola Mobility unit after jurors could not unanimously agree, according to an Intellectual Ventures statement.

Target Hackers Broke in Via HVAC Company  —  Last week, Target told reporters at The Wall Street Journal and Reuters that the initial intrusion into its systems was traced back to network credentials that were stolen from a third party vendor.  Sources now tell KrebsOnSecurity that the vendor …

Google Confirms Susan Wojcicki Is New YouTube Head  —  Susan Wojcicki is Google's new SVP of YouTube, Google confirmed today.  We wrote about the shift last night.  —  Google CEO Larry Page said in an emailed statement, “Salar and the whole YouTube team have built something amazing.

Samsung plans relatively low-key Unpacked 5 event, won't include eye scanner in Galaxy S5  —  Samsung Reins In the Theatrics for Galaxy S5  —  TOKYO — Don't expect a lot of singing and dancing when Samsung Electronics introduces the next generation of its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S5, this month.

Facing 228 unresolved patent claims, Apple joins Google in asking Supreme Court to curb patent abuse  —  Apple Joins Google in Pressing Court to Curb Patent Abuse  —  Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google Inc. (GOOG), saying they're tired of being slapped with frivolous patent suits that cost millions …

Indie smash hit ‘Flappy Bird’ racks up $50K per day in ad revenue  —  The enigmatic and oppressively difficult mobile game Flappy Bird has turned into quite the cash cow for Vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen.  In an interview with The Verge, Nguyen revealed that the game …

EXCLUSIVE: A look at Samsung's updated S Voice app  —  Samsung adds a multitude of features and services on top of what Google already provides with Android, and we recently offered our readers an exclusive look on updated versions of two of those apps - S Health and WatchON.

Son, It's Time We Talk About Where Start-Ups Come From  —  Hey there, I'm glad we're watching CNBC together.  Don't those Silicon Valley entrepreneurs look awful young?  Especially that main one ringing the NASDAQ bell, with the spiky hair and shifty eyes?

Netflix Now Pulls In Almost as Much Revenue as HBO — But HBO Is Far More Profitable  —  Reed Hastings has positioned Netflix as an “Internet TV network,” with HBO among its chief competitors.  —  And now Netflix is almost as big as HBO — at least in terms of topline revenue.

HTC Sees New Devices and Fresh Marketing Push Driving Turnaround  —  HTC Corp. (2498) said an updated version of the One smartphone, its first wearable device and a renewed focus on marketing will help turn around the company this year after two straight annual declines in revenue.

Steve Jobs wanted Sony VAIOs to run OS X  —  Ex-Sony president recalls an unforgettable golf course meeting  —  In 2005, Steve Jobs' announcement that Apple's computers would be moving from PowerPC to Intel surprised many.  OS X had been living “a secret double life” with Intel for five years …

Windows 8.1 Update 1 now looking like April  —  Summary: Microsoft's new ship target for its coming Windows 8.1 Update 1 may have shifted from March to April, according to sources.  —  I've heard from two of my sources in the past week that Microsoft's ship target for Windows 8.1 Update 1 has shifted from March 2014 to April 2014.

Cisco: The U.S. officially enters the gigabyte era of mobile data consumption  —  Mobile users the world over came close to doubling their mobile data consumption between 2012 and 2013 as average monthly usage peaked well over 1 GB in the U.S, and several other countries …