Apple: All iPad and iPhone Models Will be Back on Sale Online in Germany Shortly  —  That was fast.  —  Apple, which has spent the past day pulling older model iPhone and iPad inventory from the shelves of its online store in Germany, is now scrambling to restore it.

Micron CEO Steve Appleton dies in airplane crash  —  Airport officials say the plane is described as an experimental fixed wing single engine Lancair.  The plane went down at about 8:58 a.m. Here's the full news release issued by the Micron Board of Directors: “We are deeply saddened to announce …

Analysis: A sobering look at Facebook  —  (Reuters) - It's the year's hottest initial public offering, but some wealth managers find themselves having a hard time recommending Facebook to their clients.  —  The world's biggest social network is expected to seek a $75 billion to $100 billion valuation …

EU regulators want Google to halt new privacy policy  —  A group of European regulators has written to Google Inc calling on it to halt the introduction of its new privacy policy, saying it needs to investigate whether the proposals sufficiently protect users' personal data.

Anonymous spies on FBI / UK Police hacking investigation conference call  —  A recording of a confidential conference call between the FBI and UK law enforcement officers at the Metropolitan Police has been released by Anonymous on the internet.  —  And if you think that's bad enough news …

Why most Facebook users get more than they give  —  Half the adults and three-quarters of the teenagers in America use social networking sites (SNS) and Facebook by far is the most popular of these sites.  The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project fielded …

The Dirty Little Secret Of Silicon Valley's Startup Boom...  In San Francisco cafes and bars, even on the street, I overhear people talking about their startup ideas, business plans, and goals.  And there are tons of incubators, Angels, wannabe Angels, VC firms, making investments in startups.

First: Apple's rank in mobile phone profitability and revenues  —  Apple retained its top rank in profitability and regained the top spot in mobile phone revenues.  —  The relative shares of revenues and profits are shown below:  —  Individually, Apple's share of units, revenues and profits is chronicled below:

I switched to Bing on my iPhone and I kind of liked it  —  By the time that Microsoft announced its Bing search engine in 2009, Google had long since become a verb and several failed attempts at the search game were under the bridge.  But Bing was something different, a visually appealing …

iBooks Author 1.01 out with updated EULA  —  An incremental release for iBooks Author has been released with changes to the program's EULA.  The update is 143.50 MB, which seems pretty hefty for a EULA change.  —  The change is an important one though, clarifying that Apple has rights over the format a book is in, not the content.

Xbox co-creator Seamus Blackley launches mobile-game startup with Atari arcade veterans  —  Seamus Blackley, the co-creator of the Xbox, passionately believes that gameplay will triumph in the game business.  That is why he and his new startup are relying on a team of famous designers …

Do iOS Apps Crash More Than Android Apps?  A Data Dive  —  Ever wonder why certain mobile apps you use crash so much?  It turns out there are many possible reasons.  And it can vary particularly depending on whether you are using an Apple iOS device such as an iPhone or iPad, or an Android device.

U.S. government, military to get secure Android phones  —  A U.S soldier checks his cell phone while on patrol in Iraq in December.  Smartphones are first being deployed to soldiers.  —  (CNN) — Some U.S. officials this year are expected to get smartphones capable of handling classified …

Mozilla developing Web push notification system for Firefox  —  Mozilla is developing a push notification system for the Firefox Web browser.  It will allow users to receive notifications from websites without having to keep those sites open in their browser.

Panasonic headed for record $10 billion annual loss  —  (Reuters) - Japan's Panasonic Corp warned of a record annual $10.2 billion net loss, joining beleaguered rivals Sony and Sharp in a sea of red ink as they struggle to fix their broken TV businesses and show they have not lost their way.

Seized Sports Streaming Site Makes a Blazing Comeback  —  Yesterday, several sports streaming sites had their domain names seized by the Department of Justice and Homeland Security's ICE unit.  —  Leading up to the Super Bowl this weekend, a total of 307 domain names were seized …

Smart phones overtake client PCs in 2011  —  Palo Alto, Shanghai, Singapore and Reading - 3 February 2012  —  Canalys today released its full, detailed Q4 2011 country-level smart phone shipment estimates to clients, so completing the picture for the year.

Megaupload Founder Accuses Police of Assault, Denied Bail Again  —  Today, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom appeared at New Zealand's High Court to continue his fight against extradition to the United States on copyright infringement, racketeering and money laundering charges.

Facebook Is Valued at $94 Billion in Auction on Private Market  —  Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) — Facebook Inc., the social-networking company that's preparing for an initial public offering, was valued at at least $94 billion in an auction of its shares on the private market yesterday.

The New York Times' About.com: From All-Star To Albatross  —  About.com is in free fall.  The New York Times (NYSE: NYT) revealed yesterday that its network of information sites suffered a 67% drop in profits and that revenues had fallen by a quarter.  —  The new figure comes …