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 …

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.

Google No Longer “Supports” the LTE/CDMA Verizon Galaxy Nexus?  —  Wow, so I'm not really sure where to start with this head-scratch-worthy news.  Thanks to a reader, we have now realized that the LTE/CDMA version of the Galaxy Nexus that thousands of you purchased, may no longer be considered a “supported” developer device by Google.

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.

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:

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 …

What is the mystery “entertainment device” Google is testing?  —  Google is asking the Federal Communications Commission for permission to test a mysterious Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled “entertainment device,” in employees homes in four U.S. cities.  So inquiring minds want to know, what exactly is it?

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

Smart phones overtake client PCs in 2011  —  Canalys today released its full, detailed Q4 2011 country-level smart phone shipment estimates to clients, so completing the picture for the year.  One notable result was that total annual global shipments of smart phones exceeded those of client PCs (including pads) for the first time.

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 …

Tumblr now lets you highlight your posts, but it will cost you $1 each time  —  Just a day after the rather interesting announcement that Tumblr has hired a team to write about itself, they've announced a new feature for its users.  —  It reads: … The feature is now available when creating a brand new post.

After 3 Years Of A Crummy Checkin Experience, Foursquare Is Working On A Speedier Solution  —  This week we met with Foursquare's Head of Product, Alex Rainert.  —  We mostly asked questions about the company's incredibly social founder, Dennis Crowley, with whom Rainert founded Dodgeball in 2005.

Windows Phone Marketplace launches in five new regions, no sign of China yet  —  Microsoft is expanding the reach of its Windows Phone Marketplace to five more regions.  Windows Phone 7.5 users in Argentina, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru and the Philippines will be able to access apps and games from the Marketplace later today.