Yahoo Warns Facebook of a Potential Patent Fight  —  As Yahoo struggles to keep up with younger competitors, the Web portal company is weighing a new tactic: threatening legal action over its patent holdings.  —  Yahoo is seeking to force Facebook into licensing 10 to 20 patents over technologies …

The Mounting Minuses at Google+  —  Playing Catchup to Facebook, Google's Social Network Is a Virtual Ghost Town by Comparison  —  To hear Google Inc. Chief Executive Larry Page tell it, Google+ has become a robust competitor in the social networking space, with 90 million users registering since its June launch.

Google building ‘firewall’ between Android and Motorola after acquisition  —  Google's Andy Rubin led the charge to acquire Motorola, but the Android boss won't have anything to do with the company once the deal closes — he told reporters at Mobile World Congress today that he “sponsored” …

Goodbye Erick, Hello Eric  —  TechCrunch has been through a lot lately, and we need to focus on what truly matters: covering startups and innovation.  So, this post is going to be short.  —  But here is what's going on: Erick Schonfeld is leaving and Eric Eldon is replacing him as editor.

Samsung: 'We're not doing very well in the tablet market'  —  One Samsung executive gets brutally honest about his company's performance in the tablet market, even while offering up some hope for its line of Galaxy Note mobile devices.  —  Samsung executive Hankil Yoon speaking during …

Whole Foods prototype puts Kinect on shopping cart, follows people around store  —  The quest for a high-tech “shopping cart of the future” is nothing new, but Whole Foods is planning to test a new spin on the concept, using Microsoft's Kinect sensor for Windows.

IBM takes big steps toward extremely fast quantum computing  —  IBM is announcing today that it has made major advances toward creating a practical, full-scale quantum computer, a fabled, theoretical machine that relies on the tiniest atomic properties to compute problems faster than any supercomputer that exists today.

Mercedes-Benz Brings Siri To Their Cars  —  Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz unveiled plans to integrate Apple's Siri into its A-Class electronics system that would allow drivers access to their iPhone apps using voice commands.  The program, called the Drive Kit Plus will work in conjunction …

On Google & Being “Evil”  —  “I don't think they were ever not evil,” I'm quoted as saying about Google in a New York Times column yesterday.  True enough, I said that.  But I wanted to provide some further context about my comments as well as the truly disastrous two months Google has had on the public relations front.

Has OpenStack finally won over IBM?  —  Update: Since it launched two years ago, the open-source cloud computing platform OpenStack has won over an impressive array of tech backers, including Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Citrix.  But not IBM.  —  That is about to change …

How Apple snookered Proview to get the iPad trademark  —  Fresh details of the subterfuge emerge in a U.S. lawsuit.  Apple doesn't deny any of it.  —  Steve Jobs unveils the iPad.  Image: Apple Inc.  —  Here's how Apple (AAPL) allegedly got Proview International Holdings to sell …

Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, And Obvious Put $4.5M In Sleek Social, Mobile Gifting Platform Karma  —  Karma, a new social, mobile gifting service from the founder of TapJoy, has raised funding from Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, The Obvious Corporation, Stephen Gillett, Felicis Ventures and other angel investors.

Once Film-Focused, Netflix Transitions to TV Shows  —  Belying the “flix” in its name, Netflix is now primarily an Internet streaming service for television shows, not feature films.  —  TV series now account for more than half of all Netflix viewing.  That helps to explain why this Wednesday …

Mozilla in Mobile - the Web is the Platform  —  This week we are in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress 2012, the mobile industry's largest trade show.  Our goal is to meet with industry operators, vendors and developers to further the cause of promoting an open, people-centric Web for consumers …

Google Will Offer $1 Million In Rewards For Hacking Chrome In Contest  —  For the last three years, Google's Chrome browser has left the world's premiere hacking competition unscathed, even as Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari have all been taken down by the assembled security researchers.

Wal-Mart to Help Hollywood With UltraViolet Consumer Video-Storing Service  —  The movie industry is recruiting Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to help attract users to its struggling online video-library service, Hollywood's latest step to combat the challenges of digital piracy and a fading DVD market.

In Attack on Vatican Web Site, a Glimpse of Hackers' Tactics  —  SAN FRANCISCO — The elusive hacker movement known as Anonymous has carried out Internet attacks on well-known organizations like Sony and PBS.  In August, the group went after its most prominent target yet: the Vatican.

Microsoft ‘Illumishare’ demonstrates the future of remote physical object interaction  —  Microsoft has taken the wraps off another research project today as part of the company's TechForum event.  Illumishare allows remote people to share physical or digital objects onto any surface.

Google, Apple Hit With Patent Over Street View For iPad  —  Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) are in a worldwide squabble over smartphone patents, but they will have to cooperate long enough to fight a common enemy—a Florida firm that says both tech giants are infringing its mapping technology.

Apple Developer IDs Bring Us One Brick Closer to an OS X Walled Garden  —  Apple sent out notice to its developers today of a new initiative called Developer ID, which will combat malware on OS X alongside the new-to-Mountain-Lion Gatekeeper.  It's to keep us, the users, safe.

Microsoft shows ‘Holoflector’ augmented-reality mirror  —  This afternoon at the Microsoft TechForum event in Redmond, the company's researchers showed a series of prototypes and demos in areas including advanced displays and augmented-reality applications.  —  One of the research projects …