iPads using iOS 6, high-res displays showing up in Ars server logs  —  A snippet of our server logs that show iPads coming from Apple's corporate IP block allegedly running iOS 6  —  Are employees at Apple already using the so-called iPad 3—possibly running iOS 6—to surf the Web ahead of its expected announcement on March 7?

Apple throws weight around in TV negotiations  —  While Apple harbors big TV ambitions, it's having a tough time getting media companies to play along.  —  Apple is pushing ahead with plans to launch a streaming TV service by Christmas — despite making little headway in its negotiations with content providers, The Post has learned.

Apple Claims Credit for 514,000 U.S. Jobs  —  Many people are concerned about the labor that supports the creation of Apple products overseas, for instance at the enormous Foxconn facility in China.  But look over here, Apple said today.  Among manufacturing, transportation …

Air Force Gives $9 Million Award for as Many as 18,000 IPads  —  The U.S. Air Force awarded a $9.36 million contract to buy as many as 18,000 Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPad 2s in one of the military's largest orders of computer tablets.  —  Air Mobility Command announced the award today …

Yelp Shares Pop Over 60 Percent In Early Trading; Valued At $1.3 Billion  —  Wow.  Reviews site Yelp just saw a huge pop it early trading of its stock on the New York Stock Exchange this morning.  Yelp opened at $22 per share, after pricing at $15 last night.

Retailers Join Payment Chase  —  Two Words: Digital Wallet—Wal-Mart and Target Join Project Aiming to Make Plastic Obsolete  —  Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. are among roughly two dozen retailers working together to develop a mobile-payments system to compete with similar products …

Samsung Galaxy S III launch reportedly confirmed for April  —  The sequel to Samsung's wildly popular Galaxy S II will launch in April.  ZDNet Korea claims to have confirmed the time frame with Cheil Worldwide, Samsung's marketing and advertising agency.  The firm is reportedly planning …

Apple TV stock shortages appear, sources say new model imminent  —  It looks like there may be a little more fact behind some of the Apple TV fiction we've been hearing over the past few days.  According to sources (as well as Apple Store stock counters), the current Apple TV …

Foursquare's Inflection Point: People Using The App, But Not Checking In  —  When Dennis Crowley, the CEO of Foursquare, visited the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last year, he told me he spent a lot of time explaining Foursquare to the operators and vendors that are the main visitors at this event.

Facebook Adds Deutsche, Citi, Credit Suisse on IPO  —  Facebook Inc. (FB) hired Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) and Citigroup Inc. (C) to work on its $5 billion initial public offering, bringing the total of banks on the deal to nine, said a person with direct knowledge of the situation.

Windows 8 registry shows nine separate flavors to choose from  —  With each subsequent release of Windows we're left bracing for what will surely be another overwhelming assortment of retail packaging options.  With Windows 7 there was a dizzying 6 SKUs to choose from, and we're sorry to say that …

Mannheim court throws out third Samsung 3G lawsuit against Apple and one of two slide-to-unlock lawsuits against Samsung  —  This morning, the Mannheim Regional Court handed down two patent rulings involving Apple and Samsung.  Judge Andreas Voss threw out the third Samsung v. Apple lawsuit in a row …

Giant Bing Search Box Appears On Facebook's Logout Page  —  Soon when you logout of Facebook, you could be greeted with a full recreation of the Bing home page, complete with pretty photo and an active search box.  Facebook has wasted no time launching the new logout page ad unit it unveiled on Wednesday.

President Obama switches to Facebook timeline, includes birth certificate  —  President Obama converted his Facebook page to the timeline format Thursday morning, a day after the timeline option became available for branded pages.  —  Facebook timeline allows people and now brand pages …

Analysis: Facebook seeks breakthrough in mobile ad market  —  (Reuters) - For Facebook it must look like a no-brainer — exploit its huge consumer loyalty and half a billion mobile phone users as a way of opening up the mobile market to blue chip advertisers.

Twitter's Slow Road to IPO  —  Persuading People to Use Its Web Service is the Easy Part; Winning Over Advertisers is Proving Tricky  —  In just six years Twitter Inc. has become the world's digital soapbox, amassing more than 100 million monthly users—from everyday people to Lady Gaga …

Spain refers Google privacy complaints to EU's top court  —  (Reuters) - Spain's highest court wants the top court in Europe to decide if requests by Spanish citizens to have data deleted from Google's search engine are lawful, in a case that could put more pressure on it to review its privacy policies.