First Google tablet now expected in July due to price cutting effort  —  Google's first foray into the tablet market with a co-branded Android device won't be with us until July at the earliest.  The current design was ready to go for May, but Google pushed back the planned release …

To Fill Out Its App Store, Microsoft Wields Its Checkbook  —  Nowadays, cellphones are all about apps.  And Microsoft is so determined to have lots of brand-name apps for its Windows Phone app store that it's willing to pay for them.  —  All an app developer has to do is sign on the dotted line.

Scaling Venture Capital?  We suck.  We can do better.  —  I'm kind of embarrassed to call myself a Venture Capitalist.  —  In fact, most of us who call ourselves VCs should be too.  —  Why?  Because MOST of us are hypocrites, and have NO idea what we're doing.

Sequoia Set to Lead $500M Valuation Round for Instagram  —  The fact is, if you make a consumer Internet app that people actually use, you're probably raising venture capital right now.  So we try not to write about every funding round that's in the works.  But it looks like Instagram …

AT&T Will Unlock Off-Contract iPhones Starting Sunday, April 8  —  AT&T has announced it will begin unlocking customers' iPhones once their 2-year contracts have expired.  The move will free up the currently-locked devices to use a micro-SIM from any carrier offering a network compatible with the device.

Amazon S3 - 905 Billion Objects and 650,000 Requests/Second  —  At the end of the first quarter of 2012, there were 905 billion objects in Amazon S3.  We routinely handle 650,000 requests per second for those objects with occasional peaks substantially above that number.  Here is the latest chart:

Security hole in Facebook iOS app doesn't require jailbreak or theft, and Dropbox has it too [Updated]  —  Earlier today, security researcher Gareth Wright revealed the discovery of a security hole in the Facebook app for mobile devices running Android and iOS.

Heirs to Old Money Plunge Into Tech  —  Like many young scions, Mark Ghermezian joined the family business, an empire started by his grandfather that now includes banks, manufacturing companies and the largest mall in America.  He spent two years leading an energy group, managing dozens of oil and gas drilling sites across Texas.

Pinterest now the third most popular social network after Facebook & Twitter  —  As if there was ever any doubt that the “pin” is winning, a new report from Experian says Pinterest is now the third most popular social network in the U.S., based on number of visits, surpassed only by Facebook and Twitter.

Apple interested in wireless power to charge devices on store shelves  —  Apple has shown interest in wirelessly powering and charging its portable devices, allowing products like the iPhone and iPad to be powered up while sealed in packaging and on display at a retail store.

Exclusive: a behind-the-scenes look at Facebook release engineering  —  Facebook is headquartered in Menlo Park, California at a site that used belong to Sun Microsystems.  A large sign with Facebook's distinctive “like” symbol—a hand making the thumbs-up gesture—marks the entrance.

Don't Be Evil: How Google Screwed a Startup  —  After trying to go through the “proper channels” for almost a year now it's time to share this story of how Google screwed over our startup with the world. … In a nutshell: Google bid on, displayed, and then failed to pay for over $40,000 of advertising space on Hatchlings.

Aileen Lee Launches Kleiner-Backed Seed Fund  —  Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner Aileen Lee is founding a new seed fund — still unnamed — that is focused on backing and helping develop early-stage start-ups.  —  Lee, who has been at the famed Silicon Valley venture firm for a dozen years …

HTC Profit Declines 70% After ‘Dropping the Ball’ on Phones  —  HTC Corp. (2498), Asia's second-largest smartphone maker, posted its biggest drop in profit since listing a decade ago after sales declined amid competition from Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.

Comcast launching HBO Go on Xbox ‘early next week’  —  Last week, a whole host of media apps, including HBO Go, launched for the Xbox 360.  But until now, Comcast customers have been locked out of getting HBO Go.  Now, according to a post on Comcast's official blog, that's about to change.

Robert Bork defends Google against antitrust criticism  —  Conservative former federal Judge Robert Bork defended Google against accusations that it is engaging in anticompetitive behavior in an op-ed on Friday.  —  Writing in the Chicago Tribune, Bork argued that Google has no legal obligation …

Airbnb's argument against tax doesn't fly  —  Special pleading is “a form of spurious argumentation,” Wikipedia explains, by “someone attempting to cite something as an exemption to a generally accepted rule, principle, etc.”  —  For example, San Francisco's Airbnb, the online …

Travis County considers terms for Apple to receive up to $7.4 million in incentives  —  For Apple Inc. to receive up to $7.4 million in incentives from Travis County, the technology giant must promise to hire a percentage of “economically disadvantaged” local residents, county officials said Tuesday.