Google Announces First Quarter 2012 Results and Proposal for New Class of Stock  —  Proposal Would Effectively Implement 2-for-1 Stock Split While Preserving Long-Term Governance Structure  —  Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2012.

Microsoft roadmap leaks for Office 15, IE 10 and more key products  —  Summary: Screen shots of a Microsoft product roadmap for partners have leaked to the Web.  Here are the key take-aways.  —  Microsoft has provided some of its partners with a roadmap for next versions of many of its key products …

The Instagram Deal: A Mark Zuckerberg Production  —  Mark Zuckerberg, the 27-year-old chief executive and co-founder of Facebook, does not usually play the role of deal maker.  —  But the social network's $1 billion purchase of Instagram, the popular photo-sharing service, was a Mark Zuckerberg production.

Nest officially answers patent lawsuit: ‘Honeywell is worse than a troll’  —  Upstart smart thermostat maker Nest has received almost-universally glowing praise for its Learning Thermostat since it launched last year — and it also received a major patent complaint from Honeywell …

DOJ is likely to lose e-book antitrust suit targeting Apple  —  Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday said the lawsuit against Apple was necessary to protect Americans from “anticompetitive harm.”  What he didn't say is that it's likely to fail.  —  (Credit: CBS News)

Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight coming early May for $139 (hands-on pictures and video)  —  It was almost a complete surprise, barring some leaked early promotional material yesterday.  Today, Barnes & Noble has officially announced the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight …

If Google's Really Proud Of Google+, It Should Share Some Real User Figures  —  Google+ now has 170 million users.  Well, 170 million who have “upgraded” to Google+, whatever that means.  It's the latest in crazy numbers from Google.  The people who actually do use Google+ as a social network deserve better than this PR spin.

Apple Releases Java Update to Remove Flashback Malware  —  Apple just released Java for OS X 2012-003, an update to the Java implementation in OS X. The update removes “the most common variants of the Flashback malware.”  Interestingly the update disables the automatic execution of Java applets …

Expanding the Cloud - Introducing Amazon CloudSearch  —  Today Amazon Web Services is introducing Amazon CloudSearch, a new web service that brings the power of the Amazon.com's search technology to every developer.  Amazon CloudSearch provides a fully-featured search engine that is easy to manage and scale.

Microsoft forms new subsidiary for open source, standards  —  Jean Paoli, president of the new Microsoft Open Technologies Inc.  —  Microsoft is taking the unusual step of forming a new subsidiary that will work with open-source projects, open-standards groups and interoperability initiatives.

First Intel Ivy Bridge launch expected on April 23  —  Though the first announcement is just around the corner, rollouts from Apple, HP, Dell, Sony, Toshiba, and others are expected to be staggered Though the first announcement is just around the corner, rollouts from Apple, HP, Dell, Sony …

Apple is allowed (at long last) to intervene in Lodsys lawsuit against app developers  —  On June 9, 2011, Apple filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit instigated by non-practicing entity Lodsys against various app developers.  Apple argued that it has a license to the patents Lodsys is asserting …

How Samsung beat Nokia … via Nokia lowers Devices & Services first quarter 2012 outlook and provides second quarter 2012 outlook » Nokia - Press.  —  We don't have the total number of Samsung shipments, however estimates exist.  They range between 41 and 44 million smartphones and 44 and 47 million feature phones.

Sony SmartWatch launches, delivers ‘Android power’ to wrist  —  Sony's SmartWatch works with Android smartphones.  —  (Credit: Sony)  —  Have you ever wanted a watch that can communicate with your Android phone?  Sony sure hopes so.  —  Sony today launched its SmartWatch …

Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?  —  Social media—from Facebook to Twitter—have made us more densely networked than ever.  Yet for all this connectivity, new research suggests that we have never been lonelier (or more narcissistic)—and that this loneliness is making us mentally and physically ill …

Apple Reveals New Whiz-Bang No-Code Content Authoring Tool  —  On April 12, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals a new electronic content authoring tool in the works that's configured to optimize authored content for one or more intended devices.

Tumblr Tests New Tools for Users and Brands  —  Can the Company Be a Business Without Traditional Advertising?  Founder David Karp Explains  —  This may be Instagram's week, but it has been Tumblr's year.  On Wednesday, the social platform announced a partnership with Spotify.

A Boeing phone: Aerospace giant making Android device  —  Boeing is jumping into the smartphone business, developing a new mobile device - but we probably won't be buying this one at our local wireless store.  —  The company is working on a secure communications device for the U.S. government defense …

Japanese ATMs to use palm readers in place of cash cards  —  A local Japanese bank says cardless ATMs are well-suited for natural disasters where customers lose their cards  —  h(f)){c=a.createElement('script'); c.type='text/javascript';c.src='http:// ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/'+ g+'/jquery.min.js'; …

What controversy?  Verizon, Time Warner begin cross-selling services  —  Verizon's joint marketing pact with the cable providers may be facing some serious scrutiny, but Verizon and its partners don't seem to have noticed.  On Thursday, Time Warner Cable blithely announced …

How to Fail: Mark Pincus  —  I'm sometimes called a serial entrepreneur, but that's only because, before Zynga (ZNGA), I failed to create a sustainable company.  After starting two companies in the '90s, I had a social networking startup, Tribe.net, in 2003.