Apple to Release New Tracking Tool for App Developers  —  Apple Inc. is planning to release a new way for mobile app developers to track who uses their software, according to people briefed on Apple's plans, the company's latest attempt to balance developers' appetite for targeting data with consumers' unease over how it is used.

Setting the record straight: competition in search  —  Search is about helping people find the right answers to their questions when and where they need them.  We work hard every day to figure out the most useful results for our users, and we're working to create new and better ways to answer your questions.

Exclusive: Metro-style Hotmail UI revealed via new Microsoft account login screen  —  So we've shown you exclusive screenshots of the new Microsoft account website, as well as the new Profile page, both in their Metro-style glory.  This time we were able to discover a new Microsoft account login screen …

Facebook App Center: Hands On  —  Here is a first look at Facebook's App Center, the social network's take on an app store offering a centralized place to find more than 600 Facebook and Facebook-related apps.  —  Facebook recently launched App Center, the social network's take on an app store offering …

Whopping .038% of Facebook users vote on data use policy change  —  Facebook's grudging institution of a vote fizzles, as the site hoped it would.  —  Facebook closed the vote on its new data use policy and new statement of rights and responsibilities Friday, with a paltry 342,632 ballots cast as of a minute before closing.

Can Phil Schiller Keep Apple Cool?  —  Steve Jobs always oversaw Apple's (AAPL) blockbuster product launches, but he was never a one-man show.  Phil Schiller, the company's longtime senior vice president of product marketing, often hammed it up onstage as the lower-brow counterweight to Apple's cool, polished chief executive officer.

Porn, gambling, and malware: Bitcoin as the Net's Wild West  —  Porn, gambling, and malware: Bitcoin as the Net's Wild West  —  A year after the bubble popped, we check on the cryptocurrency's progress.  —  On June 8, 2011, the same day Ars Technica ran its first story about Bitcoin …

Twitter: Yes, we've added photos, hashtags, usernames and more to our Facebook integration  —  Earlier today (or last for those in the western hemisphere) we discovered that Facebook status updates have started to include links for hashtags and usernames.  The exact reason behind the change was …

No-cost Windows 8 desktop development returns with Express for Desktop  —  Microsoft responds to the Windows developer community with a fifth Express SKU.  —  In response to pressure from the community, Microsoft has announced Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows Desktop …

Rogue Amoeba to Phil Schiller and Apple: reverse-engineering isn't against the law  —  As we've noted previously, Rogue Amoeba's Airfoil app was removed from Apple's App store amidst quite a bit of confusion.  We accurately pointed out that the company behind the app reverse-engineered encryption …

Microsoft details how it's improving Windows 8's movie and music players  —  Microsoft is promising that Windows 8 will look and sound better than its predecessor on any hardware because of a series of tweaks it's made to the operating system.  In an extensive blog post …

ETSI finally publishes its 4FF nano-SIM standard, goes with unaltered Apple-proposed design  —  A week after it announced that it had chosen the final standard for the new 4FF nano-SIM standard, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has finally updated the documentation on its website …

Judge Posner Dumps Ridiculous Patent Fight Between Apple & Motorola As Contrary To The Public Interest  —  Judge Richard Posner is, perhaps, the most influential judge not on the Supreme Court.  Beyond writing a ton of books (and columns and articles and blog posts), his rulings often seem to carry extra weight.