Microsoft kept PC partners in dark about Surface  —  (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp kept its personal computer partners largely in the dark about its plans to launch a competing tablet computer, with some long-time collaborators learning of the new gadget only days before its unveiling, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

A new way to experience profiles: with or without replies  —  When you visit a Twitter user's profile, you may want to see his or her original Tweets rather than their conversations.  Then again, you may enjoy seeing the back-and-forth exchanges they have with other Twitter users.

Galaxy Quest: One Phone Aimed at All Networks  —  While smartphones based on Google's Android operating system collectively outsell Apple's iPhone, no single Android phone has risen to become a giant hit the way the iPhone has.  Instead, there has been a profusion of often-confusing models …

Peter Thiel Launches Mithril: A New $402 Million Late-Stage Fund  —  Peter Thiel may be best known for his angel investments, most notably, his legendary call with Facebook.  But now he's got something for companies that sit just on the cusp between public and private markets.

A Redesigned, Slicker PayPal Is Coming Tomorrow; Some Seeing New Look Today  —  PayPal, the eBay-owned online payments service that is making significant inroads into mobile, is giving its website an overhaul to make it easier for its 100 million+ users to pay and get paid, find help …

U.S., Israel developed Flame computer virus to slow Iranian nuclear efforts, officials say  —  View Photo Gallery — Stuxnet and other big worms and viruses: The computer virus is growing in popularity as the weapon-of-choice in the Middle East.  Here's a look at some of the more notable viruses and worms.

Microsoft's Phone Efforts Move Into the Spotlight Wednesday  —  While Monday was a huge day for Microsoft, thanks to the Surface tablet, Wednesday is also shaping up as a pretty important milestone.  —  The company is set to meet with developers to talk about the future of Windows Phone …

Google Offers app now available on iPhone  —  Today we're announcing the new Google Offers app for iPhone.  Now, iPhone users can discover, buy and redeem Google Offers, as well as deals from our partners, on-the-go.  Some of the features of the new Google Offers app for iPhone include:

Chinese online censorship targets “collective action” posts  —  A Harvard team finds that China's Internet policy allows more than most realize.  —  We all know that China and the Internet aren't exactly BFFs.  The Great Firewall of China has been around for over 15 years now, and it shows no sign of crumbling.

NVIDIA PR Responds To Torvalds' Harsh Words  —  NVIDIA's PR department has issued a statement following the harsh comments by Linus Torvalds last week where he referred to the graphics company as the single worst company they have ever dealt with, called them out on not supporting Optimus, and other issues.

Google Threatens To Sue Huge YouTube MP3 Conversion Site  —  YouTube is without doubt the biggest free resource of videos and music available online today.  It can be enjoyed on the site itself, embedded in any webpage, or accessed via YouTube's Application Programming Interface.

Facebook Adds Subscription Billing For App Developers, Backs Away From Credits As Primary Currency  —  Facebook is adding subscription billing for app developers, in what should help gaming and media companies earn more revenue from their most loyal users.  Starting next month …

WWDC 2012 session videos go live for developers  —  As promised, Apple has quickly posted videos of many of the WWDC 2012 developer sessions.  There are currently 113 videos of sessions live on Apple's developer website.  Sessions for both iOS and OS X application development are available …

Windows 8 app-based advertisement concepts revealed  —  Windows 8 isn't just a new PC or tablet operating system from Microsoft.  The company also sees it as a way for other companies to get the word out on their products.  In a new post on the Microsoft Advertising blog …

NSA: It Would Violate Your Privacy to Say if We Spied on You  —  Gen. Keith Alexander, center, the head of the National Security Agency, visits Afghanistan, 2010.  Photo: ISAF  —  The surveillance experts at the National Security Agency won't tell two powerful United States Senators …

Ex-Googlers Launch MightyText, An iMessage For Android Users  —  During their lengthy careers at Google in both senior technical and product management roles, Maneesh Arora and Amit Sangani were able to geek out on products like AdSense, AdWords, and the now-defunct Google Health.

They Work!  Facebook Mobile Ads Are Clicked 13X More, Earn 11X More Money Than Its Desktop Ads  —  How will Facebook monetize mobile?  Its organic-seeming Sponsored Stories ad format may be the answer.  Mobile Sponsored Stories are getting over 13 times the click-through rates and earn 11.2 times …

First look at the curved tabs in Firefox's new Australis design  —  A Mozilla developer published a Firefox build that shows the new tab style.  —  A screenshot of the custom Firefox build with the Australis tab style.  —  Earlier this year, we reported on Mozilla's effort to unify the look …

Sprint says it's ‘a little behind’ on Galaxy S III shipments, T-Mobile limits launch markets  —  Sprint is citing “overwhelming demand and limited supply” this afternoon as the reasons for a few delays in its Galaxy S III launch strategy, which will see 32GB pre-orders ship next week rather …