Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $39.99  —  We set out to make it as easy as possible for everyone to upgrade to Windows 8.  Starting at general availability, if your PC is running Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 you will qualify to download an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for just $39.99 in 131 markets.

Twitter Transparency Report  —  Wednesday marks Independence Day here in the United States.  Beyond the fireworks and barbecue, July 4th serves as an important reminder of the need to hold governments accountable, especially on behalf of those who may not have a chance to do so themselves.

Judge rejects Samsung's request to allow U.S. tablet sales  —  (Reuters) - A U.S. judge rejected on Monday Samsung Electronics Co. request to lift an injunction against U.S. sales of its Galaxy Tab 10.1, a tablet computer than runs on Google Inc's Android and competes with Apple Inc.'s iPad.

Google's Nexus 7 tablet infringes Nokia patents  —  THE GOOGLE NEXUS 7 is already in hot water, as Nokia claims that the tablet infringes some of its patents.  —  Announced last week, the Asus built Nexus 7 is Google's first own-brand tablet and boasts Android 4.1 Jelly Bean …

Google sees advantage in making new gadget in USA  —  (Reuters) - When Google Inc decided to build its Nexus Q home entertainment device in Silicon Valley rather than in China, it was not fretting about the bottom line.  It was fretting about speed.  —  “We wanted to innovate fast.

Apple Loses Bid for Emergency Ban on HTC Phone Imports  —  HTC Corp. (2498) can continue to bring its newest smartphones into the U.S. while a trade agency investigates whether the phones violate an order that the Taiwanese company stop infringing an Apple Inc. (AAPL) (AAPL) patent.

Exclusive: Amazon buys 3D mapping startup UpNext  —  It looks like Amazon is building up its presence in the mapping business.  The tech giant today closed a deal to acquire 3D mapping startup UpNext, GigaOM has learned.  —  For Amazon, which doesn't have a mapping service of its own …

QR Code Fatigue  —  When 29-year-old manufacturing worker Michael Hellesen sees a Quick Response code around his hometown of Racine, Wis., he sometimes scans it using an application he downloaded to his Google (GOOG) Android smartphone.  More often than not, it takes Hellesen to a brand's website.

Chinese Household Chemical Company Sues Apple For “Snow Leopard” Trademark  —  After Apple settled the “iPad” trademark dispute with Proview, the tech giant is facing another trademark lawsuit from a Chinese household chemical company called “Jiangsu Xuebao”.

Exclusive: Leaked BlackBerry 10 2013 Roadmap  —  BlackBerry news in the last week has had it's plenty of downs.  However, with this less than par news we have gained plenty of new insight into the BlackBerry 10 platform and what it entails.  The news has taken us on a roller coaster.

The iPhone and Disruption: Five Years In  —  Clayton Christensen, author of the deservedly much-praised The Innovator's Dilemma, was wrong about the iPhone five years ago: … Last month, Larissa MacFarquhar profiled Christensen in The New Yorker (subscribers-only, alas), and in a parenthetical …

Adobe: Web standards match 80 percent of Flash features  —  SAN FRANCISCO—Adobe Systems, retooling as fast as it can for a future of Web publishing and Web apps, sees the technology as mostly caught up to the Flash technology that Adobe previously preferred.

iCloud Beta Previews Web Versions of Notes and Reminders  —  Leaks first appeared in May that Apple was planning to add web versions of the Reminders and Notes iOS apps to iCloud.com for access from desktop Macs and PCs.  —  The iCloud Beta portal has since been activated for developers enrolled the iOS 6 beta at beta.icloud.com.

Facebook clarifies email address confusion, contact sync is a bug that will be fixed  —  We just got off the phone with Andrew Bosworth, Facebook's Director of Engineering, who sought to clear up some of the confusion recently about the company's decision to hide all email addresses besides …

U.K. Home Secretary won't block O'Dwyer extradition  —  The U.K. Home Office has said the Home Secretary, who is able to block extraditions, will not intervene in the Richard O'Dwyer case.  —  Follow @zackwhittaker  —  The U.K. Home Office has confirmed that Home Secretary Theresa …

Microsoft Lawsuit Names Two Responsible for Zeus Botnet Attacks  —  Microsoft has identified two members of the Zeus botnet crime ring that the software giant targeted with a lawsuit three months ago.  There's only one problem: They are already in jail.  —  Microsoft's counted two minor successes …

Kodak patent auction approved over Apple complaint  —  NEW YORK — Beleaguered photography pioneer Kodak said a US bankruptcy court has approved its bid to auction off more than 1,100 patents despite objections by Apple and FlashPoint over a small number of them.

To fight piracy, Microsoft tightens MSDN and TechNet terms again  —  Summary: Microsoft is about to crack down on software pirates who exploit its generous MSDN and TechNet programs.  If you're a current subscriber, you may get caught in the crossfire.  —  Ed Bott  —  Follow @edbott

Hotel offers guests electronic Bibles  —  A hotel in Newcastle has replaced its copies of the traditional Gideon's Bible in favour of an electronic version of the text.  —  Gideons International is dedicated to distributing free copies of the Bible, often in hotel rooms

For Twitter-Owned Apps and Sites, a Cacophony of Confusion  —  At top, the Twitter Web site, which includes the company's premium Discover tab.  At bottom, the Twitter Web site as viewed on the Apple iPad, which highlights direct messages instead.  —  Did Twitter just cut off its entire face to spite its nose?

Klout's New COO Proves The Kleiner Perkins Network Is Alive And Well  —  Klout just announced that it's hired one of its angel investors, Emil Michael, as chief operating officer.  —  Michael worked for nine years as a top executive at Tellme Networks, an Internet-telephony startup.

Apple Tweaks Genius Bar To Increase Capacity  —  In reaction to an ever-increasing number of visitors to its Genius Bars and limited space to seat them, Apple is testing out a new configuration that increases Genius Bar capacity, and emphasizes the use of iPads to manage service records.

Microsoft Writing Off Nearly All of the $6.3 Billion It Paid for aQuantive  —  Microsoft said on Monday that it is taking a $6.2 billion non-cash charge to account for its disappointing 2007 acquisition of Internet advertising firm aQuantive.  —  That's a huge charge …

GM Talks to Facebook About Returning as a Paid Advertiser  —  After a High-Profile Split, Facebook Is Trying to Prove That Its Ads Do Work  —  General Motors Co. and Facebook Inc. are in talks to bring the auto maker back as a paid advertiser, two months after a high-profile falling out, people close to both companies said.

Cisco's cloud vision: Mandatory, monetized, and killed at their discretion  —  Last week, a number of Cisco customers began reporting problems with three specific Linksys-branded routers.  When owners of the E2700, E3500, or E4500 attempted to log in to their devices, they were asked …

Watching How China Censors  —  As Officials Crack Down on Web Chatter, New Technology Finds Out Why  —  China's government isn't the only one paying close attention to what the country's citizens are saying on social media sites.  —  As China's 500 million Internet users rapidly adopt social media …