Google Says Some Apple Inventions Are So Great They Ought to Be Shared  —  Patent wars, Apple CEO Tim Cook once said, are “a pain in the ass.”  Few more so than the one the company is waging against Google's new Motorola Mobility division and the new argument the defendants are making around standards-essential patents (SEPs).

‘Sparrow for Windows’ was never an official Sparrow client, not even close to ‘weeks away’  —  We've just heard from sources close to Sparrow that the man behind “Sparrow for Windows,” Panos Tsimpoglou, was never hired by Sparrow CEO Dom Leca, and was never officially associated with the company's brand.

The real reason we're upset about Sparrow's acquisition  —  When the news hit that Sparrow has been acquired by Google, you could almost hear the collective sigh from those who use and love this wonderful iOS and Mac OS X email client.  Many people (myself included) took to Twitter to voice …

Microsoft Mulls a Stylus for Any Screen  —  Adding a camera to a stylus could let it interact with any device—even one without a touch screen.  —  Microsoft is considering whether to release a stylus that could, after a software upgrade, interact with almost any existing display or device.

Darpa Funds Hack Machine You'd Never Notice  —  PwnieExpress' all-new Power Pwn.  All Images: PwnieExpress  —  If you saw this bad boy under your desk, would you say anything?  —  It may look like a surge protector, but it's really a remote access machine that corporations can use to test security and log into branch offices.

Kodak Loses Patent Case Against Apple, RIM  —  Eastman Kodak Co. has lost a patent case against Apple Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd., dealing a blow to the onetime film giant's efforts to raise billions of dollars by selling off its intellectual property.  —  Kodak filed a complaint …

Audio brand Beats buys back 25% of its own shares from HTC  —  Audio equipment brand Beats is buying back 25% of its shares from HTC, the smartphone manufacturer announced today.  As you may know, the brand is best known for its “Beats by Dr. Dre” headphones.

Instagram For The Web Coming Soon?  Online ‘View Profile’ Link Spotted In The Wild  —  Instagram became a billion dollar company with a service that existed entirely within the realm of mobile apps.  But it's looking like the social photo-sharing juggernaut may be about to unveil its own bridge to the web, too.