Apple's New Front in Battle for TV  —  Apple Inc. is in talks with some of the biggest U.S. cable operators about letting consumers use an Apple device as a set-top box for live television and other content, according to people familiar with the matter.  —  The talks represent Apple's …

[Updated: Screenshots] Google Is Gearing Up To Finally Introduce Play Store Gift Cards And A Wishlist [APK Teardown]  —  A new Google Play Store v3.8.15 apk started rolling out to Android devices today, but upon running through its UI, I was unable to uncover anything different from the versions before that.

Nokia sales chief warns Samsung to ‘take note’ of next generation Lumia  —  Now that Nokia has revealed when its big Windows Phone 8 launch event will be, it's time for the company to start building up the hype and it's doing it by taking aim at its biggest competitor: Samsung.

Google Maps now has schedules for more than one million public transit stops worldwide  —  Since 2005, we've collaborated with hundreds of transit authorities around the world to make a comprehensive resource for millions of riders to find out which bus, train, subway or tram can take them to their next destination.

Apple bashes Amazon and proposed ebook settlement  —  In a memo filed with the Southern District of New York this afternoon (PDF; embedded below), Apple argues that the Department of Justice's proposed settlement with three book publishers forces Apple to tear up existing contracts.

Dish Network Said To Plan Nationwide Satellite Broadband  —  Dish Network Corp. is preparing to introduce a nationwide broadband-Internet service using a satellite from sister company EchoStar Corp. (SATS), according to three people familiar with the situation.

E-commerce startups  —  Very few successful e-commerce companies were started in the 2000s.  Since then, e-commerce startups have enjoyed a revival.  Dozens of companies have gotten traction and venture dollars have followed.  Phrases like flash sales, social commerce, and subscription commerce have entered the startup lexicon.

13 ways of looking at Medium, the new blogging/sharing/discovery platform from @ev and Obvious  —  [With apologies to Wallace Stevens, the finest poet to ever serve as vice president of the Hartford Livestock Insurance Company.]  —  I.  —  Medium is a new online publishing platform from Obvious Corp. It launched yesterday.

Universal Music Uses Bogus DMCA Claim To Take Down Negative Review Of Drake's Album  —  We keep talking about how the DMCA takedown process, all too frequently, is used to stifle speech, and defenders of the system claim that it's ridiculous to bring up the First Amendment in a discussion on copyright.

WikiLeaks' Julian Assange granted asylum in Ecuador  —  Julian Assange has been granted political asylum by the Ecuadorian government after taking refuge in its London embassy in June.  —  LONDON — Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been granted political asylum by the Ecuadorian government …

Netflix Provides ‘Knock-offs’ After Contract With Disney Ends  —  We recently talked about the steady progression of cable cord-cutting occuring in this country.  As that trend progresses, we're also seeing constant friction from the major movie studios about how they think they're offering enough …

Mobile app startups are failing like it's 1999  —  Stop the madness  —  The long cycle times for developing mobile apps have led to startup failures that look more like 1999 - it's like we've forgotten all the agile and rapid iteration stuff that we learned over the last 10 years.  Stop the madness!

Surprise!  What you can expect from Windows 8 RTM  —  Summary: Microsoft has officially made the final release of Windows 8 available to subscribers of its MSDN and TechNet services.  You'll find a handful of small surprises, one very large change from Windows 7, and a momentous name change.

MPEG drafts twice-as-efficient H.265 video standard, sees use in phones as soon as 2013  —  All of that squabbling over H.264 may be rendered moot in the near future.  The Motion Picture Experts Group (better known as MPEG) has just let us know that it was quietly drafting a new video standard …

Dell Support Caught Using Shady Sweepstakes to Hawk Warranties  —  Thinking of calling Dell tech support?  You may already be a “winner.”  In three separate calls during our undercover testing for LAPTOP's annual Tech Support Showdown, Dell persistently pushed premium warranties.

HP Says Its Windows 8 Tablet Will Include ‘Unique’ Technology  —  Despite last year's epic failure of the TouchPad, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) still believes it can knock Apple (NSDQ:AAPL)'s iPad off its lofty perch in the enterprise tablet market.  HP has been teasing its forthcoming Windows 8 tablet …

Lenovo Earnings Rise 30% As PC Maker Boosts Market Share  —  Lenovo Group Ltd. (992), the world's second-biggest maker of personal computers, posted a 30 percent increase in first-quarter profit as it expanded market share to almost pull even with leader Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ)