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.

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 …

Lenovo dings Microsoft Surface: We'll provide better hardware  —  Lenovo executives believe it can beat Microsoft on hardware and claims not to be worried about Microsoft's Surface tablet.  —  During Lenovo's first fiscal quarter 2013 earnings call, executives didn't mince words in attacking Microsoft's Surface strategy.

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.

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.

‘Friends’ can share your Facebook profile with the government, court rules  —  A federal judge has ruled that investigators can go through your Facebook profile if one of your friends gives them permission to do so.  The decision, which is part of a New York City racketeering trial …

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.

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 …

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.

Google Doubles Down On Rewards For Bug Reports With $2 Million In Hacking Prizes  —  If Google hadn't made the message clear enough already: It really, really wants you to hack its software.  —  On Wednesday the company announced that it's holding another competition for hackers to target …

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.

Facebook stock slumps 5% as insiders get first chance to sell  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Facebook's life as a public company has been a nightmare from day one, and the pain continued on Thursday as some company insiders got their first chance to dump shares.

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.

The Google+ app for iOS opens web URLs in Chrome if installed, how soon until all Google apps do that?  —  Earlier today, Google released an update to its Google+ app for iOS, expanding support for Hangouts.  But tucked in there is a one-line update not which could have some interesting implications …

Zynga Puts Real Money Into Gambling Lobby  —  Zynga Inc. has begun investing in state and federal lobbying efforts around gambling with real money, even as the social gaming firm predicts the U.S. won't be an initial market for the potentially lucrative new line of business.