Amazon shows new Kindle Fire and backlit ‘Paperwhite’ Kindle readers in TV ad  —  We're expecting quite a few things out of tomorrow's Amazon event, and the company just helped heighten expectations a little bit more with a new commercial.  The brief spot aired during tonight's Giants and Cowboys game …

Welcoming Instagram to Facebook  —  So many of us at Facebook love using Instagram to share moments with our friends.  And for so many people, sharing photos with friends is an important part of the Facebook experience.  That's why we're so excited to bring Instagram to Facebook and see what we can create together.

Apple TV No IPhone As Talks Bog Down With Media Companies  —  Apple Inc. (AAPL) engineers have been working since 2005 to reinvent TV viewing.  Designing the gadget may prove easy compared with convincing media and cable companies to loosen their grip on the television industry.

Hootsuite Acquires Seesmic  —  Hootsuite has acquired Seesmic, putting its management tools into the hands of even more social media business users.  After years of friendly competition, HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmes and Seesmic Founder Loïc Le Meur have agreed to a deal and a plan for the transition:

Feds Say Mobile-Phone Location Data Not ‘Constitutionally Protected’  —  The Obama administration told a federal court Tuesday that the public has no “reasonable expectation of privacy” in cellphone location data, and hence the authorities may obtain documents detailing a person's movements …

South Korea probes Samsung over Apple antitrust complaints  —  (Reuters) - South Korean regulators are investigating complaints filed by Apple Inc that Samsung Electronics Co is abusing its dominant position in wireless technology, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said on Thursday.

Microsoft launches nationwide ‘Bing it on’ TV campaign to challenge Google  —  Microsoft claims people prefer Bing search results to Google's nearly 2:1, and the company is ready to prove it.  Launching today, Bing is rolling out a nationwide campaign to highlight its search benefits and challenge Google.

Marissa Mayer: Yahoo is Staying in Ad Tech, Won't Sell Right Media  —  Key Exec Michael Barrett Says He's Sticking Around, Too  —  Marissa Mayer has made one of her first big strategic decisions as Yahoo CEO, as the company announced it was not going to sell its ad exchange Right Media.

Spotify Is Said to Profit From Its Subscribers, but Lose More Luring Them  —  Media Decoder recently looked at the books of Spotify and Pandora, two of the most popular digital music services, and noted that both companies — despite having very different business models — wind up paying most of their revenue in music royalties.

Top Startup Advisor Paul Graham Just Warned Against Taking Google's Money  —  Y Combinator founder Paul Graham, the influential advisor to dozens of startups like Dropbox and Airbnb, sent his entrepreneurs an email Wednesday afternoon cautioning them against taking “lowball offers”—in particular, he said, from Google Ventures.

New Twitter API Drops Support for RSS, Puts Limits on Third-Party Clients  —  Twitter officially unveiled version 1.1 of its API Wednesday, deprecating support longstanding features such as RSS in the process.  —  Twitter announced its new API back in August, which it described as helping create …

Wikipedia parent forges ahead with new travel wiki, sues Internet Brands for getting in the way  —  The Wikimedia Foundation has formally decided to move ahead with the creation of a new, non-commercial travel wiki and has sued Internet Brands for allegedly impeding the effort.

AT&T expands 4G LTE coverage to 9 new markets, 40 more coming in 2012  —  AT&T on Thursday announced it has expanded its high-speed 4G long-term evolution coverage into 9 new areas of the U.S., with 40 more markets coming before the end of 2012.  —  AT&T's massive expansion of its 4G LTE network comes …

Microsoft to hire 1,000 in China over next year: executive  —  (Reuters) - Microsoft will hire 1,000 staff in China over the coming year, adding to the 4,500 the company already employs in the country, a senior executive said on Thursday.  —  The new employees will be added in research and development …

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales attacks government's 'snooper's charter'  —  Jimmy Wales says his website would encrypt all connections with Britain, and called the plans ‘technologically incompetent’  —  Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, has sharply criticised the government's …

Kobo Unveils $99 Mini And $129 Glo E-Readers, Takes On Amazon With Android-Powered Arc Tablet  —  The big September reveal-a-thon is set to continue tomorrow with some new product announcements courtesy of Amazon, but a rival player in the e-book space is trying to capture some thunder of its own prior to Amazon's big show.

Samsung Galaxy S III sales surpass 20 million  —  Samsung's Galaxy S III hit the 10 million mark at the end of July, and in the time since then the company has doubled that figure — Samsung says it's reached 20 million Galaxy S III sales, 100 days after the handset launched in May.

The SEC's Crowdfunding Conundrum  —  When President Obama signed the JOBS Act last April, one of the most controversial and potentially far-reaching provisions was giving startups the ability to raise money through crowdfunding.  Private companies would be able to sell shares to all manner of individual investors for the first time.

On-Demand Ride-Sharing Service Lyft Adds $1 Million In Excess Liability Insurance For Drivers  —  Zimride's local, on-demand ride-sharing service, Lyft, has gotten a lot of positive press since launching as an alternative to cabs and Ubers in San Francisco.  But it's always had some legal …

Sources: Apple to be sole maker of Dock Connector Adapters  —  Responding to earlier reports that Apple hasn't offered developers parts or specs for next-generation Dock Connector accessories, additional sources have confirmed to iLounge that Apple will be the exclusive initial vendor …

Vidmind Launches Cloud TV Platform to Let Anyone Create a White Labeled Netflix  —  Tel Aviv-based startup Vidmind came out of stealth today and debuted its cloud-based TV solution, which lets operators, broadcasters and retailers essentially create a white labeled version of Netflix.

Eight Questions for Nokia CEO Stephen Elop  —  Saying that today is a big day for the Finnish wireless concern Nokia is putting it lightly.  With its shares trading at levels not seen since the mid 1990s, and its once-dominant position atop the world market for wireless phones shattered …