Mapping a Path Out of Steve Jobs' Shadow  —  Like all companies, mighty Apple (AAPL) is not immune to bungling a new product, though its apologies haven't always seemed heartfelt.  After slashing the price of the first iPhone by $200 only a few months after its debut in 2007 …

Asia's Apple Suppliers Begin Mass Production on Mini iPad  —  TAIPEI—Apple Inc.'s Asian component suppliers have started mass production of a new tablet computer smaller than the current iPad, people with knowledge of the situation said, as the Silicon Valley company tries to stay competitive …

Deutsche Telekom and MetroPCS agree on $1.5 billion T-Mobile merger  —  Apparently the “significant issues” that stood in the way of a prospective T-Mobile and MetroPCS deal couldn't have been too onerous.  Just a day after acknowledging that talks were underway both boards have approved the deal according to the Wall Street Journal.

Google Moves Ahead in Fight to Dominate the Map Apps  —  Apple has been taking lots of justified heat for its decision to replace Google Maps on the iPhone with a fledgling, and flawed, maps app of its own.  In my otherwise favorable review of the new iPhone 5, I called Apple's maps app …

Xbox Music to launch on October 26th with free ad-supported streaming  —  Spotify-like service on the way  —  Microsoft is preparing to launch its Xbox Music service on October 26th.  Multiple sources familiar with Microsoft's plans have confirmed the new service will launch at the same time as Windows 8.

Apple Turning to Select Retail Store Employees to Help Improve Maps for iOS 6  —  MacRumors has learned that Apple is piloting a program to tap into its vast number of retail store employees to help improve the company's new Maps app for iOS 6.  Details on the initiative remain unclear …

HP's Whitman: Wait till 2014 for turnaround  —  HP's turnaround effort won't see results till 2014, HP CEO Meg Whitman said at the company's analyst meeting on Wednesday.  —  “We believe that 2014 will be the year you will see real recovery and expansion at HP.  You should see every business unit recover and grow.

Samsung Claims Jury Foreman Misconduct Tainted Apple Case  —  Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) asked a judge to throw out Apple Inc. (AAPL)'s billion-dollar trial victory in August, saying the jury foreman failed to disclose a lawsuit and his personal bankruptcy when he was chosen for the panel.

Google Warns of New State-Sponsored Cyberattack Targets  —  In June, many Google users were surprised to see an unusual greeting at the top of their Gmail inbox, Google home page or Chrome browser.  “Warning: We believe state-sponsored attackers may be attempting to compromise your account or computer.”

Ellen Pao Says Kleiner Perkins Has Now Fired Her  —  Ellen Pao, the Kleiner Perkins partner who sued her own firm for gender discrimination and retaliation in May, has been fired, she said late Tuesday night.  —  In an update to a previous answer she had left on Q&A site Quora, Pao wrote, “I have been terminated from my job at KPCB.

Tweetbot creator launches Netbot, a mature and polished App.net client for iPhone and iPad  —  Tapbots, the studio behind the popular Tweetbot client for Twitter, has brought its design prowess to the fledgeling communication platform App.net.  The company's new app Netbot serves users …

Nokia considers selling its Espoo headquarters for an estimated $250 million  —  Finnish company struggles to transition  —  Nokia's recent financial results show the company is clearly struggling to transition over to Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system, with CEO Stephen Elop admitting that Nokia …

Andreessen Horowitz Invests $15M In Text Annotation Startup Rap Genius  —  Here's an investment out of left field, but not really.  Andreessen Horowitz is dropping $15 million into startup Rap Genius.  It's not just about rap, though.  Think of it as “crowdsourced explanations of lyrics and historical texts.”

Twitter Rolls Out Surveys - And Reminds Us Why It Cares About “Consistent User Experiences”  —  Here's an interesting new feature for Twitter advertisers: The chance to survey users directly.  —  Twitter is rolling out the tool today, which it will provide for free to some of its biggest advertisers …

‘Netflixed’ author talks Hastings' glory, hubris, white lies (Q&A)  —  Author Gina Keating reveals some of Netflix's secrets in her upcoming book, such as the price Amazon offered to pay to acquire Netflix and the belief of some that Reed Hastings has a “social IQ of zero.”

AOL looking to spin out Techcrunch's CrunchBase  —  AOL, the New York-based media company that is the corporate parent of The Huffington Post and TechCrunch, is looking to spin out CrunchBase, the Techcrunch-owned database of technology companies and people that has become a useful resource for the technology business.

Regulators smash global phone tech support scam operation  —  Summary: The FTC announced a crackdown on a massive international computer tech support scam that allegedly swindled tens of thousands of consumers in six countries.  —  Zack Whittaker  —  Regulators from five countries joined together …

Facebook Now Lets US Users Pay $7 To Promote Posts To The News Feeds Of More Friends  —  Facebook is expanding to the US the controversial Promoted Posts feature that lets users pay to get their posts more visibility in the news feed.  It will cost $7 per post and Facebook hopes it will be used …

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt Sold $130 Million in Shares over Last Week  —  The rise of Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has been monumental of late.  Analysts have been forcing their price targets higher after Google keeps a huge lead in internet search and as Android keeps gaining market share in the smartphone universe.

The Pirate Bay Returns After 2 Days Downtime  —  On Monday The Pirate Bay went offline.  By itself the downtime isn't really news as it happens every other week, but this time it took longer than expected to return.  —  The Pirate Bay was quick to inform TorrentFreak that they were dealing …

Four-inch Samsung Galaxy S III ‘mini’ rumored for launch next week  —  Intrigued by the Galaxy S III but are put off by its large 4.8-inch display?  Don't worry, it looks like Samsung (005930) has apparently got you covered.  Unwired View got its hands on a flier in Germany teasing the launch …