In Technology Wars, Using the Patent as a Sword  —  When Apple announced last year that all iPhones would come with a voice-activated assistant named Siri, capable of answering spoken questions, Michael Phillips's heart sank.  —  For three decades, Mr. Phillips had focused on writing software …

First Windows 8 PCs appear early, crapware included  —  Summary: Microsoft's official launch party for Windows 8 is still weeks away, but one well-known retailer has jumped the gun.  Cable shopping giant HSN has five Windows 8 PCs for sale on the web.  All are, unfortunately, fully loaded.

Microsoft DMCA Notice ‘Mistakenly’ Targets BBC, Techcrunch, Wikipedia and U.S. Govt  —  In recent months the number of DMCA takedown requests sent out by copyright holders has increased dramatically, and it's starting to turn the Internet into a big mess.  —  One of the problems …

What Happened to Diaspora, the ‘Facebook Killer’?  It's Complicated  —  It's impossible to grasp the consequences or outcomes of new technology, especially when that technology is developed by a twenty-something hacker.  —  That much was already clear in January 2010 …

U.S. Lawmakers Say Huawei Poses Security Threat  —  Congressional Probe Says Huawei Poses National-Security Threat to the U.S.  —  WASHINGTON—A Chinese telecommunications giant that has been attempting to expand in the U.S. poses a national-security threat and may have violated U.S. laws, according to a congressional investigation.

Apple's Lightning to 30-Pin Adapter Begins Shipping  —  Apple has just begun notifying the first wave of customers who ordered the company's new Lightning to 30-pin Adapter that their orders are now shipping.  MacRumors has received word from several readers located in Australia that their orders …

Motorola confirms death of Webtop, laptop accessories  —  The company said adoption wasn't strong enough to justify additional resources.  —  Motorola Mobility's Webtop concept, which enabled its phones to act as the brains of a laptop or television entertainment hub, has quietly been killed off, the company confirmed to CNET today.

So it looks like Samsung might not have tried to copy the iPhone  —  Previously redacted documents presented in the Apple-Samsung case seem not to offer actual evidence that Samsung told its designers to copy the iPhone.  —  You remember the recent court case in which a vast amount of money was awarded to Apple?

YouTube Adds 60 More Web Video “Channel” Deals In Europe, US  —  YouTube is ramping up its channel experiment.  —  Google is funding a new batch of video-makers to join the 100 it launched in the last year.  And it's making an international push, by adding content for the UK, German and French versions of the site.

Apple Publicly Responds to Complaints of Purple Lens Flare on iPhone 5 Photos  —  Soon after the release of the iPhone 5, some users began noticing a purple flare or halo showing up in photos taken with the device's camera pointed at or near bright light sources.

Apple reportedly orders 10M iPad Minis for fourth quarter  —  Component makers in Asia say they have received orders for the unannounced tablet that eclipse Amazon's orders for the Kindle Fire, The Wall Street Journal reports.  —  Apple is apparently thinking big for its iPad Mini …