Tim Cook: ‘we would not make’ 7-inch tablet, iPad mini in ‘a whole different league’  —  Apple CEO addresses Steve Jobs' criticism of 7-inch tablets  —  Those who have been paying attention to Apple over the years remembered one thing when the company revealed the iPad mini earlier this week …

Microsoft's Times Square store opens, draws massive crowds  —  Microsoft is throwing a massive party in New York for the launch of its latest OS, Windows 8.  Launching alongside Windows 8 is Microsoft's first tablet, the Surface.  We have gathered a few images from twitter that show the scale …

Apple's Online Radio Service to Challenge Pandora in 2013  —  Apple Inc. (AAPL) and major music labels have intensified negotiations to start an advertising-supported Internet radio service by early next year, according to people with knowledge of the talks.

Samsung shipped a stunning 57M smartphones in Q3 — twice as many as Apple  —  Samsung shipped 56.9 million of the 162 million smartphones sold globally in the third quarter of 2012, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics.  That adds up to a massive 35 percent global share …

Apple's iPad Mini, 4th Gen iPad Now Available For Pre-Order - Wi-Fi Only Versions Deliver November 2  —  If you're looking to get your hands on an iPad mini after the big reveal this past Tuesday, now's the time to pre-order, as Apple has launched pre-orders via its mobile app and online retail store …

Jailbreaking now legal under DMCA for smartphones, but not tablets  —  The Digital Millennium Copyright makes it illegal to “circumvent” digital rights management schemes.  But when Congress passed the DMCA in 1998, it gave the Librarian of Congress the power to grant exemptions.

Eric Schmidt is headed to Paris to head off French proposal to charge Google for linking  —  France's new government has been making noises about forcing Google to pay for the privilege of linking to French news sites.  Google responded by threatening to remove all French news sites from its index …

Apple Posts Notice to UK Site Acknowledging that Samsung Galaxy Tab Did Not Infringe on iPad Design Because “They are not as cool”  —  As instructed by a UK court, Apple has posted a small link in the footer of Apple.com/uk.  The notice acknowledges the judgement that Samsung had not infringed on the iPad design with their Galaxy Tab.

Microsoft exec says rampant cyber crime made his company fall behind on smartphones  —  Microsoft (MSFT) development director Craig Mundie knows that his company has fallen way behind on smartphones but he insists that it's not the company's fault.  In an interview with Spiegel …

Amazon Reports $169 Million Loss on LivingSocial  —  Groupon's stock price isn't the only sign that the daily deals bubble has burst: In its third-quarter earnings report, Amazon took a writedown of $169 million, or $0.37 per share, for its stake in daily deals site LivingSocial.

New York Times blocked in China over Wen Jiabao wealth revelations  —  Unwelcome revelations about wealth of family of Chinese premier, known for his humble background and populist appeal  —  Chinese authorities have blocked the Chinese website of the New York Times and most access …

What Goes Wrong  —  This is my talk from 2012 Startup School, pretty much exactly as delivered.  —  It's been more than 7 years since we started YC.  In that time, we've funded 467 startups so I've seen a lot of patterns.  There's a talk I always want to give at the beginning of each batch …

Why Nintendo is losing money on each Wii U launch unit  —  Nintendo is counting on a strong launch for the Wii U next month to help return the company to profitability this fiscal year, but the hardware itself isn't going to contribute anything to that bottom line.

Facebook execs: Zynga is down, but it will snap back  —  Shortly after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the company's gaming revenue isn't where he'd like it to be, his game team talks about where Facebook's gaming platform is headed.  —  Although payments for a majority of Facebook games grew …