Apple Said to Fire Maps Manager After Flaws Hurt IPhone 5 Debut  —  Apple Inc. (AAPL) has fired the manager responsible for its troubled mapping software, seeking to win back the trust of users disappointed after the program debuted in September, according to people familiar with the move.

Microsoft Says It Has Identified Windows Phone Rebooting Issue, Plans Fix for December  —  Microsoft said it believes it has identified a problem that was causing some Windows Phone 8 devices to reboot without warning.  —  The company said it hopes to deliver an over-the-air software fix next month.

HP rebuffs ex-Autonomy CEO, warns of legal action  —  (Reuters) - Hewlett Packard Co rebuffed a request by former Autonomy Chief Executive Mike Lynch to detail accusations of accounting fraud leveled against the British software company and its former executives, and challenged Lynch to submit to questions under penalty of perjury.

Microsoft: We've sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses to date  —  Summary: Microsoft has sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses to date, according to the chief marketing and financial officer of the Windows division.  —  Microsoft has sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses since October 26.

Exclusive: Is Andrew Mason on the Bubble as CEO of Groupon?  —  According to sources close to the situation, several Groupon board members have been seriously discussing making major leadership changes at the Chicago-based daily deals company, including bringing in a more experienced CEO to take over for co-founder Andrew Mason.

Special Report: Silicon Valley's dirty secret - age bias  —  (Reuters) - When Randy Adams, 60, was looking for a chief-executive officer job in Silicon Valley last year, he got turned down from position after position that he thought he was going to nail — only to see much younger, less-experienced men win out.

Kantar Worldpanel: Apple Shoots Back To Top Of U.S. Smartphone Sales On An iPhone 5 Rocket, Android Leading Elsewhere  —  Samsung may be be the world's most popular smartphone brand, but in the influential U.S. market, Apple has climbed back to the top of the pack on the strength of its iPhone 5 sales.

How Google Plans to Find the UnGoogleable  —  The company wants to improve its mobile search services by automatically delivering information you wouldn't think to search for online.  —  Why It Matters  —  Google could extend its reach by finding ways to deliver information that people don't currently use a search engine to find.

On Cyber Monday, Mobile — Not Social — Takes All the Glory  —  On Cyber Monday, Etsy said it completed more sales than at any time in its seven-year history, driven by a number of factors.  —  One standout measurement was the number of visitors coming to the crafts marketplace from mobile devices …

Setting aside the smartphone: two weeks with Samsung's Galaxy Camera  —  Exploring the world with the hottest cameras and smartphones, I've grown accustomed to drawing discrete glances from curious gadget enthusiasts.  In Tokyo, it was Canon's EOS M camera that netted polite peeks.

Ericsson Sues Samsung on Patents  —  BERLIN — Ericsson, the market leader in mobile phone networking equipment, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Samsung, the biggest smartphone maker, claiming that it had infringed on 24 of Ericsson's software and hardware patents.

After cashing out to Google and Twitter, Ori Allon is going all in with Urban Compass  —  Can a programming prodigy disrupt the offline world as well?  —  When I meet up with Ori Allon for coffee on New York's Lower East Side, he paid special attention to the stools.

Bing's top searches reveal iPhone 5 as No. 1 news story  —  What do the iPhone 5, Kim Kardashian, and Pizza Hut have in common?  Top Bing searches.  —  Believe it or not but the No. 1 most searched for news story on Bing this year has been the launch of Apple's iPhone 5.

HBO Sets Up Digital Shop in Seattle  —  Cable TV service Home Box Office is opening its first dedicated software-development office to work on mobile apps and other digital products.  But HBO's new techie outpost isn't in Silicon Valley but instead in Seattle.

Obvious-Incubated Lift Lands $2.5M From Spark Capital, SV Angel To Help You Build Good Habits  —  After nearly a year in development, Lift launched its first mobile product in August behind an ambitious goal: Boost human potential by helping people achieve their goals.

Google's second wave of Nexus 4 orders beset by purchasing glitches, sellout notices  —  Google put its second batch of Nexus 4 smartphones on sale in the US today at 12pm PST, but as soon as a minute later, the website was showing ‘sold out’ status for the device.

The Internet's Best Terrible Person Goes to Jail: Can a Reviled Master Troll Become a Geek Hero?  —  On a gray Wednesday morning in October, the car headed west on the Lincoln Highway Bridge hit 100 miles per hour and I started to worry it might hurtle off into the tangle of rusted …

Microsoft sells 750,000 Xbox consoles on Black Friday weekend after seven years of sales  —  Microsoft revealed today that it has sold more than 750,000 Xbox 360 consoles in the US on Black Friday weekend.  Despite being seven years old, the Xbox 360's strong Black Friday sales follow 22 months …

Serious Google security glitch restores Webmaster Tools, possibly Analytics access to revoked accounts  —  Earlier tonight, reports began rolling in of a serious breach in Google accounts security.  Some sort of glitch has granted access to Webmaster Tools, Google Analytics and perhaps …