Introducing Poke for Mobile  —  Today we're announcing Poke, an iPhone app that makes it fun and easy to say hello to friends wherever you are.  The poke feature has been a part of Facebook since 2004.  Now we're excited to share a new poke experience for mobile.

Google finds its design voice on iOS  —  From the beginning, Google's design sensibilities on the web and Android have been unique.  Whether you were a fan of the spare, utilitarian feel of products like Search or not, you knew when you were looking at something built by Google.

Instagram Reversal Doesn't Appease Everyone  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook may have quelled a full-scale rebellion by quickly dumping the contentious new terms of use for Instagram, its photo-sharing service.  But even as the social network furiously backpedaled, some users said Friday they were carrying through on plans to leave.

iOS 6 bug reenables JavaScript in Safari without user consent  —  The Safari browser in Apple's iOS 6 platform has a potentially serious JavaScript bug that could have major security and privacy implications.  —  The new “Smart App Banner” feature in iOS 6 is designed to allow developers …

Apple lifts block on combo 30-pin+Lightning charging accessories  —  The POP station from Kickstarter aimed to combine Lightning and 30-pin connectors into a single charging device.  —  The Kickstarter campaign that was “shut down” by Apple for creating a charging station that had both Lightning …

Flickr offers three months of free Pro access to new and existing users  —  Flickr, the popular photo-sharing service owned by Yahoo, has given an early Christmas present to all users, offering three months of its Pro service for free.  Pro accounts generally cost $24.95 per year and offer …

Apple Airs New iPad mini Commercial: I'll Be Home  —  Just in time for Christmas, Apple has aired a new TV commercial for the iPad mini.  Focused on FaceTime, the commercial shows a girl and her grandfather sharing a moment of holiday cheer with the girl playing and singing the classic hit “I'll Be Home for Christmas”.

Amazon Is Ripe For Disruption  —  Amazon, the great disintermediator that put a spanner — in fact, a set of 25 spanners in a handy case, yours for just $9.99 — in the businesses of many a retailer, is going to face exactly the same fate if it doesn't start to address its weaknesses soon, particularly in the area of publishing.

Police Dept. to Use Internet to Try to Stop Mass Shootings  —  Top intelligence officials in the New York Police Department met on Thursday to examine ways to search the Internet to identify potential “deranged” gunmen before they strike, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said.

Google Designing ‘X Phone’ to Rival Apple, Samsung  —  Engineers at Motorola are hard at work on a sophisticated handset, to be released next year, that parent Google Inc. hopes will provide more potent competition for devices like Apple Inc.'s iPhone, said people familiar with the matter.