New Android Smartphone Is Said to Favor Facebook  —  Facebook will introduce a special version of Google's Android software system next week that is modified to put the social network front and center on a smartphone.  The software will debut on a handset made by HTC, said a Facebook employee who was briefed on the product.

Biting the hand that feeds you: why are record labels fighting Pandora?  —  Labels want streaming and web radio to grow the pie, but want their share too  —  A few years ago, leaders from the major record companies planted the seeds from which they hoped would spring the next generation of music distributors.

Actually, Amazon Paid About $150 Million for Goodreads  —  According to sources, Amazon paid about $150 million for Goodreads, the popular books recommendation service.  But that number could close in on $200 million, if certain performance metrics are met.

iMessage denial of service ‘prank’ spams users rapidly with messages, crashes iOS Messages app  —  Over the last couple of days, a group of iOS developers has been targeted with a series of rapid-fire texts sent over Apple's iMessage system.  The messages, likely transmitted via …

2020 Census will be done by Internet  —  Add paper census questionnaires to the long list of everyday items becoming quaint vestiges of tired technology, like landline phones, television armoires and butterfly ballots.  —  The Census Bureau already has started offering an Internet option …

Showing Support for Marriage Equality on Facebook  —  The U.S. Supreme Court this week met to begin debating the future of same-sex marriage in the United States.  To accompany this historic event, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) started urging people on Monday, March 25 to change …

New Windows 8 hardware specs hint at 7-inch tablets and a Microsoft Reader  —  Summary: A quiet change in the logo requirements for new Windows 8 devices allows Microsoft's hardware partners to build new devices that would compete with popular 7- and 8-inch tablets like the iPad Mini, Kindle Fire HD, and Google Nexus 7.

Password denied: when will Apple get serious about security?  —  Customers need some real talk about how data is kept and accessed  —  Last Friday, The Verge revealed the existence of a dead-simple URL-based hack that allowed anyone to reset your Apple ID password with just your email address and date of birth.

LivingSocial Co-Founder And CTO Aaron Batalion To Leave The Company  —  Aaron Batalion, the co-founder and CTO of daily deals site LivingSocial, is leaving the company.  He announced his departure in a post on his personal blog published Friday afternoon.  —  Here is the full text of his blog post:

Marissa Mayer Tells The Story Of Why She Became Yahoo CEO, Even Though She Was About To Have A Kid  —  Marissa Mayer told the story today of how she became Yahoo's CEO, even though she was pregnant.  —  It was part of Sheryl Sandberg's “Lean In” series, which promotes women talking about succeeding in life and business.

Dell Proxy Describes Downbeat Forecast  —  Dell Inc. described bleak prospects for its business and the personal computer industry as it laid out its most comprehensive case for accepting a $24.4 billion offer to go private, a decision that kicked off a high-stakes poker game between potential bidders for the computer maker.