Fact Sheet: White House Task Force on High-Tech Patent Issues  —  Today the White House announced major steps to improve incentives for future innovation in high tech patents, a key driver of economic growth and good paying American jobs.  The White House issued five executive actions …

Outlook 2013 RT Coming to Windows RT Tablets as part of Windows 8.1 Update  —  Today at Computex 2013, Tami Reller, CFO and CMO of Microsoft's Windows Division, announced that Outlook 2013 RT will be available on Windows RT tablets as part of the free Windows 8.1 update coming later this year.

Amazon plans big expansion of online grocery business: sources  —  (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc is planning a major roll-out of an online grocery business that it has been quietly developing for years, targeting one of the largest retail sectors yet to be upended by e-commerce, according to two people familiar with the situation.

Bloomberg Launches Bloomberg Beta, A $75 Million Early-Stage Investment Fund Led By Former IGN Exec Roy Bahat  —  Media company Bloomberg is launching its own venture capital fund, called Bloomberg Beta today.  With the fund, the company is putting aside $75 million to invest in early-stage startups.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active offers a more rugged, waterproof variant of Android bestseller  —  Today, Samsung is announcing a new variant of its Galaxy S4 more suited to the great outdoors.  The phone has a high degree of dust and water protection (IP67), allowing it to be submerged in water up to a meter …

Intel's ‘Thunderbolt 2’ official, coming later this year  —  Intel's next Thunderbolt technology — hitherto known by the code name Falcon Ridge — now has an official moniker.  The tech is slated to be built into future Intel chipsets.  —  Intel has officially dubbed the next version of its high-speed port “Thunderbolt 2.”

Wi-Fi signals enable gesture recognition throughout entire home  —  Forget to turn off the lights before leaving the apartment?  No problem.  Just raise your hand, finger-swipe the air, and your lights will power down.  Want to change the song playing on your music system in the other room?

FreedomPop Expands Its Free Service to Voice  —  While there are lots of discount cellphone plans out there, alternative carrier FreedomPop is trying to introduce a new price tier — free.  —  This summer, the company plans to offer a plan with various Android phones that gives customers …

Sony unveils Haswell-based Vaio laptops that can be converted into tablets  —  Sony is unveiling a new line of Vaio Pro and Vaio Duo laptops with new Intel Haswell-based microprocessors.  —  Sony Duo 13  —  The Vaio Pro is a touch-enabled Ultrabook laptop that runs Windows 8.

Steve Ballmer Treks To Hollywood To Tout Xbox One To TV Moguls And Agents  —  EXCLUSIVE 10 AM... UPDATEd 12:30 PM : Deadline has learned the meetings were an intimate preview of the new Xbox One capabilities before next week's E3 confab where secretive Microsoft will unveil details of the device's technology.

The Problems with CALEA-II  —  The FBI wants a new law that will make it easier to wiretap the Internet.  Although its claim is that the new law will only maintain the status quo, it's really much worse than that.  This law will result in less-secure Internet products and create a foreign industry in more-secure alternatives.

Google Glass photo update brings HDR, better low-light shots and captions  —  At Google I/O, the Glass team promised monthly updates for the head-mounted computer.  Today, a new version of the software (XE6) is being shipped out to the few who have them so far and it contains a bunch of updates that center on images.

Intel to Invest $100 Million in Voice, Gesture Technologies  —  TAIPEI—Intel Capital, the global investment arm of chipmaker Intel Corp., is setting up a $100 million fund to invest in “perceptual” computing technologies like voice and gesture control, company executives said.

comScore: Apple increases lead as top US smartphone maker, Samsung gains; Android down fourth month in a row  —  In the US, Apple's dominance as the top smartphone OEM during the first quarter of 2013 has spilled over into April.  Samsung is gaining as well, but not quite as quickly.

Amazon Earned Over $600 Million in Ad Revenue Last Year  —  Analysis of figures from many research sources suggests Amazon's WW ad revenues will top $835 million this year  —  Amazon has ramped up its advertising strategy in recent years, and the site is reaping the benefits.

Espionage malware infects raft of governments, industries around the world  —  Security researchers have blown the whistle on a computer-espionage campaign that over the past eight years has successfully compromised more than 350 high-profile targets in 40 countries.

Amazon establishes online marketplace in India  —  BANGALORE: Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, has launched an online marketplace in India, Amazon.in, where third-party sellers can list their products and sell directly to customers.  India represents Amazon's tenth marketplace …

Saudi Arabia bans Viber web communication tool  —  (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's telecom regulator has banned use of the web-based communication application Viber, which is hard for the state to monitor and deprives licensed telecom companies of revenue from international calls and texts.

Internet Surveillance and Free Speech: the United Nations Makes the Connection  —  Frank La Rue, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Opinion delivered this week a landmark report [PDF] on state surveillance and freedom of expression.

Australia's de-facto Internet filter may block 250k sites  —  Baldrick's cunning plan turns into live grenade  —  The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), has told a hearing of the Australian Parliament's Senate Estimates committee that its attempt to block access …