Apple Finds It Difficult to Divorce Samsung  —  Apple AAPL +0.70% is finding that breaking up with Samsung005930.SE +0.22% is hard to do.  For evidence, look no further than Apple Inc.'s effort to find a company other than ferocious rival Samsung Electronics Co. to make the sophisticated chip brains used in Apple's iPads and iPhones.

Yahoo To Sunset AltaVista, Axis, RSS Alerts, and Nine Other Products, Some As Soon As Today  —  Yahoo under Marissa Mayer is taking a page from her old employer, Google, and sunsetting 12 products, with some starting as soon as today.  Included are AltaVista and other search products …

A Week After Instagram's Video Launch, Vine Sharing Tanks On Twitter  —  It's now been a full week since Instagram added video recording to its popular camera app, and it's already had a dramatic impact on its main competitor:  —  Vine sharing on Twitter has tanked.

Shutterstock Creates First Silicon Alley Billionaire  —  Jonathan Oringer, the founder of Shutterstock Inc., became a billionaire today as shares of the world's largest stock photo and video marketplace reached a record high.  —  Oringer, 39, owns about 55 percent of Shutterstock …

Google+ Turns 2, Rolls Out Redesigned Follow Buttons And Badges, Introduces Badges For Communities  —  Google+ turned two today.  To celebrate, Google's social network didn't just dress up Mr. Jingles, but it also launched a redesign of its Google+ plugins for websites, including its Follow …

BlackBerry PlayBook will not be upgraded to BlackBerry 10  —  Reneging on a promise it made back in January, BlackBerry has just announced that it will not, in fact, be upgrading its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to its latest mobile OS, BlackBerry 10.  CEO Thorsten Heins revealed the sour news …

New data: Samsung gaining ground on Apple in smartphone market share  —  As the smartphone wars rage on, the industry's two major hardware players continue to gain market share in the U.S., according to new numbers from comScore.  —  Samsung and Apple are the only major OEMs whose market share grew …

Google Sues IRS for $83.5 Million Tax Refund  —  Google Inc. (GOOG), owner of the most popular Internet search engine, sued the U.S. Internal Revenue Service for an $83.5 million refund, claiming it was improperly denied a deduction for a 2004 stock transaction with America Online Inc.

Amazon to launch virtual art gallery  —  The retail giant's new art site would resemble Amazon Wine, which launched last fall  —  AMAZON.com is expected to launch an online art gallery later this year.  The online retailer of books, electronics and apparel aims to offer over 1,000 art objects …

Google adds native Microsoft Word and Excel file editing to latest Chrome OS build  —  Google has added native Microsoft Office file editing to the dev channel for Chrome OS.  The addition means Chrome OS users on the latest build of the company's browser-based operating system can now experiment …

Netflix Max hands-on: Jellyvision's take on your movie queue  —  Being a Netflix subscriber is almost like being cursed — sure, you have access to untold troves of streaming TV shows and films, but how do you choose what to watch?  The burden of choice weighs heavily on the indecisive Netflix user …

San Francisco Officials Suggest Significant Changes Needed for Apple's New Flagship Store Proposal  —  Last month, Apple submitted plans to relocate its flagship San Francisco retail store three blocks north, putting the new store directly on Union Square, the heart of the city's high-end shopping district.

How Do You Break Into iPhone App Store Top 50?  Try 23K Free Daily Downloads, 950 Paid, Or $12K In Daily Revenue  —  An iPhone app needed 23,000 free downloads per day to reach spot number 50 in the top Free charts in the Apple App Store, says mobile app analytics firm Distimo …

Yahoo integrates Flickr with e-mail, adds new search alerts  —  The company adds Flickr access within Yahoo Mail and automated alerts for Yahoo search images or video results.  —  Continuing to spruce up its offerings, Yahoo on Friday added Flickr integration into its e-mail service …

Xbox Announces Landmark Deal with Time Warner Cable to Bring More Live TV to Xbox 360  —  In a landmark deal announcement for Xbox 360 and Time Warner Cable customers, we're excited to share a new partnership that will deliver up to 300 of the most popular live TV channels to Xbox 360 for Xbox Live Gold members.

Music App Songza Goes Ad-Free With A New Paid Service, “Club Songza” For $0.99 Per Week  —  Songza, the music-streaming and recommendation service that has picked up some 4.8 million monthly active users with its free, ad-based service, is turning on a feature now that it hopes will convert …

Facebook to review which Pages and Groups can show ads after complaints about inappropriate content  —  Facebook has revamped the way its advertising system works in response to concerns from major brands who were concerned about where their ads were showing up.