Gesture In The Picture, As Intel Reportedly Picks Up Omek But PrimeSense Dismisses Apple Acquisition Rumors  —  Yet more exits for Israeli startups, with the latest two developments a throwback to the hardware and engineering muscle that raised the tech profile of the region in the first place …

A Secret Surveillance Program Proves Challengeable in Theory Only  —  WASHINGTON — On Oct. 29, about seven months before the recent revelations about secret government surveillance programs, Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. made a commitment to the Supreme Court.

AT&T counters T-Mo's Jump with Next, its own phone upgrade program.  Is it a better deal?  —  Not to be outdone by T-Mobile's new smartphone upgrade program Jump, AT&T is launching its own plans next week that will let customers trade up to new handsets before their contracts are up.

FBI Ransomware Now Targeting Apple's Mac OS X Users  —  For years, Windows users have been plagued by ransomware demanding several hundred dollars to unlock their computers.  —  The bad guys know there is a growing market of Apple consumers who, for the most part, feel pretty safe about browsing …

Exclusive: Apple Pitches Ad-Skipping for New TV Service  —  Apple has a new trick up its sleeve as it tries to launch a long-awaited television service: technology that allows viewers to skip commercials and that pays media companies for the skipped views.  —  For more than a year …

Play Store redesign points to Google Glass support  —  Google's updated Play Store includes mention of Glass, implying that the company's headset will be managed through the store soon.  Users who have linked Glass with their Google account have been seeing the device in the site's “compatible devices” list when viewing apps.

Airbnb Slows Hiring Overseas, Shifts Strategy  —  Airbnb Inc. is trying not to become another cautionary tale in international expansion.  —  One of technology's hottest startups, with a valuation of $2.5 billion, the online-accommodation rental service has recently slowed down hiring …

Machine learning startup Ayasdi raises $30.6M to map your data  —  Ayasdi, the machine learning startup that creates maps out of complex datasets, has raised a $30.6 million series B round of venture capital.  New investor IVP led the round, with Citi Ventures and GE Ventures chipping in …

Instagram Lead Designer Tim Van Damme Headed to Dropbox  —  Dropbox is bulking up on its design talent.  —  As I wrote on Monday, Tim Van Damme, Instagram's lead designer, will be leaving the company a year and half after joining the photo-sharing startup.

Apple Launches Logic Pro X with Virtual Drummer and Flex Pitch  —  Apple today announced the launch of Logic Pro X, the next-generation version of its professional audio software.  The release brings a completely revamped Logic Pro application including a new virtual drummer and integrated pitch editing …

Bill Gates on the future of education, programming and just about everything else  —  Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has thoughts on a lot of things, from the demise of lecture halls to the awesomeness of the patent system.  He took the stage at the company's annual Faculty Summit …

A bird's eye view of the AT&T-Leap Wireless merger  —  I've already taken one crack at explaining why AT&T would want to buy regional carrier Leap Wireless.  This deal is clearly about spectrum.  AT&T wasn't able to get it by purchasing T-Mobile so it's hoping to pick up airwaves …

Dell Said to Consider Delaying Shareholders' Vote on Buyout  —  Dell Inc.'s (DELL) special committee of the board is considering delaying the July 18 shareholder vote on the buyout by founder Michael Dell, seeking a higher bid or time to win support for the $24.4 billion deal, said a person with direct knowledge of the situation.

Yahoo's Marissa Mayer Hits One-Year Mark  —  Shares Have Soared More Than 70%, but Little Evidence Yet of a Real Turnaround  —  Yahoo Inc.'s share price has soared more than 70% since the arrival of Chief Executive Marissa Mayer one year ago, but there isn't much evidence yet of a fundamental turnaround at the veteran Web company.

Opbeat Nets $2.7M From Facebook, Instagram Founders And More To Give Developers A Control Center For “Web Ops”  —  While it's apparently becoming easier and easier to become a developer — judging, at least, by the number of “learn to code!” platforms popping up by the month …