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 …

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.

Surface Watch?  Microsoft allegedly testing a ‘translucent aluminum’ smartwatch  —  Microsoft's prototype smartwatch testing has moved over to its Surface team.  Sources familiar with Microsoft's Surface plans have revealed to The Verge that the company is now prototyping devices directly under …

Yahoo wins court order to release records of its fight against PRISM  —  Yahoo, initially vilified for being part of the PRISM program, which allows the NSA to tap it and other companies for users' information, is about to be vindicated.  A court ruled Monday that the Department …

Gowalla Co-Founder Josh Williams to Depart Facebook  —  Josh Williams, co-founder of the location-based check-in startup Gowalla (which was “acqu-hired” by Facebook in 2012), plans to soon leave the social giant, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Capital market climate change  —  “Hope that you feel this Feel this way forever You can plan a pretty picnic  —  But you can't predict the weather.  FORTUNE — If you run a startup and are currently raising money, you probably planned for a somewhat different fundraising environment than the one you find yourself in today.

AT&T Bid for Leap Seen Winning Approval of U.S. Agencies  —  AT&T Inc. (T)'s $1.2 billion deal to buy Leap Wireless International Inc. (LEAP) would probably win approval from U.S. regulators, who may demand the company give up airwaves where its holdings surpass federal benchmarks.

Google revamps the interface of its Google Play store, bringing the Android version to the Web  —  Google today has revamped the Web interface of its Google Play store.  This new release is being unveiled to everyone starting today and brings the Android version to the Web.

$99 ARM-based PC runs either Ubuntu or Android  —  A new ARM-based Linux PC with a host of capabilities—including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, two Gigabit Ethernet jacks, and five USB ports—goes on sale next month starting at $99.  —  “Utilite,” offered by Israeli company CompuLab …

You Really Might Be Boring Your Facebook Friends  —  Is Facebook embarrassed to tell you how many people look at your cat or kid pictures?  —  Yes, says BuzzFeed writer Charlie Warzel.  No way, says a Facebook engineer — we just don't think regular people care about this stuff.

IMDb updates Android and iOS apps, lets US users buy movie tickets directly  —  Last year IMDb updated its mobile application to bring folks HD-quality movie trailers to aid in their cinematic decision making.  Today, iOS and Android users living in the US can act on those decisions with the addition of in-app movie ticket purchases.

Baidu to Pay $1.9 Billion for Chinese App Store Operator  —  HONG KONG — Baidu, China's biggest Internet search engine company, said on Tuesday it had reached a preliminary agreement to pay $1.9 billion to acquire 91 Wireless, a major developer of app stores in China.

For NSA chief, terrorist threat drives passion to ‘collect it all,’ observers say  —  In late 2005, as Iraqi roadside bombings were nearing an all-time peak, the National Security Agency's newly appointed chief began pitching a radical plan for halting the attacks that were killing or wounding a dozen Americans a day.

Yahoo recycles old user IDs with help from Facebook  —  It's been just over a month since Yahoo announced their plan to reclaim abandoned usernames, and met with an immediate outcry over privacy concerns.  What if you used your Yahoo email as a password reset?  Was Yahoo making life easy for identity thieves?

Forrester: $2.1 Trillion Will Go Into IT Spend In 2013; Apps And The U.S. Lead The Charge  —  Forrester Research has now released its annual look at the state of IT spend globally, and the analysts project that there will be $2.06 trillion invested across software, hardware, and IT services by enterprises and governments in 2013.

Spotify Defends Against New Music Backlash, Says It Will Pay Out $1B To Rightsholders By End Of 2013  —  Spotify, the music service with 24 million active users, says that it is on track to pay out $1 billion to artists that stream music on its platform by the end of 2013 …

Intel's Thunderbolt remains high-end rarity as Acer drops out  —  Windows computer maker Acer decides USB 3.0 is a better deal than Intel's high-speed communications technology.  And despite notable newer fans including Dell, HP, and Asus, Thunderbolt remains scarce.