Apple Cedes Market Share in Smartphone Operating System Market as Android Surges and Windows Phone Gains, According to IDC  —  Despite beating Wall Street expectations in terms of shipment volumes, Apple's share in the worldwide smartphone operating system market posted a year-over-year decline during the second quarter of 2013 (2Q13).

Groupon Names Eric Lefkofsky Permanent CEO;Q2 Revenue Beats Street  —  The Groupon CEO search is over at the man at the top is a familiar one: co-founder Eric Lefkofsky.  —  The company announced today that he will man the job permanently, after being named co-CEO along with Ted Leonsis when Andrew Mason was fired.

Dear Jeff Bezos, Here's What I Saw as an Analog Nobody in the Mailroom of the Washington Post  —  While it might seem an awful cliche, the fact of the matter is — if you go back to a time long before the commercial Internet existed, and well before you became so rich that you have $250 million …

The Science Behind the Netflix Algorithms That Decide What You'll Watch Next  —  If you liked 1960s Star Trek, the first non-Trek title that Netflix is likely to suggest to you is the original Mission: Impossible series (the one with the cool Lalo Schifrin soundtrack).

How to Convince Investors  —  (This is one of a pair of essays on fundraising.  The next one, on fundraising tactics, is coming soon.)  —  When people hurt themselves lifting heavy things, it's usually because they try to lift with their back.  The right way to lift heavy things is to let your legs do the work.

Facebook Takes on Twitter by Courting Celebrities, Building Twittery Tools  —  When Channing Tatum wanted to publish the first picture of his new baby in June, he didn't go to People or Us Magazine.  Instead, he posted on his Facebook page.  —  And when Andy Murray won a surprise victory …

AOL Makes the Biggest Buy of the Tim Armstrong Era: $405 Million for Adap.TV  —  Tim Armstrong hasn't bought anything for a couple years.  Now he has made his biggest purchase since taking over AOL in 2009: AOL is buying Web video company Adap.TV for $405 million in cash and stock.

Apple succeeds on appeal: dismissed ITC patent case against Google's Motorola Mobility alive again  —  The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit just handed down its opinion on Apple's appeal of the ITC's March 2012 dismissal of its three-patent complaint against now-Google-owned Motorola Mobility.

Apple Faces Hurdles Attracting First-Time Smartphone Buyers  —  While Apple does extremely well in the global and domestic smartphone markets, they aren't doing as well among first-time smartphone buyers as one might think.  —  A new study paints an interesting picture of the first-time phone buyer and the devices they are choosing.

3 senior BlackBerry executives leaving company  —  Departures come almost 2 weeks after 250 layoffs in Waterloo  —  Almost two weeks after 250 employees were let go from BlackBerry's testing facility in Waterloo, Ont., CBC News has confirmed three senior members of the company will also be leaving.

500px Scores $8.8M Series A From Andreessen Horowitz & Harrison Metal To Build A Photo Marketplace, Expand Consumer Reach  —  500px, the Toronto-based photo sharing service aimed at enthusiasts and pro photographers, has closed on $8.8 million in Series A funding dually led by Andreessen Horowitz …

Federal judge: Bitcoin, “a currency,” can be regulated under American law  —  In the case of a Texas man accused of massive Bitcoin-based fraud, a federal judge has ruled that bitcoins are “a currency or form of money,” and are therefore subject to relevant US laws.

LG's new G2: high-end smartphone in the front, button party in the back  —  It left very little up to the imagination, but LG has finally, officially, shown off the G2 smartphone it's been talking so much about.  The G2 is the company's new flagship, the first without the Optimus branding.

Bing Weather, News, Sports, and Finance apps now available on Windows Phone 8  —  Microsoft is finally launching a variety of its Bing apps for Windows Phone 8.  After shipping versions for Windows 8, Microsoft's mobile store now includes phone variants of Bing Weather, News, Sports, and Finance.

After buying back Bebo, Michael Birch announces its rebirth with a ‘ballsy’ video  —  Bebo's new owners announced today that it is beginning its initiative to reinvigorate life back into the social network.  The company released a video touting the changes in what it bills as being “ballsy”.

Tech Magnates Bet on Booker in Web Venture  —  The conference room in the Mountain View, Calif., headquarters of LinkedIn was packed with the stars of Silicon Valley.  Top executives of Facebook, Google and Twitter gathered around a table; the billionaire Sean Parker looked on from a back row.

On the Edge of failure: Ubuntu smartphone looks unlikely to reach crowdfunding goal  —  The Edge, a smartphone that runs a mobile edition of the popular desktop OS Ubuntu, will only get made if would-be users pledge $32 million via the crowdfunding site Indiegogo.

Publishers Object to E-Book Plan for Apple  —  Provisions of Proposal Would Punish Them, They Said  —  Five major U.S. publishers objected to the Justice Department's proposal to limit Apple's influence in the electronic books market, saying it would effectively alter their existing settlements with the U.S. government.