Apple Confirms Acquisition of 3-D Sensor Startup PrimeSense  —  Apple has completed its acquisition of PrimeSense, the Israel-based company focused on 3-D sensor technology, for a price sources said was around $360 million.  —  Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet confirmed the PrimeSense deal …

BlackBerry ousts COO and CMO, replaces CFO  —  The high-level shakeups aren't over at BlackBerry just because the company has a new CEO.  The company has just let go of Chief Operating Officer Kristian Tear (pictured at left) and Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben (right), both of whom had assumed their roles roughly one year ago.

Clinging to Outlook, Only 25 Percent of Yahoo Employees Willing to Eat Mail “Dogfood” (Best Memo Ever!)  —  As most know, I love a good internal memo from inside Yahoo and here's a doozy related to a rather controversial topic of late: How badly the new version of Yahoo Mail has been received by consumers.

Uber Strikes Deal To Lower The Cost Of Car Ownership For Drivers  —  On-demand transportation service Uber is trying to get new drivers on the road, while also improving the experience for those who are already on its platform.  To do that, it's partnered with a couple of auto manufacturers …

Samsung unveils the 5.25-inch Galaxy Grand 2, featuring a quad-core 1.2GHz processor and 1.5GB RAM  —  Samsung has just taken the wraps off its Galaxy Grand 2, yet another large-screen smartphone typically known as a phablet.  —  The Galaxy Grand 2′s screen size has been upped a notch …

Yuri Milner on Twitter, Facebook, Russia and Science  —  As a young dropout from a Ph.D. program in physics, Yuri Milner had no special ambitions to start a technology company in his native Russia.  He worked in finance for a few years before coming across a 1999 report by Morgan Stanley analyst Mary Meeker …

Inside a Twitter Robot Factory  —  Fake Activity, Often Bought for Publicity Purposes, Influences Trending Topics  —  One day earlier this month, Jim Vidmar bought 1,000 fake Twitter accounts for $58 from an online vendor in Pakistan.  —  He then programmed the accounts to “follow” …

FDA Tells Google-Backed 23andMe to Halt DNA Test Service  —  23andMe Inc., the Google Inc.-backed DNA analysis company co-founded by Anne Wojcicki, was told by U.S. regulators to halt sales of its main product because it's being sold without “marketing clearance or approval.”

Big Insurance Can Now Bypass Obamacare Website, Tech Companies Still Waiting  —  As the federal government struggles to regain hope that it can get enough consumers to buy health insurance, it is piloting an option for consumers to purchase insurance outside of state websites.

The Battle For The Connected Home Is Heating Up  —  Editor's note: Matt Turck is a managing director of FirstMark Capital.  Follow him on Twitter at @mattturck.  —  Almost 15 years ago, a friend of mine at McKinsey spent a few nights writing a document called “The Battle for the Home”.

Half an operating system: The triumph and tragedy of OS/2  —  It was a cloudy Seattle day in late 1980, and Bill Gates, the young chairman of a tiny company called Microsoft, had an appointment with IBM that would shape the destiny of the industry for decades to come.