CNN sells Zite to Flipboard, teams up to launch custom magazines for CNN shows, in deal valued at up to $60M  —  CNN sells Zite to Flipboard  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney) CNN has sold its news reader app, Zite, to Flipboard, a social magazine application.  As part of the deal …

Bill Gates, Satya Nadella, Tony Bates and Microsoft's board all initially opposed Ballmer's plan for Nokia acquisition  —  Microsoft's Nadella Manages Legacy of Ballmer-Board Split  —  New Microsoft Corp. CEO Satya Nadella is seeking to reshape a company whose main businesses are losing steam …

94% of T-Mobile Blackberry promo participants switched to other smartphones  —  94% of BlackBerry trade-ins switched to other platforms during promo … Tomorrow, March 5th, the $200 trade-in for an old BlackBerry device offer is ending.  We've already heard from T-Mobile's CMO …

Yahoo acquires social media visualization startup Vizify  —  Vizify, a Portland-based startup that turns your social media chatter into visualizations, today was acquired by Yahoo.  —  Founded by Todd Silverstein, Jeff Cutler-Stamm, and Eli Tucker in 2011, Vizify is all about helping individuals make great first impressions.

OnLive is reborn with IGN founder as chief and two new cloud-based gaming services  —  Above: OnLive leaders Rick Sanchez, Mark Jung, and Gary Lauder.  —  Image Credit: Dean Takahashi  —  OnLive has announced that former IGN chief Mark Jung is its new executive chairman …

Yahoo to stop user access of services with Facebook, Google IDs  —  (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc will stop letting consumers access its various online services, including Fantasy Sports and photo-sharing site Flickr, by signing-in with their Facebook Inc or Google Inc credentials.

Yielding to Pressure, Facebook Restricts Gun Promotion on Social Network … Facebook announced Wednesday new restrictions on promoting guns on the social network, amid pressure from groups favoring gun control.  —  In a blog post, Facebook said it will remove offers to sell guns without background checks …

Corning exec: sapphire crystal displays are expensive, heavy, and environmentally unfriendly  —  Corning exec slams sapphire —rumored for Apple device  —  A Corning executive launched a blistering critique of sapphire crystal, used as a protective material for displays, on Tuesday.

Steven Ballmer Reflects on Missteps and Ponders the Future of Microsoft  —  OXFORD, England — A month after stepping down as Microsoft's chief executive, Steven A. Ballmer hasn't lost any of his energy.  —  In front of a packed crowd at the University of Oxford, Mr. Ballmer hooted …

Apple Working On More Third-Party Integrations For Siri With iWatch In Mind, Report Claims  —  Apple is working to make Siri play nice with more third-party apps and services, according to a new report from The Information.  Within a larger piece on the mobile search battleground and app integration …

Google Capital Pours $50M Into Real Estate Marketplace Auction.com At A $1.2B Valuation  —  Fresh of its public debut last week, Google Capital is putting more money to work this week with the announcement of a $50 million investment in real estate marketplace Auction.com.

In era of free services where we pay with our personal data, privacy is becoming a luxury good  —  Has Privacy Become a Luxury Good?  —  LAST year, I spent more than $2,200 and countless hours trying to protect my privacy.  —  Some of the items I bought — a $230 service that encrypted …

Target tech chief resigns as it overhauls security  —  Target says tech chief resigns as part of security overhaul following data breach  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Target Corp. Chief Information Officer Beth Jacob is resigning effective Wednesday as the retailer overhauls its information security …

Business Insider raises $12M from Bezos, others, for staff expansion and UK launch  —  Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Puts More Money Into Business Insider  —  Site Plans to Use Money to Hire More Staff, Finance U.K. Launch  —  Business Insider raised an additional $12 million in funding …

Sally Beauty Hit By Credit Card Breach  —  Nationwide beauty products chain Sally Beauty appears to be the latest victim of a breach targeting their payment systems in stores, according to both sources in the banking industry and new raw data from underground cybercrime shops that traffic in stolen credit and debit cards.

Because screw innovation: Uber already deemed illegal in Brussels, two (private) vehicles seized so far  —  The Brussels government really wants to make it impossible for Uber to operate in the city, even with a P2P ride-sharing service.  Two private cars driven by UberPOP drivers were seized this morning.

Samsung devices with Kitkat update no longer showing dubiously high benchmark scores  —  Samsung's KitKat update seems to remove benchmark-boosting “shenanigans”  —  Samsung's Android 4.4.2 update appears to correct the boosting behavior we encountered in 4.3.

Car repo companies profit from scanned license plates showing when and where cars were located  —  A vast hidden surveillance network runs across America, powered by the repo industry  —  Few notice the “spotter car” from Manny Sousa's repo company as it scours Massachusetts parking lots …

Facebook Messenger arrives for Windows Phone sans voice features  —  Microsoft was clearly being cautious when it said Facebook Messenger would be available for Windows Phone within a few weeks of Mobile World Congress — it's already here, just over a week later.