Apple officially welcomes Beats to the family as Beats moves online sales to Apple's site  —  Apple has updated its homepage to include a new microsite officially welcoming the Beats Electronics and Beats Music team to the company.  The new site marks the first official mention on Apple.com …

Exclusive: Google Exploring ‘Google Workshop’ To Take Customized Smartphone Cases To A New Level  —  Google hasn't exactly had a great track record when it comes to official Nexus accessories.  Accessories have been teased or shown off only to arrive months later or not at all (remember that Nexus 10 dock?).

As of today, Americans can legally unlock their phones again  —  It's finally happened: as of today, unlocking your cellphone to work on other networks will be legal again in the US.  The White House and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who helped pass legislation earlier this year …

Surface Pro 3's Core i3 and Core i7 models available today  —  More than two and a half months after the Surface Pro 3's reveal, all of its variants are finally available: On Friday, the Core i3 and Core i5 editions of Microsoft's laptop-replacing tablet hit the streets, following the June 20 launch of the Core i5 versions.

YouTube's consumer products lead, who worked on music subscription service, leaves for Spotify  —  As YouTube Gets Ready to Launch a Spotify Competitor, a Top Exec Heads to Spotify  —  Here's another change for YouTube's management team, which has been in flux for much of the year …

Take a look at HP's luxury smartwatch  —  Despite their utility, smartwatches remain a geeky niche item thanks to a certain lack of je ne sais quoi.  However, HP is partnering with a retailer called Gilt to build an Android and iOS compatible smartwatch that may finally tick the style box, thanks to US designer Michael Bastian.

Chinese employees at Microsoft's Nokia arm protest mass layoffs  —  (Reuters) - “Hundreds” of Chinese employees at Microsoft Corp's Nokia phone business protested on Friday against mass layoffs that the U.S. tech company announced last month, according to an employee present and pictures posted on social media networks.

Picture of an HTC One (M8) running Windows Phone found on Verizon's site  —  Leaked Pic Tips Windows Phone-Based HTC One (M8)  —  Ahead of HTC's Aug. 19 press event in New York, a photo leaked to PCMag suggests that a Windows Phone-based HTC One (M8) is on the horizon.

Google barge docking in Portland sold, structure on top of it to be scrapped  —  Scrap the mystery: High-tech vision for Google barge crumbles in a heap  —  The barge has been sold and the four-story structure will be dismantled, along with Portland's hope for a new claim to fame.