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Android tablets closing gap with iPad in 4Q

Bloomberg News | According to Strategy Analytics, Google Android tablet computers made headway against the Apple iPad in the fourth quarter. The Boston-based research firm said Android tablets accounted for 22 percent of global shipments, up from 2.3 percent in the third quarter; iPad shipments were 75 percent, down from 96 percent.

Microsoft profits dip in fiscal 2Q

Microsoft Corp. reported a dip in quarterly profit Thursday as sales of personal computers lagged expectations and Apple Inc.’s iPad began to eat away at the fringes of its core market.

The world’s largest maker of software, which powers more than 90 percent of the world’s computers, reported fiscal second-quarter profit of $6.63 billion, or 77 cents per share. That compared with $6.66 billion, or 74 cents per share, a year earlier. The per share figure was higher due to a reduction in shares outstanding from last year. Get the full story »

Google Voice to let users keep cell phone numbers

Google’s Voice calling application is adding a long-promised feature: the ability to move a phone number from a cell phone to Google’s service. Get the full story »

Google software to end tracking by advertisers

Google has introduced browser software that lets Internet users opt out permanently from ad-tracking cookies.

Google previously introduced an opt-out tool but that software can be lost when users clear their browser cookies.

In a blog post, Google says its newest tool, the Keep My Opt-Outs extension for the company’s Chrome browser, lets people permanently opt out of ad tracking from all companies that offer opt-outs — without compromising ad revenue.

Google: We’re working on bad search results

If you have been frustrated lately by search results on Google, you’re not alone, and Google knows it.

There’s been a drumbeat of criticism of Google’s search results coming out of Silicon Valley — and now the Internet giant has responded, saying it has heard “the feedback from the Web loud and clear” and believes it “can and should do better.”

In particular, the company is talking about stopping “content farms,” which provide low-quality, often unreliable and sometimes plagiarized information on a certain topic, just to get traffic from search. Get the full story »

Uncensored Playboy coming to iPad in March

Forbes | Playboy is coming to the iPad in the all-together starting in March, according to a tweet from Hugh Hefner.

Accused iPad hackers deny wrongdoing

An online group implicated in the theft of 100,000 e-mail addresses of Apple iPad users says two of its members arrested Tuesday did nothing wrong.

Daniel Spitler and Andrew Auernheimer face counts of fraud and conspiracy to access a computer without authorization. The counts each carry a five-year maximum prison sentence. Get the full story »

Apple topples expectations on iPhone, iPad strength

Apple Inc. reported better-than-expected results, fueled by blockbuster holiday sales of the iPhone and iPad that may help ease investor concern about Chief Executive Steve Jobs’ decision to take medical leave.

Shares in Apple, halted before the release, rose  4 percent, to about $354, after-hours, from a regular-session close of $340.65. Get the full story »

U.S, pursuing criminal charges in iPad data theft

U.S. investigators plan to announce criminal charges concerning the alleged theft of email addresses and other personal information belonging to about 120,000 users of Apple Inc’s iPad tablet computer. Get the full story »

Apple CEO Steve Jobs to take another medical leave

(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs is taking medical leave for the second time in as many years, sending its shares tumbling close to 10 percent as the unexpected news revived concerns over the long-term future of the iPhone- and iPad-maker.

The news, which was disclosed early on a U.S. holiday when markets were closed, came nearly two years to the date after Jobs first took a six-month break to undergo a liver transplant.

“At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health,” Jobs, 55, wrote in an email to staff published on a regulatory newswire. “I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can.” Get the full story »

News Corp., Apple delay launch of iPad newspaper

News Corp. is pushing back the launch of the world’s first iPad-only newspaper.

The company declined to comment on why. But a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Friday that News Corp. and iPad maker Apple Inc. have decided to delay the launch while they work on the technology involved in providing subscriptions. Get the full story »

Journalists to launch News Corp.’s iPad newspaper

Rupert Murdoch and Steve Jobs are expected unveil "The Daily" together. (Getty)

Stop the presses — completely. The world’s first iPad newspaper, The Daily, is prepping for launch. Journalists have been hired and are in place at multiple U.S. bureaus, including Los Angeles and New York.

The formal announcement of the digital publication owned by News Corp. will be made at an event at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on Jan. 19, according to two people familiar with the matter. The people said the event will be attended by Steve Jobs, chief executive of iPad-maker Apple Inc., and Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corp. Get the full story »

With more devices, 4G to hit its stride in ‘11

Until recently, consumers wanting to take advantage of 4G wireless network speeds didn’t have much choice in devices. Carriers offered laptop cards and USB dongles, but the selection of smart phones and other gadgets was minimal.

This dynamic will change dramatically this year, thanks to a flurry of product launches from mobile operators that are eager to meet increasing consumer demand for fast wireless broadband and draw more revenue from data traffic. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, carriers announced more than 15 new 4G devices, many of them smart phones or tablets. Get the full story »

LinkedIn on way to first social-networking IPO

LinkedIn may be the first company to quench investor thirst for the red-hot social networking market.

Despite months of headlines from Facebook, Chicago-based Groupon and Twitter, the company that connects more than 85 million professionals could be first out of the gate. It has been quietly preparing an initial public offering for as early as the first quarter.

LinkedIn has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase to advise it after a round of interviews in November. The size of the offering is not known, but it’s expected to be small relative to the company’s valuation. LinkedIn’s implied valuation on the private trading marketplace SharesPost is $2.2 billion.

RIM assures that Wi-Fi only PlayBook on schedule

Research In Motion Ltd.  reiterated Thursday its plans to release the Wi-Fi-only version of its PlayBook tablet in the first quarter of calendar 2011.

“The BlackBerry PlayBook is expected to begin shipping in the U.S. in Q1,” RIM said in an e-mail sent via their outside public-relations firm, Brodeur Partners. Get the full story »