Windows Phone 8 Preview  —  Thanks to a recent leak which has revealed some interesting information about the next major Windows Phone version, I can now publicly discuss Windows Phone 8 for the first time.  —  Windows Phone 8, codenamed Apollo, will be based on the Windows 8 kernel and not on Windows CE as are current versions.

From Founders to Decorators, Facebook Riches  —  David Choe was paid in Facebook stock for paintings at the company's first headquarters.  His payout may be $200 million when it goes public.  Some investors may make billions of dollars.  —  SAN FRANCISCO — The graffiti artist …

Key Internet operator VeriSign hit by hackers  —  (Reuters) - VeriSign Inc, the company in charge of delivering people safely to more than half the world's websites, has been hacked repeatedly by outsiders who stole undisclosed information from the leading Internet infrastructure company.

Feds Seize Sports Streaming Domains in New Super Bowl Crackdown  —  US authorities began another round of domain name seizures a few hours ago, targeting several sports streaming sites.  —  Thus far, neither the Department of Justice nor Homeland Security's ICE unit have officially commented …

Peek offers remaining hardware to hackers: ‘maybe somebody can build something great’  —  Just because the Peek service has been killed off doesn't mean the devices themselves need to be crushed and swept off into a landfill somewhere.  CEO Amol Sarva just dropped us a note to say that he's got …

Introducing Reuters Social Pulse  —  Today we launched Social Pulse, our new social media hub on Reuters.com designed to show you the most talked-about news, companies and influencers across the Web.  —  The first thing you'll see on the page is the news most popular in Reuters social network.

Exclusive: Amazon.com buys TeachStreet  —  TeachStreet founder Dave Schappell traveled from coast-to-coast over the past 12 months entertaining offers for his Seattle-based startup.  But, at the end of the day, he found the best fit right in his own backyard.

Avid Brings Its “Pro-sumer” Video Editing App to iPad  —  Avid, maker of high-end digital video and audio production tools, is bringing its “pro-sumer” video editing software to the iPad.  —  The app is available starting Thursday as part of the Avid Studio suite.

Under new CEO, AMD will launch processors for tablets this year  —  Advanced Micro Devices said at its analyst meeting today that it will ship its first chips designed to provide the processing and graphics power for tablet computers.  —  Rory Read (pictured), chief executive of Sunnyvale …

10 Key Statistics about Facebook  —  As Facebook Inc. filed for its initial-public-offering yesterday afternoon, now is the perfect time to examine the website's performance online and how its audience compares with that of other social networks.  Given the expected $75 billion …

Nokia Lumia 900 now available for pre-order at Microsoft's retail stores with $25 downpayment  —  We're still not sure when we'll see Nokia's Lumia 900 (signs currently point to March), but if you want to ensure you'll be among the first to have it, you can pre-order the handset now at Microsoft's retail stores.

New Virtual Controls from Apple Point to a Future iMac Touch  —  On February 2, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that describes new virtual controls for a desktop with a touchscreen.  This once again illustrates that Apple may be working on an iMac Touch desktop computer.

Disney acquires majority stake in UTV  —  The Walt Disney Company has obtained a controlling stake in UTV including the media firm's games publishing arm UTV Ignition.  —  Disney will be complete the acquisition shortly via a delisting action which will see UTV's shares removed from local stock exchanges.

StumbleUpon Kills Direct Links, iFrames Everything  —  StumbleUpon, who happens to be one of the more popular and successful social media sites with over 20 million users (doubling from 10 million in about a year and a half), recently launched one of the biggest redesigns I can remember …

ChangeWave Survey Shows Momentum for Amazon Going Forward  —  BETHESDA, MD - Despite investor disappointment at a surprising fourth quarter sales miss, a January consumer survey shows Amazon.com riding a wave of momentum in the new year, according to ChangeWave Research, a service of 451 Research.

With Super Bowl XLVI Shaping Up As Hashtag Sunday, Twitter Launches Ad Scrimmage Competition  —  When trying to drum up post-game buzz, brands are finding that the hashtag is the new URL.  —  If last year was the year that ads started incorporating Facebook addresses into their creatives …