Facebook acquires photo sharing app Lightbox

Popular Android photo sharing service Lightbox announced today that it has been acquired by Facebook. The company's team of seven (7) will be joining Facebook, while the service itself will be functioning until June 15. Users have until that date to download their photos from Lightbox. The Android app has already been removed from Google Play, and new user sign ups aren't being accepted at this point.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed to the public.

T-Mobile CEO announces further “structure” changes, layoffs this week

The Verge has posted a memo sent out by T-Mobile USA CEO Philipp Humm to company employees. Humm says that T-Mobile has begun taking the "second essential step" in its complete restructuring plan, which involves thousands of employee layoffs. The CEO says that the layoffs will happen sometime this week, but didn't go into detail on that topic.

The memo, in its entirety, is below:

Dear colleagues,

Since the beginning of the year, T-Mobile has stressed that 2012 is a rebuilding year for the company. A vital step in that process was announced in March with the consolidation of our call centers. This week, T-Mobile is taking the second essential step. We are announcing a new structure that further aligns our costs with our revenue realities, enables teams who support our field organization to act and react with greater speed and effectiveness to customer and market opportunities, and better positions us to return to growth.

The new organization required difficult decisions that will impact some of our employees. This week, news will be shared personally with employees and teams who are directly affected by the restructuring. Changes will include some position eliminations and changes to individual roles and responsibilities. It is important to emphasize these impacts to employees result from business decisions. We have tremendous employees here at T-Mobile and we truly wish we could retain all our talent, but our business realities require hard choices. For affected team members, we are providing generous transition support including severance, assistance with COBRA continuation coverage, and outplacement services. As mentioned in the March announcement, customer service representatives in the remaining 17 call centers, technicians in engineering, and frontline employees in our T-Mobile corporate-owned stores will not be affected.

Our rebuilt structure enables T-Mobile to realize significant savings, allowing us to invest in future growth — in particular modernizing our network to LTE, repositioning the T-Mobile brand, and aggressively pursuing the B2B segment where we plan to add 1,000 positions over the next few years. We gain the agility to put resources where the current opportunities are, grow in areas where potential is greatest, and act on emerging opportunities quickly and rationally.

The restructuring provides a sustainable organizational model, centered on our T-Mobile Values, with the following attributes:

A greater focus on driving Customer Delight by reducing the layers between working teams and executive leadership, and shifting and consolidating groups in the field sales regions and the FSC to minimize redundant work — resulting in more effective coordination and communication.

A renewed emphasis on Best Place to Perform and Grow:
Enhanced people manager spans of control (number of direct reports), enabling faster decisions, more ability to execute, and more empowerment of employees at all levels.
Evolution of our leadership model from player-coach, where more time is spent on daily tasks than on planning and guiding, to leader-coach, where time is focused more strategically on coaching, developing, delegating, and motivating.

We approached the restructuring process and decisions with care, rigor and cross-functional alignment. A team comprised of top leaders, with support from industry-leading subject matter experts, worked closely together over the past few months to develop an effective and sustainable structure. We strongly believe the organizational principles we applied are lasting ones. More details on the new organizational structure will be shared in department and team communications this week and more broadly after that.

I want to assure you we will move through the communications this week very thoughtfully, but also as quickly as we can while preserving the quality of the conversations that need to happen. As always, our T-Mobile Values will guide our actions.

Thank you for your patience as we work through what will be a difficult week. Thank you for your continued commitment.

With sincere appreciation,

Philipp Humm
CEO & President
T-Mobile USA

Best Buy founder resigns from company Board

Earlier today, Best Buy released the results of an internal investigation it conducted on company founder and Chairman of the Board Richard Schulze. The investigation found that Schulze was aware now former Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn had an inappropriate relationship with an employee of the company, but failed to report it. Schulze resigned shortly after the details of the investigation were released.

Schulze released the following statement:

"In December, when the conduct of our then-CEO was brought to my attention, I confronted him with the allegations (which he denied), told him his conduct was totally unacceptable and contrary to Best Buy's policies and everything I, and the Company, stand for. I understand and accept the findings of the Audit Committee."

Investigation details:

Key findings of the investigation include:

• The CEO violated Company policy by engaging in an extremely close personal relationship with a female employee that negatively impacted the work environment.
• The CEO's relationship with the female employee demonstrated extremely poor judgment and a lack of professionalism, but the inquiry revealed no misuse of Company resources. The inquiry also revealed no misuse of aircraft.
• In addition, as part of the investigation, it was determined that the Chairman of the Board of Directors acted inappropriately when he failed to bring the matter to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors in December 2011, when the allegations were first raised with him.

The Best Buy Board of Directors has elected Hatim Tyabji to replace Schulze.

Facebook readjusts IPO with $34-$38 share pricing; confirms delay in Instagram acquisition

Earlier today, the SEC released Facebook's seventh (7) amendment to its initial public offering filing. In the new filing, Facebook readjusted the projected share price from the previous $28-$35 to $34-$38, bringing the company's valuation well above the prior projected value of $100 billion. In addition, Facebook has upped the amount of shares it will be trading to 337 million.

In addition, Facebook has confirmed previous rumors that its $1 billion acquisition of Instagram has been delayed. The social network was planning to complete the deal sometime in the second quarter of this year, but the new documents point to the deal closing sometime in 2012.

Facebook's stock will appear on the NASDAQ under the ticker "FB." The company's IPO is expected to launch this Friday, May 18, 2012.

Scott Thompson steps down as CEO of Yahoo amidst resume controversy

Yahoo has just announced that it will be naming Ross Levinsohn as interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company following word earlier this morning that Scott Thompson had stepped down from the position. Thompson was accused earlier this month of lying on his resume when he was hired as Yahoo CEO in January of this year. In addition, Yahoo has named Fred Amoroso as Chairman of the Board of Directors, replacing Roy Bostock.

As a part of the settlement agreement, Third Point, which owns an aggregate of 70,545,400 shares, or 5.8% of Yahoo! common stock, has agreed to withdraw its previous Board nominations for consideration at the annual meeting and vote its shares in support of Yahoo!'s nominees. Yahoo!'s slate of director nominees for election or re-election at the 2012 annual meeting of stockholders will now include Fred Amoroso, John Hayes, Peter Liguori, Thomas McInerney, Maynard Webb, Sue James, David Kenny, Brad Smith, Daniel S. Loeb, Harry J. Wilson and Michael J. Wolf.

As interim CEO, Mr. Levinsohn will manage the Company's day-to-day operations with assistance from Yahoo!'s existing senior leadership team.

Google celebrates Mother’s Day with a Doodle

To celebrate Mother's Day, Google has placed a heart-warming animated Doodle on its homepage. The Doodle portrays the mom character as a "g" and her two children as two "o's" as a spin-off of the regular Google logo. The "o's" are animated and walk over to hug the "g" and the rest of the Google logo fades in.

HP looking to get back into tablet market with Windows 8

According to a report from The Bangkok Post, Hewlett-Packard (HP) CEO Meg Whitman confirmed at the Global Influencer Summit that the company will be re-entering the tablet market with a Windows 8 device sometime in the future. This comes after HP abruptly discontinued its TouchPad tablet last year following poor sales. The tablet ran on webOS, which HP acquired from Palm in the prior year.

Not much else is known about the Windows 8 tablet from HP, other than that it is in existence. Windows 8 is expected to be released to consumers sometime in the fall of this year.

Facebook rolling out file uploads to all Groups

According to Mashable, Facebook has begun rolling out the ability to upload files in Groups. The feature, which is somewhat a competitor to Dropbox, allows users to upload files smaller than 25 MB, but no music files or executable (.exe) files are allowed. Most other files types will be allowed, however.

To prevent the spread of malicious, inappropriate or copyrighted files, “users can report files the same way they can with other content across the site,” a Facebook spokesperson said. Whether a group that wants to share such things will willingly turn itself in remains to be seen.

It's unclear when all Facebook Groups will receive this feature, but the social network says that it should be "soon."

Foxconn chairman confirms preparations for Apple television set

According to a report from China Daily, Foxconn chairman Terry Gou addressed Apple's long-rumored high-definition television set at a press conference in Shanghai yesterday. Gou apparently confirmed that Foxconn has already begun making preparations for the product, which includes a partnership with Sharp for LCD displays. Actual production of the "iTV" has not begun, however.

Gou said Foxconn is making preparations for iTV, Apple Inc's rumored upcoming high-definition television, although development or manufacturing has yet to begin.

iTV reportedly features an aluminum construction, Siri, and FaceTime video calling

Foxconn's recent 50-50 joint venture factory with Sharp in Japan is one of the preparations made for the new device, Gou added.

Report: Apple to drop Google Maps for in-house service in iOS 6

According to a report from AllThingsD, Apple will be dropping the Google Maps app that comes built-in on iOS devices in favor of its own in-house mapping software solution. Google Maps has been powering the Maps app on iOS since day one, but recent tension between the two companies has likely caused the change. In addition, Apple has recently purchased three mapping companies: Placebase, Poly9, and C3 Technologies.

We’ve independently confirmed that this is indeed the case. Sources describe the new Maps app as a forthcoming tent-pole feature of iOS that will, in the words of one, “blow your head off.” I’m not quite sure what that means, and the source in question declined to elaborate, but it’s likely a reference to the photorealistic 3-D mapping tech Apple acquired when it purchased C3 Technologies.

Microsoft unveils “most significant” update to Bing in history

Today, Microsoft took the wraps off of what it is calling the "most significant" update to the search engine Bing since the service launched three years ago. The company has integrated social features into a new three column design that allows for interacting with friends on social networks, such as Facebook, while searching. The right sidebar displays social activity related to the specific search, while the two left columns display actual search results and extended information.

The new Bing should be rolling out the world sometime in the coming weeks.

Report: T-Mobile considering merger with MetroPCS

According to a report from Bloomberg, T-Mobile's parent company, Deutsche Telekom, is reportedly in talks with MetroPCS about merging T-Mobile with the carrier. T-Mobile, the fourth largest carrier in the United States, has been struggling over the past couple of years, and has been looking for options ever since its acquisition by AT&T fell through.

Other options reportedly include an outright sale of the company.

Deutsche Telekom is considering a stock-swap transaction that would give the German company control over the combined entity, which would be publicly listed, said two of the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. Other options include an initial public offering or an outright sale of T-Mobile USA, the people said, adding that Deutsche Telekom is also in talks with other companies. MetroPCS shares jumped 14 percent in New York trading yesterday.

Facebook announces “App Center” for all platforms

Today, Facebook announced to developers that it will be launching its own "App Center" over the coming weeks that will act as a centralized place to discover new apps. The app center, which is designed to compete with Apple's App Store and Google Play, includes ratings and details for each app. Developers will also be able to charge for apps for the first time on the social network. The app center will work on Facebook.com, and the iOS and Android versions of the mobile app. Developers will be required to use Facebook's login system if needed.

There isn't any word on when the service will be launching to the public.

Google releases overhauled Google+ app for iOS

Today, Google released version 2.0 of its Google+ app for iOS (App Store link), bringing with it a number of new features and a completely overhauled user interface. The company notes in its announcement of the update that the "+1" button will now float at the top of the screen to make it easier for use, and that the app sports "crisper fonts, larger profile pics and a friendlier homescreen." Users' streams will now have "overlays, gradients and other visual elements" to make it easier to read as well.

The update is available via the iOS App Store beginning today.

Angry Birds downloaded one billion times

Rovio announced today that its incredibly popular mobile game Angry Birds has been downloaded one billion times in total. This milestone comes less than three years after the original Angry Birds was released to the public, making the series the fastest growing game in history.

Angry Birds games have now been downloaded more than a billion times – THANK YOU to all of our incredible fans! This is only the beginning of our story, keep your eyes peeled for what’s coming up next from Rovio!

The newest game in the series, Angry Birds Space, was downloaded fifty (50) million times in its first five (5) weeks of availability.

Yahoo announces plans to investigate CEO’s academic credentials

Yahoo announced yesterday that it will be forming a committee that will investigate the academic credentials and background of CEO Scott Thompson. The committee will also look into the process of how Thompson was hired at Yahoo just five months ago. This news comes just days after Yahoo shareholders unveiled evidence that Yahoo's recently hired CEO lied on his resume, claiming that he received a computer science degree from Stonehill College that he never actually obtained.

The Board of Directors of Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) today announced that it has formed a special committee to conduct a thorough review of CEO Scott Thompson's academic credentials, as well as the facts and circumstances related to the review and disclosure of those credentials in connection with Thompson's appointment as CEO.

The special committee is chaired by Alfred Amoroso, an independent director who joined the Board in February of this year. The other members of the special committee are John Hayes and Thomas McInerney, independent directors who joined the Board in April of this year.

Apple releases Mac OS X 10.7.4 software update

Earlier today, Apple released the fourth maintenance update to Mac OS X Lion, addressing a number of issues with the company's latest desktop operating system. Among the fixes included in the 10.7.4 update is the recently discovered FileVault glitch where user passwords were being stored in plain text.

Full release notes are below:

The 10.7.4 update is recommended for all OS X Lion users and includes general operating system fixes that improve the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac including fixes that:

• Resolve an issue where the “Reopen windows when logging back in” setting is always enabled
• Improve compatibility with certain British third-party USB keyboards
• Address an issue that may prevent files from being saved to a server
• Improve the reliability of copying files to an SMB server

Mac OS X 10.7.4 is available either via Software Update on a Mac or Apple's Support pages.

Nevada DMV issues first license to legally drive Google self-operating car

According to a report from The Associated Press, the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has issued the first license that makes it legal to operate in a Google self-driving car. The car, which uses a myriad of sensors and cameras to determine a path around other vehicles on the road, pedestrians, and road blocks, has been in testing on the roads of California around Google's Mountain View campus for more than a year now.

"It gets honked at more often because it's being safe," said Nevada DMV Director Bruce Breslow.

The Nevada law states, however, that there must be two people in the car at any given point in time. One person should be in the driver's seat and have the ability to override the computer if need by pressing on the brake or placing a hand on the steering wheel. The other should be monitoring the car's computer system that determines the path that the vehicle will be taking.

Adobe officially releases Creative Suite 6 with Creative Cloud coming later this week

Just a few weeks after its initial unveiling, Adobe today announced that the Creative Suite 6 is now available for purchase, with the Creative Cloud software coming May 11, 2012. CS6 includes the following products: Photoshop, InDesign, lllustrator, Dreamweaver, Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Flash Professional. It comes in four different configurations, each ranging in price from $1,299 to $2,599: Creative Suite 6 Design & Web Premium; Creative Suite 6 Design Standard; Creative Suite 6 Production Premium; and Creative Suite 6 Master Collection.

Report: Apple television set to include support for FaceTime, similar design to Thunderbolt Display

Cult of Mac reports that it has received information regarding Apple's long-rumored television set from a "well-placed" source, who claims that the TV will look similar to the company's current Thunderbolt Display, just larger in size. In addition, the source says that the TV will be coming with an iSight camera that is Siri-enabled and can be used for making FaceTime calls. The camera will also include face tracking technology that will follow users around the room and automatically zoom when needed.

The Apple HDTV makes FaceTime calls using the built-in iSight camera. The camera is sophisticated, with facial recognition and the ability to zoom into the user’s face and follow them as they walk around the room. This allows users to make video calls from the couch across the room, rather than having to stand smack in front of the TV.

In addition, calls are initiated by Siri, the iPhone 4S’s virtual assistant. “[Apple] used Siri to make a FaceTime call,” the source said.