The first video ever uploaded to YouTube

On February 14, 2005, Chad Hurly, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim purchased a domain name that would forever change the way media is disseminated and consumed. You see, a little over eight years ago is when the aforementioned individuals got together and purchased the YouTube.com domain.

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Yahoo to acquire Tumblr for reported $1.1 billion

Since taking over the CEO reins at Yahoo, Marissa Mayer has been on an absolute mission to transform Yahoo from a has-been back into a relevant tech company once again.

In an effort to further such efforts, the Wall Street Journal is confirming today that the Yahoo board of directors has approved the company's rumored plan to purchase the blogging site Tumblr. The buyout price is a cool $1.1 billion in cash.

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Why Apple is still struggling to strike a deal with record labels over its rumored iRadio service

Rumors of Apple's iRadio service have persisted for quite some time. With WWDC steadily approaching - and slated to begin in June - all eyes will be on Apple to see what type of new music service, if any, it will have to preview.

A few weeks ago we reported that Apple was still in negotiations with the four largest U.S. music labels to secure licensing agreements. To date, Apple has reportedly only struck a deal with Universal Music Group. By way of contrast, Google debuted a new music service of its own, a Spotify competitor of sorts, at its I/O conference this week.

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Apple plans to move flagship San Francisco retail store to Union Square area

The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that Apple has submitted plans to move its flagship retail store in San Francisco a few blocks
down to the bustling Union Square area. 

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An emotional Bill Gates talks about his last visit with Steve Jobs

During a recent interview with 60 MInutes' Charlie Rose, Bill Gates talked rather emotionally about his last meeting with longtime rival Steve Jobs. The pair's last meeting occurred in Jobs' home in May of 2011.

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YouTube launches paid subscription channels

Earlier today, YouTube announced via a blogpost that it will be enhancing its YouTube partner program. Specifically, the new program will provide partners with additional means to earn money, to the extent that some select partners will now be able to charge subscription fees for certain channels.

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NSA's secret manual on Google searching and more comes to light

Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request from MudRock, we can now feast our eyes upon a 643-page manual from the NSA titled, "Untangling the Web: A guide to Internet Research."

As the name implies, the manual is a how-to with respect to conducting detailed online research.

Wired pinpoints some particularly interesting factoids from the manual:

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Looks like Samsung's S-Voice doesn't like the iPhone

Well folks, it would appear that S-Voice, Samsung's own take on Siri, isn't partial to using an iPhone. You might recall how Apple's Siri has a number of Easter Eggs, which is to say it has a library of snappy responses to off-color queries, and it appears that Samsung's S-Voice wants to get in on that action as well.

When a user asks a Samsung device running S-Voice if it has ever used an iPhone, it replies, "No, I have standards."

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Google may soon launch revamped interface for Google Maps - Rumor

The Google System blog this week announced that we can expect to see some interesting changes to Google Maps in the near future.

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iOS 7 under Jony Ive to sport a flatter design

With Scott Forstall out of the picture now at Apple, everyone is now wondering what surprises iOS 7 will have in store for us now that Jony Ive is playing a more integral role in its aesthetic development. With iOS 7 expected to be in beta for developers by WWDC, rumors are starting to trickle out regarding some changes we can expect to see.

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Skewering Rob Enderle's conspiracy theory about Apple stock

Tech pundit Rob Enderle holds a unique spot in the pantheon of boneheaded "analysts" who never cease to turn out drivel not so cleverly disguised as reasoned analysis.

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New Windows Phone commercial pokes fun at both Samsung and iPhone users

While I hesitate to say that Microsoft's Windows Phone OS will do anything to steal away any significant marketshare from either Samsung or Apple, their latest commercial is rather hilarious. The commercial shows us a wedding where the two sides are comprised of Samsung and iPhone owners, respectively.

Things get out of hand as the two factions can't stop from hurling insults at each other and fighting.

"Do you think if they knew about the Nokia Lumia they'd stop fighting all the time?" a member of the waitstaff asks.

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Apple to announce iPhone 5S on June 20 with launch date in July - Rumor

Take this one with a grain of salt, but the French-language website Nowhereelse.fr has obtained a document from Japanese carrier KDDI purporting to indicate pricing and launch information for the as-of-yet unannounced iPhone 5S.

The document in question is allegedly an information sheet intended for sales staff and suggests that the iPhone 5S will be announced on June 20 with sales set to begin in July. The sheet also notes that the iPhone 5S will feature a fingerprint authorization sensor, a 13-megapixel camera, and of course, iOS 7.

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Apple posts new iPhone commercial, 'Photos Every Day'

Apple last night posted a brand new iPhone commercial which, per usual, focuses on how people use the iPhone everyday rather than focusing on specs and whatnot.

The following commercial is one of Apple's best in recent memory, eliciting an emotional reaction from viewers.

Tickets to WWDC 2013 sell out in 2 minutes

Well if you were hoping to get tickets to WWDC this year, you're likely plum out of luck. Tickets went on sale early on Thursday morning and sold out within, wait for it...., two minutes. Yep, folks looking to get some hands-on time with thousands of Apple engineers had to be extremely quick, and likely lucky, to get tickets before supply was exhausted.

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Betaworks, Digg's parent company, acquires Instapaper

Marco Arment, the developer behind his popular read-later app Instapaper, announced today that Betaworks has acquired a majority stake in the app.

I’m happy to announce that I’ve sold a majority stake in Instapaper to Betaworks. We’ve structured the deal with Instapaper’s health and longevity as the top priority, with incentives to keep it going well into the future. I will continue advising the project indefinitely, while Betaworks will take over its operations, expand its staff, and develop it further.

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Conflicting reports highlight problem with Apple speculation

With Apple about to release its earnings for the quarter gone by in just about an hour or so, two reports that surfaced online yesterday highlight the speculative and often contradictory nature of Apple reporting.

Lately, reporting about Apple has been abysmal. If you ignore Apple's actual numbers, you might think that Apple is just a step away from bankruptcy, their products completely overtaken by the competition. The reality, however, is much different.

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iPhone 5S may be delayed by issue with fingerprint authorization sensor

Apple is poised to release its earnings from the most recent quarter gone by, and the consensus is that while Apple may report record Q2 sales, its overall profits may take a dip for the first time in nearly 10 years. Indeed, many are eagerly hoping that Apple will soon release a grand new product to alleviate many of the recent concerns among investors.

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Interest in Apple iWatch is greater than pre-release interest for the iPad

Apple's iWatch at this point is nothing more than a murky rumor. Indeed, the only product we can be sure Apple is planning to release anytime soon is the iPhone 5S.

That said, there does seem to be substantial interest in Apple's rumored iWatch. According to a recent survey conducted by ChangeWave Research, there is "exceptionally strong interest" in an iWatch device from Apple.

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iPad saves a man's face, takes a foul ball for the team

When it comes to materials, Apple spares no expense when it comes to its products. That said, thankfully the man in the video below was using an iPad, and not some knock off tablet.

What you see below is rather astonishing. A man is at a softball game in Iowa, casually taking photos with his iPad. Suddenly, a foul ball is headed right at him and knocks the iPad clean out of his hands. If the iPad wasn't there in front of his face to absorb the blow, it would have most certainly resulted in a severe injury.

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