Dara Kerr for CNet:

New York Sen. Charles Schumer reprimanded the Department of Justice today for filing its e-book antitrust lawsuit against Apple. Using strong language in a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, he wrote that “the suit could wipe out the publishing industry as we know it.”

Schumer’s fear is that the DoJ will act to restore Amazon’s stranglehold on the e-book industry with its Kindle devices.

“If that happens, consumers will be forced to accept whatever prices Amazon sets,” wrote Schumer.

Just a brutal few quarters for Nokia.

Matthew Handrahan for Gamesindustry.biz:

In a letter released to the Battle.net forums, [Blizzard CEO Mike] Morhaime describes the difficulties in attempting to predict the demand for a game ahead of its launch, and concedes that its preparation for Diablo III, “just wasn’t enough.” He also mentions numerous problems still plaguing the experience for some players, such as latency.

Diablo III has been a rare misstep for a game publisher with the Midas touch: It seems that the company was incapable of making a game that its audience didn’t absolutely adore.

Problems have abounded with Diablo III since launch – from the activation woes that Morhaime mentioned to its need to stay constantly connected to Blizzard’s online servers (party for copy protection and also to cut down on cheating). The game’s auction house is another sore spot with some game players, since it allows players with real-world currency to buy rare in-game items that they’d otherwise have to find on their own.

Diablo III is available for OS X and Windows.

Dan Levine for Reuters:

A U.S. judge on Wednesday approved Apple Inc’s request to bar disparaging statements by Steve Jobs about Google’s Android operating system from an upcoming patent trial against Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

At times, Jobs was openly hostile about Android because of his belief that it infringed on iOS. He said he’d go “thermonuclear war” on Google. Samsung claimed these remarks speak to bias on Apple’s part. The judge disagreed, saying that Steve Jobs wasn’t on trial.

Jordan Golson, MacRumors:

While AT&T hasn’t yet decided whether or not it will charge users for using Apple’s FaceTime video-chat service over its cellular network, Sprint says it’s customers can use the service free of charge.

I wonder if that will put any pressure on AT&T. Telcos are famous for flip-flopping on these types of things though, so I’m not convinced this will last.

Wired:

Whether you have a habit of arriving awkwardly early or annoyingly late for meetings, a new app called Twist is here to help. The location-based app, which launched on Wednesday, is akin to Find My Friends, but adds the useful element of notifying family, friends or colleagues when you’re going to arrive at a specific location.The app offers a clean and simple way to accomplish multiple tasks: Track a person’s location, receive directions, share photos along your route, send messages, and get venue and weather details. It’s not the snazziest-looking app, but the uncluttered experience is actually refreshing in a world where apps are trying to stuff as much as they can into the iPhone’s 3.5-inch screen.

I absolutely hate being late and tend to show up 30+ minutes for appointments. Conversely, if someone I’m meeting is 5 minutes late, I worry they’ve been in an accident and are lying dead on the side of the road. This free app might alleviate some of that stress.

Ars Technica:

Apple’s solution to shaving thickness from the Retina MacBook Pro—gluing its lithium polymer battery cells directly to the aluminum unibody shell—continues to spark debate among proponents of sustainable electronics.Apple submitted the device to the Green Electronics Council for an EPEAT Gold rating last week, prompting critics to argue that the glued-in battery should disqualify it from any rating at all. But it turns out that some recyclers disagree, saying it isn’t dramatically more difficult to safely remove the battery than in other modern devices.Muddying the waters further is Apple itself.

This is The Story That Won’t Die.

It may sound snoozy, but the patent — which covers graphical user interfaces ranging from email to Camera Roll to menu lists to the multi-touch interface in general — looks like a dangerous weapon for Apple as it battles Android handset makers.

I don’t usually post about patents, but this is a doozy.

[Via Phandroid]

Matt Alexander:

Boasting a colorfully angular interface, the promise of smooth transitional animations, and a design pandering toward extreme minimalism, Metro is perhaps the most ill-fitting of titles for such a barren landscape.

And that’s just the first paragraph.

Spoiler: It doesn’t get any better.

CNET:

With AT&T officially announcing its “Mobile Share” plans and joining Verizon Wireless, there will soon be two options for customers who want to get into a family plan for data services.While these plans aren’t the best deals for individuals, large families or even groups of really, really close friends may want to consider them. That’s because the more people who sign on, the lower the price per gigabyte and user. Of course, if someone is a heavy data user, that person may want to stick with an individual plan, or risk hogging up the total available data for everyone.By and large, the plans are fairly similar.

During the course of the deposition, Ive at one point is shown photos of a three-dimensional mockup of a tablet that Apple produced as part of the discovery process. It’s referred to as the 035 mockup or prototype.

[Via Big Week]

In this week’s jam packed episode, Jim and Dan discuss Yahoo’s new CEO, Office 2013, Apple’s Austin campus expansion, iPhone rumors, guitars, and much more!

Sponsored by Rackspace, Squarespace (coupon code DANSENTME7 for 10% off), and Hover (coupon code DANSENTME or 10% off).

Marco Arment:

Every time Apple loses one of its Senior VPs, we see stories questioning Apple’s leadership and future, suggesting that there may be significant inner turmoil.Well, Google just lost one of its top people.

Excellent point.

It was around this time that Reed saw The Washington Post story with the wrong date of the Titanic collision and brought the story to the class figuring they’d spot it. They did, hence the correction letter.

So smitten were they with this kitten, in fact, that they wrote him in for mayor instead of deciding on one of the two lesser candidates. Mayor Stubbs has held his position ever since.

The cat has been mayor for 15 years. He’s probably better than most politicians.

Jeff Darlington for NFL.com:

No longer must Boxer – or anyone – seek out a player to deliver game film. It can be remotely uploaded to a player’s iPad while they are in their own living room through a WiFi signal. No longer must the “drop-off” take place on Wednesdays, either. Players will have their edited material uploaded 2 ½ hours after a game.The iPad revolution is upon us.

Indeed.

DC Entertainment on Wednesday released ‘Batman: Earth One’ on the iBookstore. The company said this is the first of many graphic novels it will release on the iBookStore.

The book was done by author Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank.

Kit Chellel for Bloomberg:

A U.K. judge ordered Apple Inc. to publish a notice on its website and in British newspapers alerting people to a ruling that Samsung Electronics Co. didn’t copy designs for the iPad.

Judge Birss’ order comes a week after he ruled that Samsung’s tablets aren’t likely to be confused with Apple’s because they’re “not as cool.”. Apple had sought to keep Samsung from selling the devices in the UK by claiming patent infringement.

Apple’s lawyer contends that the judge’s order is tantamount to requiring Apple to advertise a competitor’s product, but that complaint fell on deaf ears.

Matt Brian for The Next Web:

Pushing ahead with plans to invest $304 million in Austin, Texas, Apple has secured a deal for three large patches of land adjacent to its existing campus, which — when developed — will expand its presence in the area and result in the creation of more than 3,600 jobs.

Apple uses the Austin facilities for customer service and other operations. Apple plans to double its Austin workforce over the next ten years.

The guys at Pixelmator have posted another video of their upcoming release, this time showing the Vintage Effect in action.

Mallory Simon for CNN:

Their new crossover model the Fiat 500L boasts a whole range of accessories, but the one drawing the most attention and perhaps concerns, is their built-in espresso machine. That’s right. Forget your Starbucks runs, or trying to rush out the door to work with your homemade brew. Instead, inside your console you’ll find a “new coffee machine created in collaboration with Lavazza,” considered to be the Starbucks of Italy.

You can’t brew a cup unless the vehicle is stopped, according to Fiat. The espresso maker is a single-cup pod system. Also, Fiat hasn’t committed to bringing the pod system to its cars in the United States, so this novelty will be, to start anyway, just for Italian owners.

Chris Ziegler for The Verge:

Just over a month after Verizon announced Share Everything, AT&T is getting into the burgeoning shared data game (as it’s been saying it would) with Mobile Share, a tiered set of plans that allow subscribers to split a single bucket of gigabytes across up to ten devices with unlimited messages and voice.

Good move on AT&T’s part. It may not make sense for heavy data users, but for families looking to stretch the budget, it could make a big difference.

This was just posted to Fender’s Web site.

According to the latest data from online advertising network Chitika, Chrome for iOS currently has a market share of about 1.5% on its network. Safari, of course, continues to have a virtual monopoly on iOS browsing, but according to Chitika, Chrome continues to see moderate growth on Apple’s mobile platform. Not bad considering it’s only been out for a month.

An import ban on Motorola Android devices ordered by the US International Trade Commission is scheduled to take effect tomorrow. Motorola Mobility says it has a plan to make sure its Android phones and tablets remain available to US consumers—but the company isn’t revealing just what that plan is.

I wonder what they have up their sleeve?

David Edwards for The Raw Story:

The 7-Eleven convenience store chain is now featuring a Slurpee-type machine that dispenses mashed potatoes and gravy.

The Huffington Post on Monday confirmed that the Maggi mashed potato vending machines were beginning to show up in stores in the U.S.

I used to think the Fleshlight attachment for the iPad (NSFW) was the end of civilization, but I’m pretty sure this takes the cake.

Can’t wait to hear what Patton Oswalt has to say about this. His rant on the “KFC Failure Pile in a Sadness Bowl” is epic (NSFW language).

Fortune:

In a note to clients issued Tuesday, Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster reported the results of his annual cell phone survey. The key takeaways: – Asked what phone they were going to buy next, 65% said an Apple (AAPL) iPhone, 19% said a Google Android, 6.5% said “not a smartphone,” 6% said “I don’t know,” and 2.5% said a Research in Motion Blackberry. – 94.2% of iPhone users plan to buy an iPhone for their next phone.

Eddie Makuch for GameSpot:

A third Penny Arcade Expo has been strongly hinted at, and may come to Texas capital city Austin. Speaking during the Penny Arcade Panel at Comic-Con this weekend, Penny Arcade webcomic artist Mike Krahulik responded to a fan question asking if PAX would expand to Austin, Texas, saying the company is “aggressively exploring a third PAX very near you.”

Penny Arcade Expo, or PAX, has become the major consumer gaming event of the year for residents of the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast – filled with video games, board, table and card games, and many vendors showing off new games in development and offering wares for sale.

The midwest is typically underserved by many major events, which favor coastal cities instead. So a PAX in Texas would undoubtedly attract many, many fans who aren’t willing or able to travel to the coast just to go to a show.