Every day, the Fortune staff spends hours poring over tech stories, posts, and reviews from all over the Web to keep tabs on the companies that matter. We’ve assembled the day’s most newsworthy bits below.
- Facebook is going full-throttle with mobile. The leading social network unveiled three new features yesterday: single sign-on for all FB-enabled apps, the ability for developers to use its location API, and a local deals platform with partners like Gap, REI, American Eagle Outfitters and Starbucks. (Fortune)
- How did tech CEOs-turned-California political candidates Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina lose the race? Chadwick Matlin counts the ways. (Fortune)
- Panasonic invested $30 million in Tesla Motors for a 2% equity stake in the electric carmaker, helmed by Elon Musk. The electronics company is attempting to focus on renewable energy and energy conservation moving forward. (AFP)
- Alcatel-Lucent became profitable again in its third quarter, with a net profit of $35.3 million compared to a loss of nearly $259 million the year before. (CIO)
- A Supreme Court class action lawsuit brought against Apple claims the company’s iOS 4 upgrade rendered hundreds of thousands of iPhone 3G phones “useless.” (Courthouse News Service)
- Microsoft starts selling its hands-free Kinect motion controller today. The company, which is spending $500 million on its initial marketing campaign, estimates it’ll move 5 million units this holiday season. (TechFlash)
- Microsoft Windows general manager Gabriella Schuster finally admitted on behalf of the company the truth everyone else has known for months: netbook sales are indeed being cannibalized by tablets like the iPad. Said Schuster: “These are really a second device. But they are getting cannibalized.” (The Microsoft Blog)
- Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley offered a brief glimpse into the growing social network’s potential future, which may include customized recommendations based on users’ checkin history, and brand discovery. (Skeptic Geek)
- Samsung expects to sell 1 million of its cross-carrier Galaxy Tab tablets by the end of the year. (Electronista)
- In an unprecedented move, Google will now carry ads from another ad network: Twitter’s. The social network’s new Promoted Tweets feature will be integrated into Google’s Realtime Search. (The Next Web)
- Following yesterday’s press event, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg blames Google for the social network’s less-than-stellar Android app. The company apparently bought out the developer working on it before it could release some much needed app updates. “Yeah, that was obnoxious,” he said. “Obviously, it wasn’t a huge deal. But it definitely set us back for a while.” (ElectricPig)
- Android market share among smart phone subscribers jumped from just under 15% in June to over 21% in September; the iPhone’s piece of the pie continues to hover around 24.3%. (Fortune)
- Mobile startup Kik saw 450,000 downloads in the first 10 days of its cross-platform, BlackBerry messenger-like app, Kik Messenger. (Mobile Entertainment)
