Out to displace Apple's mobile underpinnings, Facebook is reportedly about to launch an entirely HTML5-based mobile platform, which will serve as a distribution mechanism for Web applications through Apple's mobile Safari browser. "While it's not quite as sexy as the new Photos app, the ramifications of it are much larger," TechCrunch writes regarding the secret plan, codenamed "Project Spartan." "Facebook will never admit this, but those familiar with the project believe the intention is very clear: to use Apple's own devices against them to break the stranglehold they have on mobile app distribution," TechCrunch adds. "The project's goal is to undermine Apple's …

Sorry all you aspiring photo-sharing startups. (Yeah, we're talking to you, Path, Instagram, and Color.) Facebook is reportedly ready to debut a new photo-sharing app, which critics insist is totally "killer." "It's far too often that the term 'killer' gets thrown around in tech blogs," TechCrunch admits. But, but having seen secret images of the would-be service, the blog says "killer" is an apt characterization. "The app looks amazing." Internally, the app is reportedly being called either "Hovertown" or "WithPeople," and, while it looks like a standalone service, TechCrunch said it sees signs of potential integration …

Ending a protracted legal battle between two mobile giants, Nokia and Apple have entered into a patent-license agreement settling all patent litigation between them. "Nokia won an almost two-year patent dispute with Apple, as the world's largest mobile-phone makers reached a settlement that awards a one-time payment and royalties to the Finnish handset maker," reports Bloomberg. "There's no question Apple lost the legal battle that pitted its significant intellectual property holdings against Nokia's even deeper patent portfolio," writes CNNMoney.com. Indeed, "Nokia emerges as a clear winner from the fight," Sami Sarkamies, analyst at Nordea Bank …

Could Facebook being peaking? That, at least, is what new data from Inside Facebook's proprietary measurement service suggests.  In June, Facebook gained 11.8 million more members over May, following 13.9 million over April. In contrast, it grew by at least 20 million new users over the typical previous 12 months. (While there have been a few months that have registered lower growth numbers, they have not been back to back.)"Most prominently, the United States lost nearly 6 million users, falling from 155.2 million at the start of May to 149.4 million at the end of it," …

In a bold effort to corner the display ad marketplace, Google has reportedly acquired -- or is, at least, in late-stage takeover talks with -- ad optimization platform AdMeld for about $400 million. "An acquisition in that multimillion-dollar range would mark Google's sixth-largest to date and aid the company's effort to take command of the market for online graphical and interactive ads," writes The Wall Street Journal. "AdMeld is one of a handful of big ad optimization platforms that work on behalf of publishers by trying to get the best prices for their inventory from a variety …

It's publishers' lucky day! Apple has reportedly backed down on a major component of its new in-app subscription rules, which Web watchers say should provide a big boost to content companies. Under Apple's just-revised guidelines, "Content providers may offer In-App subscriptions at whatever price they wish and they are not required to offer an in-app subscription simply because they sell a subscription outside the App Store as well," MacRumors reports. As such, there are no longer any requirements that a subscription be the "same price or less than it is offered outside …

Guess we were wrong to assume that Facebook had grown too powerful for privacy-related criticism. No, the social giant is now being forced to apologize for the way it rolled out its face-recognition system. "A group of privacy watchdogs drawn from the EU's 27 nations will study the measure for possible rules violations," Bloomberg reports. "Tags of people on pictures should only happen based on people's prior consent and it can't be activated by default," the group tells Bloomberg, before promising to "clarify to Facebook that this can't happen like this." In case you didn't now, "Facebook …

Despite the absence of any jaw-dropping gadget launches, Apple is successfully causing a stir at its annual developers conference this week.  Of great importance to Madison Avenue, "A year after being shown off as a ‘tentpole' feature of iPhone software, Apple's [iAd] mobile advertising business didn't earn a single mention" on Monday, notes Business Insider.Worse still, "Apple CEO Steve Jobs even took the opportunity to trash ads," BI notes. "While discussing Apple's free, new iCloud email service, he took an apparent jab at Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and the others, which stuff ads in their free email services." "No …

Expected to launch any minute now, what impact with the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system have on the broader landscape? Expect more "widgets, Twitter integration, and revamped notifications," which will further shake up mobile features -- while obviously giving Twitter greater prominence -- according to TechCrunch. "Apple's iOS 5 is said to be getting new social networking integration, beefed-up speech recognition, widgets, and a new notification system," PCWorld adds. "At this point, it's a given that Apple has been working on revamping its iOS notifications for some time, so you can rest certain that something …

Currently, Amazon doesn't require consumers in many states to pay sales tax. If cash-starved state and federal lawmakers have their way, however, Amazon could soon lose that key advantage over its brick-and-mortar rivals. Later this month, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) plans to introduce a bill, dubbed the Main Street Fairness Act, which would require all businesses to collect sales tax in the state where the consumer resides, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. Originally meant to support and nurture a fledgling online industry, there's a growing sense among state and federal lawmakers that the online sales-tax reprieve constitutes an …