Lured by the promise of better “interest graphs,” investors just ponied up about $6.6 million for social curation startup Pearltrees. Great, but “what the heck is an interest graph?” asks VentureBeat. Apparently, it’s “more about what you know than who you know,” it gathers, along with “strong connections to purchase intent and other matters of concern to online marketers.” “Put differently,” VB explains, “while social networks like Facebook focus on what you have in common with your friends … interest graph-based models [Pinterest, GetGlue, etc.] make social connections based on shared interests, not the other way around.” According to 

Keeping the focus on discovery, Google has released a new Google TV YouTube app.  Available through the Android Market, the app is designed to surface the videos people are most interested in, CNet reports. “To accomplish that goal, the app includes new channel pages, featuring playlists and videos users can subscribe to.”  “You can now see related videos and other videos by the same users by pressing up and down keys on your remote,” notes Mashable. “You can also interact with the video by voting it up, commenting on it or adding it to your playlist.”  “The most important …

Not about to let Apple or Microsoft rule American households, Google is reportedly developing a home-entertainment system that streams music wirelessly throughout the home and would be branded as a Google product. “The effort marks a sharp shift in strategy for Google, which for the first would time would design and market consumer electronic devices under its name,” The Wall Street Journal reports. “Google still makes the vast majority of its money from Internet search,” notes The New York Times. “But as computing detaches from the desktop and laptop, the company cannot afford to be marginalized … The …

With more competition that ever -- and without the star salesmanship of Steve Jobs -- can the iPad hold its edge?We’ll found out in March, when Apple is reportedly planning to unveil the latest version of its popular tablet. “If 2011 was the year of the iPad 2, will 2012 be the year of the iPad 3?” asks AllThingsD? In response, an optimistic source familiar with the device said: “What do you think?” As for the specifics, “Pervasive rumors about the iPad 3 include a form factor similar to that of its predecessor, an upgraded resolution that will give …

Signaling bigger changes to come, Yahoo this week added two new board members and announced the departure of four others, including Chairman Roy Bostock. The shakeup “adds to pressure on the company to sell Asian assets valued at more than $10 billion and reverse the sales slump that’s plagued management since 2008,” writesBloomberg Businessweek. Hearing that Yahoo could add three more board members, AllThingsD reasons: “The moves by Yahoo are designed to thwart a possible proxy fight that might be coming from activist shareholder Daniel Loeb, who has been working on a board slate of his own.” “Bostock -- …

Sci-fi folly or revolutionary interface, Google appears to be one step closer to releasing “wearable head-up displays,” or HUD glasses. “Google might actually release this product as [a] beta-pilot program to people outside of Google -- and soon,” reports 9to5Google. No doubt, “wearable technology is on the rise,” CNet writes. “Not only is Google working on these sorts of products, but so is Apple, Recon Instruments, and Motorola.” Yet, public tests shouldn’t be mistaken for outright confidence on Google’s part. Rather, “Google is apparently unsure if [the glasses] will have mass-market appeal,” 9to5Google suggests. The glasses will reportedly have …

Spelling trouble for Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu, Redbox is teaming up with Verizon to launch a streaming video service. “The announcement comes at an opportune time for Redbox, which has long been expected to introduce a streaming service to complement its DVD business,” Fast Company reports. Due out by the second half of 2012, the service should also better position Redbox parent Coinstar for the digital age. Writes Reuter: “The venture will mark Verizon's first foray into video streaming outside of its network operating region as the telephone company currently only offers Internet video services to customers using its …

Already on the defensive over privacy changes, Google this week dug a deeper hole for itself in the nation’s capital. After a two-hour grilling on Thursday, House lawmakers deemed the search giant a little standoffish. "At the end of the day, I don't think [Google’s] answers to us were very forthcoming necessarily in what this really means for the safety of our families and our children," Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) told to members of the press, as reported by TheHill.com. “Google’s efforts to assuage concerns in Washington over proposed changes to its privacy policy don’t seem to …

As Facebook watchers showed on Thursday, there are countless ways to perceive the company's looming IPO, it future prospects, and likely impact on the Web.

Buy, buy, buy! Not yet, not yet, not yet! Just so we’re clear, even if Facebook files the prospectus for its IPO, today -- as is widely expected -- there won’t be any stocks to purchase until May or June. What, then, would be the significance of the filing? Well, while rumored to be setting a preliminary fund-raising goal of about $5 billion, as The New York Times writes: “Should Facebook expand the size of the stock sale to that expected $10 billion, the I.P.O. will be the biggest technology offering in history.” As AllThingsD reports, Facebook's board of …