Beyond shock and awe, what does the tech industry make of Marissa Mayer leaving Google for Yahoo? “There may be hope,” search expert Danny Sullivan tweeted Monday. “It's the perfect fit,” tweeted Twitter creator Jack Dorsey. “She’s not just a dream candidate for Yahoo,” pandodaily founder and editor-in-chief Sarah Lacy wrote regarding Mayer. “She’s a dream candidate for nearly anyone.” “It's a huge statement on the part of [Yahoo’s] board that they want the company to be product-led,” star VC Marc Andreessen tells Business Insider. “I say that because they had a great CEO if they …

In the face of mounting competition, Apple is reportedly developing a new iPad with a smaller 7.85-inch screen, and a significantly smaller price tag. “The idea is to help Apple solidify its dominance in the tablet market even as the richest companies in the tech business [Google, Microsoft, and Amazon] are trying to figure out how to outflank Apple,” The New York Times reports. Clearly, “Apple is preparing to extend its dominance of the tablet computer market,” remarks CNNMoney.com. “The device is meant to compete with the latest rivals, which includes Google’s Nexus 7, Amazon’s …

Fueling the wildfire that is the mobile Web, a clear majority of U.S. cellphone buyers are now taking smartphones over digitally challenged feature phones. Indeed, according to the latest figures from Nielsen, two-thirds of U.S. phone purchasers opted for smartphones in the second quarter of the year. “That may not come as a surprise to the millions of existing smartphone owners, but it's still a significant milestone,” assures msnbc.com’s GabgetBox blog. “In 2009, smartphones only made up 18% of mobiles bought.” “With less reliance upon voice as mobile apps and the web become more widely used, it’s …

NBCUniversal is folding seven local digital news and lifestyle subchannels into a single national channel that will air retro reruns during the day and lifestyle programs in primetime, the network told TheWrap. The new net won't air local news shows, but programs such as "Talk Stoop." The subchannels of NBC affiliates are called NBC Nonstop channels. But new plans call for a potential name change."Bob TV" is one name under consideration.

Giving Apple and Google cause for concern, new reports suggest that Amazon.com is indeed working on a smartphone of its own. “Officials at some of Amazon's parts suppliers … said the Seattle-based company is testing a smartphone and mass production of the new device may start late this year or early next year,” The Wall Street Journal reports. The ecommerce giant has already had hard successes with its Kindle ereader, and, to a less degree, its Kindle Fire tablet. Critical to Amazon’s broader business strategy, “It's expected the [would-be] smartphone will come equipped with access to Amazon's …

Marking a major move forward for the publisher consortium, Next Issue Media’s tablet newsstand is ready for the iPad. Launched in April -- by Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corp. and Time Inc. -- the digital newsstand (carrying everything from People and Sports Illustrated to The New Yorker and Vanity Fair) was only available on Android-supported devices. “But now, Next Issue is taking things to the next level with the introduction of its app on the iPad, with 39 titles ready immediately and more promised to be added to the library later this year,” CNet writes. 

Giving Microsoft and Windows RT a greater chance of success, Samsung is reportedly at work on a tablet featuring the forthcoming operating system. “It’s a boon to Microsoft’s effort to use multiple versions of its flagship Windows operating system to challenge Apple in tablets,” Bloomberg reports. “The fact that Microsoft announced last month that it would be producing its own branded tablets apparently isn't stopping Samsung from plans to produce a Windows RT tablet,” The Seattle Times quips. “For Samsung, which has had some bad luck with its Android tablets lately -- specifically an injunction …

To more directly distribute its massive media store, Amazon.com is reportedly working on an Android-based smartphone. “A smartphone would give Amazon a wider range of low-priced hardware devices that bolster its strategy of making money from digital books, songs and movies,” Bloomberg reports, citing sources. Comments 9to5Google: “Amazon has its own series of content and distribution channels, including cloud services for downloading media, like movies and books, making their Amazon phone an obvious competitor to Apple’s iPhone, and its portfolio of media content stores like the iTunes Store and iBookstore.” “It would help Chief Executive …

The early reviews are in, and Google’s iPad-killer, the Nexus 7, is getting high praise from some the most respected voices in consumer technology. David Pogue, New York Times tech critic and self-professed Apple fanatic, is calling the arrival of the Nexus 7 “ground shaking” -- likening it to the iPad in design quality, but at less than half the price ($200) of Apple’s tablet (which starts at $500). “Hardware-wise, the Nexus 7 single-handedly beats the $200 tablet competition, especially on screen quality,” writes Joanna Stern for ABCNews.com. “I also prefer the design to the others.”

Nearly five years after the fact, we now know what Microsoft got in return for dropping $6.3 billion on ad firm aQuantive: zllch.  The software giant revealed this week that it is taking a $6.2 billion non-cash charge to account for the buyback in 2007. “That’s a huge charge -- but even more significant when one considers what Microsoft paid for aQuantive: $6.3 billion,” AllThingsD writes. Microsoft on Monday said the deal gave it some useful online ad tools, but admitted that: “The acquisition did not accelerate growth to the degree anticipated, contributing to the write down.”