Here we go again. With the future of the mobile industry at stake, Apple and Google are reportedly discussing potential infringements by Google on Apple patents. “Google Inc Chief Executive Larry Page and Apple CEO Tim Cook have been conducting behind-the-scenes talks about a range of intellectual property matters, including the mobile patent disputes between the companies,” Reuters reports, citing sources. “You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind's blowing,” writes CNet. “After its one-sided court victory last week over Samsung in a landmark copy infringement lawsuit, Apple has added incentive to press its legal …

Supporting earlier reports, sources tell Bloomberg that Google has hired Barclays to help unload the Motorola Mobility unit responsible for selling set-top boxes and other equipment to cable television providers. “Motorola Mobility’s Home Business unit might fetch about $2 billion, and the sale is in the very early stages,” Bloomberg reports. “Google … is shifting Motorola’s focus toward high-end smartphones.” “That’s about half what Motorola was asking for it when it attempted to sell the division in 2009,” AllThingsD notes. Sensing a missed opportunity, The Verge writes: “When Google first announced it was buying Motorola Mobility for …

Zappos -- a unit of Amazon Inc. -- has created a service that recommends purchases based on what users post on Pinterest.  “The new Web page … is called PinPointing and suggests Zappos products, such as shoes, dresses and swimsuits, based on Pinterest posts,” Bloomberg reports. “Zappos apparently got approval for the new service from Pinterest, though the companies aren’t officially teaming up in any way,” the Total Pinterest blog writes. Yet, despite the buzz around Pinterest, preliminary results of Zappos’ new product have been mixed. As Will Young, director of Zappos Labs, tells Bloomberg, Pinterest users are …

Patent-infringement win in hand, Apple is trying to hit Samsung where it hurts -- revealing eight Android-supported smartphones it wants banned from the United States. “With the trial stage just completed last Friday, Apple wasted no time filing a notice with the court identifying which Samsung products it will now seek to have banned in the US.,” The Verge reports. “Apple's patent suit did not challenge Samsung products launched after the case was filed, models including the Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note and others,” ReadWriteWeb notes. “Apple’s main target with the injunction is the profitable long tail …

Sure to offend many app developers and publishers, Twitter just detailed stricter rules and regulations for its application programming interface, or A.P.I. “Developers probably aren’t going to be thrilled with all the new rules,” The New York Times’ Bits blog writes. Yet, “From a business standpoint, Twitter’s decision to limit the use of the A.P.I. is an attempt to rationalize and control its business.” “The new rules appear to be an attempt by the company to make sure it can finance its enormous, always flowing stream of data,” Wired.com suggests. “That means Twitter is going to require client apps …

Helping rural regions of the country join the broadband revolution, Dish Network is reportedly preparing to introduce a nationwide broadband service using a satellite from sister company EchoStar. “The EchoStar 17 satellite, launched into orbit July 5, can support download speeds of 15 megabits per second, although introductory nationwide packages will probably offer rates of 5 megabits so the system can take on more capacity,” Bloomberg reports, citing sources. “Pricing estimates for the new service were not revealed, though it's expected to be more expensive than cable or DSL,” writes CNet. “The service will likely be aimed …

The founders of Twitter on Tuesday debuted Medium -- a new online platform for sharing and discovering blog posts and pictures. “Evan Williams and Biz Stone are looking to change the way we think of online publishing yet again,” writes Business Insider. “On the surface, Medium looks like a mashup between more traditional blogging services and user-curated collections,” Mashable writes. “Users can choose to read, give feedback or write their own material.” “The layout looks a lot like Pinterest, but contributions include both pictures and text,” remarks GigaOm. “Lots of services have successfully lowered the bar for sharing …

Citing an unstable world economy, Gartner this week said it is likely to cut 2012 mobile growth projections. “As a volatile economic climate firmly grips both manufacturers and consumers of technology … the research firm believes that many will hold back from upgrading their mobile devices,” ZDNet reports. The research firm said worldwide sales of mobile phones declined 2.3% in the second quarter -- reaching a total of 419 million units. Out of this value, smartphone sales accounted for 36.7% of total sales. Put another way, “Huge growth from Apple and Samsung in the second quarter wasn’t enough …

Unlike rivals, Google has never had to cut a significant share of its workforce -- until now. Setting a course for profitability, Google-owned Motorola is cutting 4,000 jobs, or roughly 20% of its employees. “Larry Page, who became the chief executive officer of Google last year, is streamlining the company as it pushes into the hardware market,” Bloomberg writes. “Fueling the job cuts, Motorola has not been profitable the last 14 out of 16 quarters -- even with popular smartphones like the Motorola DROID RAZR and RAZR HD on the market,” writes 9to5Google. First reported by …

Just because Marissa Mayer has products on the brain, doesn’t mean she plans to let Yahoo’s media business suffer. To that end, Mayer is reportedly trying to recruit Katie Jacobs Stanton, Twitter’s head of international markets, for a major media role. “While she holds that globally-focused role at the social communications service, Stanton is an obvious choice for Mayer, who actually was once her boss at Google, including when Stanton was the product management leader in the launch of Google Finance,” Kara Swisher reports in AllThingsD. “More importantly for Mayer, Stanton was the key driving force in creating …