Word is that AOL, along with several private-equity firms, might make a bid for Yahoo -- or maybe it's the other way around. As The Wall Street Journal sees it, the deal would represent the marriage of "two big Internet brands facing steep challenges." Whether being husband and wife would solve or merely compound each other's problems is the multi-billion dollar question. As Gawker puts it, "It would be a deal of unprecedented irrelevance." Merged or not, "It's not clear how Yahoo, the has-been portal, and AOL, the has-been dial-up service, …

It's a trend that many predicted, but has taken years to materialize. With broad commerce implications, mobile barcode scanning has officially arrived -- up 700% this year, according to a new consumer adoption study from barcode technology provider ScanBuy. "Although the report doesn't look at usage beyond the company's own technology, ScanBuy is one of the industry leaders in barcode scanning," according to ReadWriteWeb. "Due to its size, it's a company whose trends are worth watching." According to ScanLife, there were more barcode scans performed in a single month starting in July than in all of 2009. …

How important are location and local services to Google? So important that it's tapped star VP of search products Marissa Mayer to helm the emerging division. As anyone who follows Google's stock price should know, the world is waiting for the search giant's next act, and location and local are viewed as ripe for a sweeping monetization revolution. "Google ... is putting more focus on local businesses and location services as it looks for areas of growth outside traditional Internet searches," writes Bloomberg, which first reported the news. "The effort may help the company …

Don't expect the influx of knee-biting Web startups to slow anytime soon. Year-over-year, seed investments (mostly in Web startups) increased from 1% to 11% of total venture investment deals in the third quarter of the year, according to market research firm CB Insights. "There's a tinge of mania when it come to early- and seed-stage funding," notes GigaOm. "The sharp increase in seed-stage investments is the sole reason the total number of venture investments jumped during the third quarter of 2010 even though overall funding dropped." According to CB Insights, just about $5.4 billion was invested in 715 …

The line between location-based social networking and commerce is continuing to blur, insists Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowly. In the near future, Crowley said at an industry event this week, businesses will let consumers link their credit cards to social networks, and offer various incentives for actively promoting an advertiser's products and services. For Foursquare, Crowley is presently exploring models in which local store owners can offer incentives to users who "tweet" or "check-in" each time they frequent a location. "If you see some people checking in at a place all the time, it could potentially pique interest and …

In its latest effort to ease privacy concerns, Facebook on Tuesday unveiled additional security features, including the ability to request a one-time password for use on public computers. "The feature ... allows you to text 'otp' to 32665 from a mobile phone associated with your account to get a password to use on a public computer, such as at a library or Internet café," reports the Los Angeles Times. "The measure helps protect people from keylogging programs or malware." Another new feature lets users see all the active sessions on their account, as well as log out …

It may be too late for Brett Favre, but if Apple has its way, mobile computing will soon be a lot less sextier. The tech giant was just awarded a patent -- filed back in early 2008 -- that can prevent users from "sexting," or sending and receiving "objectionable" text-messages. The patent, filed in January of 2008 and approved today, will allow certain content to be filtered, based on parental (or perhaps administrative) controls. "Systems, devices, and methods are provided for enabling a user to control the content of text-based messages sent to or received from an administered …

Despite the rise of social media, the majority of consumers still rely on email to share digital content, according to a study from market researcher Chadwick Martin Bailey. Overall, 86% of survey respondents said they used email to share content, compared to 49% who said they used Facebook. Still, older generations appear to be largely responsible for tipping the scales in email's favor. "Broken down by age, the preference for email is more pronounced as users get older," notes eMarketer. "And only the youngest group polled, those ages 18 to 24, reverses the trend, with 76% sharing …

Middle America, here we come! Later this week, Walmart says it plans to start selling the iPad. By mid-November, the retail giant expects to have Apple's popular tablet devices in 2,300 stores nationwide. "With displays in BestBuy, Target and now Walmart, Apple is going for the holiday gift market," writes Fortune. "When you add Walmart to the 221 U.S. Apple Stores, 1,093 BestBuy outlets and 1,743 Target stores carrying the device, that brings to more than 5,300 the number of places Americans can buy a loved one the gift of an iPad this year (hint, hint)." The …

It seems like only yesterday that critics were writing-off Pandora for its inability appease music labels or please advertisers. But, as Bloomberg reports, the streaming music service is now attracting top advertisers like Hallmark Cards and MillerCoors, and is poised to steal a share of the coveted drive-time market. To make that possible, Ford Motor Co. early next year is expected to begin shipping Fiesta cars with software that operates Pandora via voice controls. Meanwhile, Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz is promoting the radio service in vehicles, and Pioneer Electronics is selling car stereos that include Pandora. "Pandora needs …