Reiterating earlier comments, Steve Ballmer this week said Microsoft has big plans for its hardware business. “It is absolutely clear that there is an innovation opportunity on the scene between hardware and software and that is a scene that must not go unexploited at all by Microsoft," the company’s CEO said at an event on Wednesday, as reported by Reuters. Microsoft, of course, just debuted its Surface tablet. 

The Web has never been more entwined with the health of the United States and its economy. Despite that fact, Republicans in the Senate this week killed cybersecurity legislation backed by the White House. “Republicans blocked the same measure in August, saying it would lead to more government regulation of business,” Bloomberg reports, adding that President Barack Obama is now likely to implement some of the bill’s provisions through an executive order. 

Google on Wednesday updated Google TV with several new features, the most notable of which is voice control. Users can now change channels, initiate apps and open their program guide with simple voice commands. “Of course, voice input for TVs isn’t entirely new,” GigaOm notes. “Microsoft’s Xbox already offers users voice control, and Samsung’s own TV platform uses voice as well.” 

Year-over-year, worldwide smartphone sales increased 47% in the third quarter, according to the latest data from Gartner. That translates to 169.2 million units sold during the quarter. As for leading vendors and operating systems, “Samsung and Apple remain the top smartphone vendors collectively, capturing 46.5% of the market,” 9to5Mac notes. 

Still confused about the controversy surrounding Facebook charging page owners for access to users who have already “liked” their pages? App.net founder Dalton Caldwell is here to help. “I believe this debate is missing the big picture, and what we are in fact witnessing is the unfurling of the full-fledged Facebook business model,” Caldwell blogs. “Facebook is showing us how they will cross the chasm from low-CTR low-CPM ad-units into what investors have been waiting for … a Facebook analogue to Google Adwords.” 

In an effort to increase user engagement, Facebook is testing a new comments format on brand and subscriber pages, which highlights comments by popularity. “We are testing a new format for comments on Page posts,” Facebook said in a statement to Mashable. “As part of this test, the most engaging comments appear higher up. You will also be able to reply to individual comments as well as the original post.”    

Social data technology startup DataSift just raised another $15 million, led by Scale Venture Partners. “DataSift made our recent list of 10 startups leading the way in ‘big data’ because its tech can analyze data across the social Web, which helps companies get a handle on public opinion and better shape marketing messages,” VentureBeat reports. Additional investors included Northgate Capital and Daher Capital. 

YouTube this week debuted an undated mobile app, which lets smartphones, tablets and Web-connected TVs all share the same wireless connection. “This wireless link allows users to browse YouTube from their mobile devices, click a TV icon and watch videos on their living room TVs,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “The feature, which has been under development for about two years, will be offered initially on Android devices and on Internet-connected Google TVs.” 

What’s the problem with social media measurement? Writing in TechCrunch, Dr. Michael Wu, principal scientist of analytics at Lithium, counts the ways. “Social media engagement is primarily based on conversations and personalized interactions that are difficult to scale,” he explains. Worse still, social strategies often hinge on “influencers,” whose actual influence is quite difficult to measure.  

Dailybooth, a pioneer in online photo-sharing, is done for, The Next Web reports. “Twitter users that have received confirmation are mourning in droves,” it writes. “Mourning” might be overstating it, however. “Sad, but I can see why,” writes one onetime Dailybooth user. “I jumped to Instagram a long time ago.” Adds TNW: “Dailybooth was a hit before Apple, Android and others brought about the smartphone revolution, which has changed how most of us interact online.”