Don’t tell your flight attendant, but frequent fliers are greatly increasing their use of tablets and other personal electronic devices for entertainment and work. “The use of electronic devices, from laptops to tablets to smartphones, rose 24.3% this year over last year,” USA Today reports, citing new research from the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University. 

Say it ain’t so, Siri! Seemingly against her will (if she even has one), Apple’s oracle is lending her voice to Microsoft’s latest ad for Windows 8, which attacks Apple's iPad on price. “Whatever era you call it, post-PC or simply PC plus, the Mac vs. PC war has ignited once again today,” The Verge reports. In the ad, “Microsoft choses [sic] to highlight Windows 8's side-by-side apps with Live Tiles, PowerPoint, and the $449 price of the 64GB ASUS’ VivoTab Smart as the benefits of Windows 8.” 

Continuing its buying binge, Yahoo just scooped up gaming platform startup PlayerScale. “PlayerScale, which was founded in 2011, has provided backend services to thousands of game developers whose products are played by more than 150 million people worldwide,” writes Mashable. “Unlike many of the other companies that Yahoo has acquired in recent months, PlayerScale will not be shutting down its services.” 

Twitter on Thursday unveiled a new way for TV networks to broadcast real-time video on the popular platform. Twitter Amplify, so-called, represents the company’s “latest push in its bid to cozy up to Madison Avenue and the world of big-budget advertising, by tapping more into the kind of mainstream mediums where advertisers like to spend their money,” TechCrunch writes. Launch partners include BBC America, FOX, Fuse and The Weather Channel. 

Urturn -- a so-call “social expressions platform” -- just closed a $13.4 million Series A funding round led by Balderton Capital. In turn, the London-based startup is “getting ready to turn the volume up to 11 to start seriously recruiting teens and trend-setters to its meme-stuffed, fashion-friendly, music-loving platform,” TechCrunch reports. “Urturn … is best described as a viral meme-generator.” 

Apple reportedly plans to give third-party social networks -- including Flickr and Vimeo -- a bigger presence on the next version of its iOS mobile operating system. That said, “since the new software is yet to be even officially announced, there is a very real possibility that any feature in testing could be removed prior to the announcement,” 9to5Mac reports. “Last year, Apple added Facebook integration to iOS, and in 2011, the company struck a deal to integrate Twitter.” 

Twitter on Wednesday debuted what it’s calling a “lead-generation” ad product. At first glance, “It looks a lot like a Groupon-style daily deal product,” Business Insider comments. “The ad unit comes in one of Twitter’s Cards, the expandable display unit that allows users to show a photo.” With the service, advertisers can offer Twitter users discounts or deals in the unit. 

As was widely expected, Google has added its new conversational search feature to the latest version of its Chrome browser for Windows, Mac and Linux. “The update means that users can now search the Internet and ask Google questions from the desktop using only their voice,” The Next Web reports. “The idea is that people should be able to use words and phrases used in everyday conversation.” 

Microsoft this week debuted “The Music Room” -- a new interactive TV series that will be available exclusively on Xbox Live. “As a part of Microsoft's drive to beef up Xbox's entertainment content, the two-part program will be available to Gold subscribers on May 29th,” Engadget reports. “Host Laura Jackson will be joined by special guest Carl Barât, formerly of the Libertines, and the lineup is set to include Everything Everything, Don Broco and Swim Deep.”

Fab Inc. is reportedly close to raising $250 million to $300 million, which would value the online design retailer at $1 billion. “The deal and its list of final participants hasn't closed, but it is expected to wrap up in mid-June, with existing investor Atomico is leading the round,” The Wall Street Journal reports. “Fab started as a gay social network but switched gears into e-commerce about two years ago.”