Microsoft’s board is reportedly determined to find a replacement for Steve Ballmer before the end of the year. As such, “The board is narrowing its choices amid preliminary interviews,” Bloomberg reports, citing sources. Out of the running is EBay CEO John Donahoe, who reportedly declined to throw his hat into ring. Top contenders include Ford Motors CEO Alan Mulally and former Nokia Oyj CEO Stephen Elop. 

Microsoft is reportedly developing proprietary technology that would facilitate ad tracking across any Windows run computers and mobile devices, Xbox, Internet Explorer, and Bing. “Microsoft's plans are in the early stages with no clear picture on when the replacement would complete its roll-out across all devices,” AdAge reports, citing sources. Google is currently working on a similar alternative to cookie-based ad tracking. 

Sure to unsettle top TV networks, Aereo will reportedly become available on Android devices within weeks. The controversial streaming TV service is already available to Apple users in select cities, including New York and Boston. However, as GigaOm reports, the big networks just filed a petition with the Supreme Court to reverse a New York appeals court ruling, which found Aereo’s service to be legal. 

Twitter may be experimenting with personalized breaking news notifications, TechCrunch reports. “It’s impossible to tell whether [a particular] account is an ‘official Twitter experiment’ as the company does not comment on experiments it runs,” it writes. “But the account has all of the earmarks of an experiment in delivering a personalized set of breaking news alerts that are determined by an algorithm to be actually useful to you.” 

As a sustainable business model, paid apps aren’t panning out for some developers and publishers, Mashable reports. “Some are going as far as saying that paid apps (as opposed to free apps that generate revenue through in-app purchase) are dead,” it writes. “Chalk it up to a shift in consumer behavior, thanks in part to the rise of in-app purchases in games and other applications.”

Forget about a run in the park. Microsoft has big plans for fitness with its upcoming Xbox One, which reportedly will ship with a greatly improved Kinect experience. “Microsoft's new and highly detailed Kinect sensor enables an entirely new type of interactivity on the Xbox One, making use of muscle mapping, balance calculations, and limb orientation detection,” The Verge writes. What’s more, “Microsoft is trying to open up the platform to established exercise programs.” 

This weekend, The New York Times Magazine published over 6,000 words from Nick Bilton’s forthcoming Twitter tell-all, “Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal.” Among other revelations and insider details, the NYTimes reporter and columnist reveals that Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey came close to joining Facebook after he was pushed out of the microblogging giant. 

While it may sound sillier than Smell-O-Vision, Disney is dead serious about developing new technology with which people will purportedly be able to feel the shape and texture of pictured objects on flat touchscreen devices. Yes, “The company that brought you the first animated feature film and the multiplane camera may be at work on its most game-changing invention yet,” The Washington Post reports.   

The BBC's iPlayer on-demand service will offer a more personalized experience to license fee payers, in a plan dubbed My BBC.  Director general Tony Hall says that developing the next generation of the iPlayer, which will personalize the choice of BBC shows offered to users, will be key for the corporation. Launched in December 2007, the device is very popular and increasingly being used on mobile. Some 32% of requests for BBC TV and Radio came from smartphones and tablets. "Top Gear," "The Great British Bake Off" and "EastEnders" were among the most requested TV shows on the iPlayer in …

Amazon.com's work on a set-top box for streaming video and other content may be near. The retail giant is working toward a release by the holiday selling season. To facilitate that end, it has been looking for partnerships with app developers and others to secure a Roku-like experience.