David Pogue / New York Times:
The Kindle: Good Before, Better Now  —  In the high-tech industry, you live for the day when your product name becomes a verb.  “I Googled him.”  “She’s been Photo- shopped.”  —  Amazon, however, is hoping that its product name, a verb, becomes a noun.  “Have you bought the new […]

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent.org:
It’s Official: Chernin’s Tenure As News Corp. COO Will Expire When His Contract Does On June 30  —  After hours of tom-tom beating, it’s official—News Corp President and COO Peter Chernin will leave on June 30, when his current contract expires.  As expected, Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch …

Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Apple 2.0:
Analyst: iPhone benefits from carrier rate war  —  AT&T’s rivals have become more aggressive about their pricing, and that — paradoxically — could be good for Apple (AAPL), according to Kaufman Bros.’ analyst Shaw Wu.  —  In a report to clients issued Monday, Wu notes that Sprint’s (S) …

Ina Fried / Beyond Binary:
Microsoft backtracks on severance issue  —  This story was updated at 3:45 p.m. PST with an official statement from Microsoft.  —  Amid a wave of criticism, Microsoft is backtracking on a decision to require laid off workers to pay back money that the software maker said was in excess of […]

Microsoft:
Microsoft Advertising Announces Formation of Publisher Leadership Council  —  Consortium of leading Web publishers will consult on next-generation advertising platform, Microsoft PubCenter.  —  Microsoft Corp. today announced the creation of the Publisher Leadership Council …

Connie Loizos / PE Hub Blog:
Who’s Advising Tom Friedman?  I Have a Guess  —  A lot of people have been expressing their surprise and disappointment in the recent writings of Thomas Friedman, the New York Times columnist who has, inarguably, become one of the nation’s most influential journalists over the past decade.

Eric Savitz / Tech Trader Daily:
Apple To Launch iPhone On Verizon Wireless?  —  So, this is a pretty sketchy report, but fascinating if right.  —  A Rome-based reporter for the Bangalore-based tech news site ITExaminer.com is reporting that “deep throats” at Apple (AAPL) say “iPhones for Verizon Wireless (VZ, VOD) will be announced soon.”

Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Yahoo News Head Khemlani Departs for Hearst as VP Digital Media  —  [UPDATED: With Hearst press release confirming the move at the bottom.]  —  Neeraj Khemlani (pictured here), Yahoo’s general manager and executive editor of news, is set to leave his job-right in the midst of a major restructuring …

Nick Farrell / www.itexaminer.com:
Apple to allow Verizon connections  —  When Jobs is away the cats will play  —  Apple is certain to allow Verizon to join its elite band of Iphone providers, bringing to an end the exclusive and somewhat stupid exclusivity deal in its biggest market.  —  Deep throats in Apple claim … […]

Wall Street Journal:
Information Wants to Be Expensive  —  Newspapers need to act like they’re worth something.  —  With newspapers in cities across the country on the brink, an old idea is being resurrected in the hope of saving them: They should charge for access to their journalism on the Internet.