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Google Inc CEO Larry Page and Apple CEO Tim Cook have been conducting behind-the-scenes conversations about a range of intellectual property matters, including the ongoing mobile patent disputes between the companies, according to people familiar with the matter.

Facebook and Internet portals such as Google and Yahoo increasingly provide Americans their gateway for news, but the bulk of voters who catch up on current events daily turn to traditional sources, particularly local television stations, according to a nationwide poll.

Google (GOOG) is building a network of glass right to people's houses. But some broadband experts believe that Google is spending too much money to build the ultimately money-losing network. Moreover, consumers can get similar network speeds through DSL and WiFi -- with a much lower investment.

I’m sure you’ve all seen the gaudy statistics when it comes to the gender split of Pinterest’s following – anything ranging from 72% to a staggering 97% of its user base has been reported as female.

The latest numbers are in: Android is on top, followed by iOS in a distant second. This word comes from Gartner, a top research firm for these sorts of things. Overall, within the last quarter, Android outsold iOS devices nearly three to one while capturing 64% of the worldwide market share. Samsung was the top dog accounting for 90M handset sales.

The acquisition, said to be worth $23 million, will expand Google's ambitions in the travel business. The search giant bought the Zagat local guide business last year.

Google said today that it will cut about 4,000 jobs at its Motorola Mobility wireless phone business and will close or consolidate about one-third of Motorola's 90 locations. The reductions represent about 20% of Motorola Mobility’s 20,000 employees, and two-third of the job cuts will take place outside of the U. S. The company said today that Motorola Mobility has lost money in 14 of the past 16 quarters.

Google is smart. We all know that. Here's a great bit of search engine cleverness of Kafka-esque proportions. How can you be seen by the entertainment industry as fighting piracy of copyrighted material and yet not have a negative impact on one of the largest infringers, YouTube—who you happen to own?

Google treats its dead employees better than some companies do their living workers. Google's unusual "death benefits" include paying the deceased's spouse or domestic partner 50% of their salary for 10 years, the company's "chief people officer" Laszlo Bock revealed in an interview this week with Forbes.

Google Inc will pay $22.5 million to settle charges it bypassed the privacy settings of customers using Apple Inc's Safari browser, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Thursday.