Foxconn CEO: iPhone 5 ‘will put Samsung Galaxy S III to shame’ [WIRED]

At a shareholders’ meeting Monday, Gou reportedly said that the new model “will put Samsung’s Galaxy S III to shame.” Gou also reportedly called Samsung “a company with a track record of snitching on its competitors” — a reference to a European price-fixing investigation of the flat panel industry in 2010.

Microsoft’s Surface rivals both tablets and laptops [THE WALL STREET JOURNAL]

Microsoft’s tablet alters its longtime role as software supplier to computer makers. But more broadly the move underscores a debate with Apple over what a tablet should be: a new category of consumer devices, or a traditional PC in a slimmer, on-the-go package.

Surface: Between a rock and a hardware place [DARING FIREBALL]

Some will argue that I’m simply spoiled by Apple’s on-stage polish, but Monday’s Microsoft event struck me as rushed and severely under-rehearsed. Ballmer offered nothing but blustering bromides, and nothing even vaguely resembling a coherent answer to the big question: Why? Steven Sinofsky was nervous and hurried. It didn’t help that his first Surface RT unit crashed before he’d done anything other than wake it up.

Windows Phone 8 in detail: new Start Screen, multi-core support, VoIP integration, and NFC [THE VERGE]

The biggest change in Windows Phone 8 is Microsoft’s transition to the NT kernel and related operating system elements — defined as the Windows Core. … Windows Phone 8 will share the same kernel, file system, media foundation, device drivers, and parts of the security model from Windows 8. While this might seem like overkill for a phone operating system, the core elements of the Windows NT architecture will allow Windows Phone 8 to support multi-core processors, device encryption, removable storage with microSD cards, and a whole host of improvements for IT pros and businesses.

Fledgling fashion designers use fund-raising site to raise capital [THE NEW YORK TIMES]

For financing, the partners turned to Kickstarter, the online fund-raising site for creative projects. … The money poured in, blasting past their $20,000 goal to eventually reach $64,246 in the women’s self-designated 35-day offering.

Google’s transparency report: A good and troubling thing [JOHN BATTELLE’S SEARCH BLOG]

The number of takedown requests from governments is on the rise – up about 100% year to year for the US alone. Part of this, perhaps, can be explained by what might be called a “catchup effect” – governments are coming to terms with the pervasive power of digital information, and finally getting their heads around trying to control it, much as governments have attempted to control more analog forms of information like newspapers, television stations, and books.