Welcome to this morning's edition of “First To Know,” a series in which we keep you in the know on what’s happening in the digital world. We’re keeping our eyes on six particular stories of interest today.
Facebook To Announce "Awesome" Product
Facebook is set to stage its so-called “awesome” announcement Wednesday morning. The social network is expected to unveil a Skype-powered video chat platform.
Microsoft Demands License Money from Samsung
Microsoft is demanding Samsung pay $15 for each Android smartphone it manufacturers as the former owns a range of patents used in the mobile platform, according to local reports.
Google To Retire Private Google+ Profiles On July 31
Google+ users will no longer be able to maintain private -- by which the company means unsearchable -- profiles as of July 31.
Twitter Reportedly Valued at $7 Billion
Twitter is busy raising hundreds of millions of dollars at a valuation as high as $7 billion, according to reports.
Google To Retire Blogger & Picasa Brands in Google+ Push
Google intends to rename Picasa “Google Photos” and Blogger will become “Google Blogs" in a rebranding effort.
Amazon Launches Online Store for Pets
Amazon-owned Quidsi, the company behind Soap.com and Diapers.com, has launched Wag.com, an online store for pet supplies.
Further News
Twitter is testing a Facebook-like message wall on profile pages, prompting users to send public tweets (a.k.a @ replies, or mentions) to specific users directly from their profile pages.
Foursquare has released a revamped notifications tray for Android devices (and soon, for iPhone and BlackBerry devices) that alerts users to a wider variety of updates beyond their friends' checkins.
Twitter has acquired social analytics platform BackType for an undisclosed sum.
The Twitter account of PayPal UK was hacked Tuesday and used to post links to an anti-PayPal site.
Spending on online ads will hit $50 billion that year, almost double last year’s spending figure, according to forecasts from eMarketer.