Today in Tech: Facebook finds new mobile revenue stream with Gifts

September 28, 2012: 2:05 PM ET

Also: Tim Cook apologizes to for Apple's buggy Maps app; Groupon reshuffles execs. 

Tim Cook apologizes for Apple's new Maps app [FORTUNE]

"At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better."

Say hello to Gifts, Facebook's new mobile revenue stream [ALL THINGS D]

It's exactly what it sounds like. Users can choose, mail and pay for real-world, physical gifts — not the lame virtual ones Facebook offered a few years ago — to send to one another, all completely inside of Facebook. They're tied to the significant event reminders that pop up on occasion — say, a friend's anniversary, or a birthday. Or even better for Facebook, users can also just buy gifts for others for the heck of it.

Groupon reshuffles execs, seeks to fix Europe business [REUTERS]

According to an internal memo obtained by Reuters, Chris Muhr, SVP of sales, will now head the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, while Veit Dengler, SVP International, will be leaving the company.

The memo did not give any reason for Dengler's departure. He will be the latest in a slew of executives, including Lee Brown, who oversees national sales, who have left or decided to leave Groupon in recent months.

Leaked: Check out photos of RIM's BlackBerry 10 phones [CNET]

Several renderings have popped up for the two phones, which include one full touch-screen device, and one with a Qwerty keyboard. CNET has seen the devices, and they match up with images posted on CrackBerry's Web site. CrackBerry pulled the images off a leaked marketing video, which has since been pulled.

Facebook rises as 63.5 million users in China skirt ban [BLOOMBERG]

Facebook users in China, the world's largest Internet market, were 63.5 million in the second quarter of this year, from 7.9 million in 2009, London-based researcher GlobalWebIndex said in a blog post.

Facebook gained 7.3 percent to $21.80 at 12:17 p.m. New York time, for the biggest intraday jump since Sept. 12. Through yesterday, the shares had fallen 47 percent since their May 17 market debut.

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About This Author
JP Mangalindan
JP Mangalindan
Writer, Fortune

With a background in consumer products and pop culture trends, JP Mangalindan has brought his ability to spot the next big things to his coverage of the tech industry for Fortune.com, writing on topics as diverse as the evolution of net neutrality and the influence of social media. A graduate of Fordham University, Mangalindan has written for GQ, Popular Science, Entertainment Weekly, and nymag.com. He lives in San Francisco.

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