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Google spent $18M lobbying D.C. in 2012. Apple spent $2M

While Mountain View stepped up its political efforts, Cupertino cut back

FORTUNE -- The last time we looked at Silicon Valley's lobbying efforts, Google (GOOG) was the big spender and Apple (AAPL) the piker. (See For every $1 Google spends lobbying, Apple spends 10¢.)

That hasn't changed much in the past nine months. In fact, Google increased its political spending in 2012 -- a Presidential election year -- by nearly 90%, while Apple MORE

Bill Gurley: The sage of Silicon Valley

Benchmark's Bill Gurley has provided wise counsel to some of Silicon Valley's most successful entrepreneurs.

FORTUNE -- When Silicon Valley's smartest people want to get smarter, they often turn to Benchmark partner Bill Gurley. For instance, he recently advised Travis Kalanick, CEO of startup Uber, on a less expensive version of his rapidly growing limo service. Says Kalanick: "He really pushed us to lower the price so there's no room for MORE

Mobile apps are increasingly fleeting

A generation of popular apps is being defined by how brief their use cases are.

FORTUNE -- New apps are pushing the boundaries of brevity. Not Angry Birds-esque, which could eat up five minutes of time, but far less. The question is, if mobile apps increasingly are all about "snacking" -- using them in even shorter bursts -- just how brief can their functionality get?

I first encountered this trend last Thanksgiving, MORE

Today in Tech: Meet Facebook's location-tracking app

Also: Twitter buys its way into social TV; how much will Dell ultimately sell for?

Facebook is said to create mobile location-tracking app [BLOOMBERG]

The app, scheduled for release by mid-March, is designed to help users find nearby friends and would run even when the program isn't open on a handset, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren't public.

Facebook is adding features to help it MORE

Why SurveyMonkey is holding off on an IPO

SurveyMonkey's CEO had a front-row seat for Facebook's rocky IPO. He's in no hurry to follow suit.

FORTUNE -- Forgive Dave Goldberg, chief executive of rapidly growing SurveyMonkey, for not being in the slightest rush to take his 13-year-old company public. Let's just say he has lived the downside.

"I took my first company public and worked at Yahoo (YHOO) for seven years, and I saw plenty of decisions made because of what MORE

Sculley and Kirkpatrick vs. a couple of Bloomberg gals

A veteran Apple watcher and a former Apple CEO add insight to insult

FORTUNE -- For readers who might someday find themselves on cable television fielding annoying or clueless questions in your area of expertise, here's a lesson from a couple of pros.

John Sculley, former CEO of Apple (AAPL), and David Kirkpatrick, my former colleague at Fortune, deftly turned a 7-minute interview on Bloomberg TV into an opportunity to set the record straight MORE

Today in Tech: How the Xbox blew it in Japan

Also: Why Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom's testimony doesn't add up; former Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson on his startup. 

Why Xbox failed in Japan [EUROGAMER]

Doing business in Japan is not the same as doing business in the US, and the Xbox team learnt the hard way. In the US businessmen meet, discuss a contract, terms, sign and then get to work. In Japan business is done based on the strength of a MORE

Today in Tech: Why we're in a 'tech depression'

Apple inches closer to a true-blue TV set; Google chairman says Android has Apple beat. 

Apple moves closer to making TV set [THE WALL STREET JOURNAL]

Executives at some of Apple's suppliers said the company has been testing designs for a large-screen high-definition set.

Two people said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.which assembles the iPhone and iPad, has been collaborating with Japan's Sharp Corp. on the design of the new television for several months. "It isn't a formal project MORE

Today in Tech: Behind Amazon's billion-dollar tax shield

Also: A look at Cisco CEO's radical new strategy; why Netflix got in trouble over a simple Facebook post. 

Special report: Amazon's billion-dollar tax shield [REUTERS]

Amazon's Luxembourg arrangements have deprived European governments of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax that it might otherwise have owed, as reported in European newspapers. But a Reuters examination of accounts filed by 25 Amazon units in six countries shows how they also allowed the company MORE

Social media: It's getting nasty out there

The latest dust-up between Instagram and Twitter will have lasting consequences.

FORTUNE – If your Instagram photos look wonky on Twitter, remember that's not by accident. It's by design.

Earlier this week, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom announced onstage at Europe's tech conference Le Web that the popular photo-sharing start-up was killing support for "Twitter cards." As Twitter explained in a post, this basically means when users click Tweets with an Instagram link, photos MORE