Coming today: A Facebook phone?

(CNN) -- The long-rumored Facebook phone might finally be ready to make its debut.

The company is expected to announce a new HTC smartphone running a special Facebook-centric version of Android on Thursday, according to numerous rumors and leaks on tech sites and major publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journaland 9to5Google.

Expanded smartphone integration is a logical step for the social media company, which has been working hard to increase its mobile presence and make more money off of mobile advertising.

The only official hint doled out by Facebook so far is that the announcement has something to do with Google's Android mobile operating system, with the invite asking press to "Come see our new home on Android" at its Menlo Park, California headquarters.

Rumors of a Facebook phone have been swirling for years, but CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly deniedthe company was "building" a phone, saying Facebook was not interested in becoming a hardware company.

Those carefully worded denials should still stand. If rumors prove true, Facebook hasn't built a phone, it's just partnered with a phone manufacturer to place its service and apps more front and center on a typical Android smartphone.

That device is expected to be an HTC 4.3-inch smartphone called the HTC First that bears a passing resemblance to the iPhone, comes in multiple colors, and packs in the usual mid-range specs at moderate price. There doesn't seem to be much that's exceptional or new about the hardware itself beyond the Facebook makeover.

Screens shots that purportedly show the new Android homepage, possibly called Facebook Home, show buttons along the top for common Facebook actions, such as updating a status, posting a photo or checking into a location, and icons for the major Facebook apps including Instagram and Messenger in the center of the screen.

Facebook might also release a similar new standalone Facebook Android app for all Android phones.

The homepage retooling would expand Facebook's reach beyond the standalone Facebook app, spreading its presence into more parts of the smartphone experience. People would end up spending larger amounts of time using the social network's features, in turn giving Facebook more opportunities to collect data and serve up relevant ads.

Smartphone users are already checking Facebook an average of 14 times a day, according to a recent survey by IDC. Facebook was the most popular mobile app across platforms in 2012 in the U.S. according to comScore, and in January more people were checkingFacebook on their mobile devices than desktop computers for the first time.

If priced low enough, a Facebook-centric phone could be appealing to Facebook fans in developing countries, where the network is popular and smartphone sales are still rising sharply. The partnership could also be a boost for Taiwanese phone manufacturer HTC, which has been struggling to keep up with smartphone leaders Samsung and Apple.

Facebook has been focusing intensely on mobile since going public in mid-2012. In the past year it has revamped its iOS and Android mobile apps and started displaying ads on mobile devices. As a result, the company has had signficant success making money on mobile. According to a recent report from research company eMarketer, Facebook is currently the second largest mobile ad publisher in the U.S. after Google, and is expected to make $964.9 million in mobile ad revenue in 2013.

This is the third major product announcement from Facebook in recent months. The first was for Graph Search, an advanced search tool for more effectively drilling down into your Facebook to network to find people and pages and companies. Last month the company unveiled a redesigned news feed that looks more like its mobile apps.

Major Bitcoin exchanges hit with cyberattacks

As interest has surged in Bitcoin, platforms that support the digital currency have been hit by damaging cyberattacks this week.

Mt. Gox, a Tokyo-based exchange that claims to handle more than 70% of all Bitcoin trades, said in a statement on Thursday that it had been hit by a massive Distributed Denial of Service attack. In a DDoS attack, hackers direct a giant traffic surge to their target, overwhelming the site's servers and making it hard for legitimate users to gain access.

The attacks appear to have shaken confidence among some Bitcoin users.

On Wednesday, Bitcoins rose to $147, before pulling back overnight to around $115 as word of the cyberattacks spread. Mt. Gox said the attacks may be an effort to prompt "panic selling", with the hackers hoping to buy up cheap Bitcoins following the panic they've created -- and then waiting for the currency to rise again. They may also be aimed more generally at destabilizing the Bitcoin system.

"[R]emember that Bitcoin, despite being designed to have its value increase over time, will always be the victim of people trying to abuse the system, or even the value of Bitcoin decreasing occasionally," the exchange said.

Related: Bitcoin ATMs coming soon

Mt. Gox said it was suffering its "worst trading lag ever," with some users having difficulty logging into their accounts. The company said it was working to make sure the problem didn't become any more serious.

The exchange did not say whether any individual accounts had been compromised -- a common practice among hackers who launch DDoS attacks -- and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bitcoin is a four-year-old digital currency developed outside the authority of governments and central banks and designed to allow worldwide payments between users. The value of Bitcoins has surged in recent weeks amid decreasing trust in traditional banking systems, particularly after Cyprus imposed a tax on top bank depositors and placed limits on withdrawals to help pay for a European bailout.

Increased media attention has also helped fuel Bitcoin's rise. On Thursday afternoon, the value of one Bitcoin was hovering around $130, up from $47 two weeks ago and just 5 cents back in mid-2010.

Andreas Baumhof, chief technology officer at the cybersecurity firm ThreatMetrix, noted that financial institutions of all kinds face attacks like the one that hit Mt. Gox. Because the market for Bitcoin is so much smaller than those for other currencies, he added, such disruptions are more likely to generate big swings in Bitcoin's value.

"If I were to target a big financial institution, in no way would the value of the US dollar fluctuate," Baumhof said.

Related story: The Bitcoin trade is going higher, Higher, Higher!

Other Bitcoin utilities have also reported problems in recent days.

Bitcoin-Central, a site for the exchange and storage of the currency, and affiliated service Paytunia said they had detected a security breach on Monday and suspended operations pending an investigation. The services said Wednesday that they hoped to be up and running again by the end of the week, and that customers' account balances had not been affected.

Instawallet, an online service for Bitcoin storage, had a notice posted on its website Thursday saying it had been "fraudulently accessed," and would be suspending service indefinitely. Users have been instructed to submit claims to recover their funds.

As the Bitcoin business matures, service providers for the digital currency will continue to beef up their cybersecurity in the same way large banks and online-payment firms likeeBay's (EBAY, Fortune 500) PayPal have in recent years, Baumhof said.

"I'm fairly sure this will ultimately be just a blip," Baumhof said of the disruptions this week.

Samsung's profit soars 53%

Samsung, the world's largest technology company by sales, has produced some jaw-dropping results for the first quarter.

In its preliminary financial update for the first quarter, the South Korean tech giant announced sales Friday of approximately 52 trillion won ($46 billion), up 15% from a year ago. Samsung's operating profit of 8.7 trillion won ($7.7 billion) rose 53% from the first quarter of 2012.

Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting operating profit of 8.3 trillion won on sales of 53 trillion won.

Samsung's quarter was boosted by gadgets and electronics other than its top-of-the-line Galaxy S smartphone. Sales of the Galaxy S III and Galaxy S Note tablets have slumped recently as consumers held out for updates to these devices.

Related story: Tech's next big thing

Last month, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S4 smartphone, and the tech giant revealed theGalaxy Note 8.0 tablet a month earlier. The tablet, which will compete directly with theApple (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPad mini, hit store shelves on Friday in the United Kingdom, and it is expected to go on sale in the United States later this month. The eagerly anticipated Galaxy S4 phone will go on pre-sale on April 16.

Television and PC sales have also slumped lately. So Samsung's first quarter results were likely lifted by the company's large lineup of lower-end and mid-tier smartphones that are particularly popular in emerging markets. Samsung is expected to provide its full first-quarter financial report at the end of the month.

Samsung's strong quarter could be bad news for Apple, which has recently been overshadowed in the smartphone market by its Korean rival.

Apple has found great success in catering to the high end of the market with its iPhone, but some analysts believe the top tier of the market is becoming saturated. Some Wall Street analysts argue that Apple needs to create a lower-end version of its smartphone to expand its share and better compete with No. 1 Samsung, whose phones run on the Android operating system from Google (GOOG, Fortune 500).

Apple, which will report its fiscal second-quarter results on April 23, is expected to announce that sales grew by 9% but that net income fell 17%. 

Excellent sound without the wires

Harman Kardon makes a few different full-size headphones, including the Classic (CL), Noise Canceling (NC), and Bluetooth (BT). They all offer excellent sound quality and have very distinct designs, with a modern take on an old-school double headband and square earcups that harken back a little to the Bowers & Wilkins P3 and P5headphones.

The BT model reviewed here looks almost identical to the over-the-ear NC model, but it features wireless audio streaming for smartphones and other devices that are Bluetooth-enabled. At $250 list, this is considered more of a high-end Bluetooth headphone, but it does cost significantly less than other high-end competitors such as the $400 Parrot Zik, Sennheiser MM 550, and Denon Global Cruiser.

Aside from its excellent fit and finish, the big thing the BT has going for it is its sound quality. It's a well-balanced headphone, with good clarity and tight bass, making it one of the better-sounding Bluetooth headphones currently available.

Design and features
As I said, the headphone has a very distinct look; it's a modern take on an old-school design and won't appeal to everyone. The build quality seems robust, with the top portion of the headband made of metal. Here's what's interesting: Harman includes two sizes of that metal piece, and you can easily swap one band in for the other, depending on the size of your head.

I personally don't have a very big head (at least I didn't think so), but as with the company's CL headphones, which feature the same headband design, the default small band didn't feel great, especially over longer listening sessions, so I swapped in the larger one. It made a significant difference.

I prefer over-the-ear headphones to on-ear models, so it's not surprising that the overall comfort level of this model felt better to me compared to that of the CL. Like the NC, the BT features memory-foam earpads that conform well to your head and offer a tight seal. The only issue I had was that I though the headphone was a tad weighty -- and yes, that heft helps contribute to the impression that the BT is solidly built. The BT weighs 0.62 pound, which is a touch less than what the NC weighs with the smaller "metal bow" headband. By comparison, the popular Bose QC 15 comes in at 0.44 pounds.

The headphones don't fold up, but they do fold flat -- not as much so as the smaller CLs, but still fairly flat. While the included carrying case is fairly large in terms of height and width, since the headphones fold flat there isn't a lot of depth to the package. It stows away nicely in a laptop bag or backpack, or potentially, in your suitcase.

As with virtually all stereo Bluetooth headphones, the BTs have a built-in microphone for making calls. The three-button remote is integrated into the back of the left earcup and can easily be operated by feel. You can adjust the volume up and down, answer and end calls, and advance tracks forward and back (you tap the call answer/end button twice to jump a track forward and tap it three times to go back a track).

Intel confirms USB bug in 'Haswell' chipset

Intel confirmed a USB bug in its next-generation "Haswell" chipset.

The bug can cause USB (Universal Serial Bus) 3.0 devices, like thumb drives, to disappear after entering standby. In some cases, removable devices have to be reconnected again,according to a report at BSN.

The company issued the following statement this afternoon. The bug, in Intel parlance, is referred to as an "errata." The chipset is silicon that accompanies the main Haswell processor:

4th gen Core is on track for a midyear launch. Intel issued a PCN (Product Change Notification) documenting a chipset USB errata and stating that chipsets with the errata will be in production during the initial ramp. But Intel has confirmed that there is no chance of data loss or corruption. This issue has only been observed with a small subset of USB SuperSpeed thumb drives and does not affect other USB peripherals. We take all customer issues seriously and should any customer have a question or concern they can always contact Intel customer support.

According to the Product Change Notification, a new "stepping" -- a version of the chipset with the fix -- will be sent as samples to customers starting April 19. The final version of the fixed chipset will be available starting July 15.

Haswell, which is shipping to PC makers now, is the next-generation mainstream Intel processor that will power ultrabooks and a variety of hybrids that straddle tablet and laptop designs.

Haswell's new microarchitecture will deliver "the single largest generation-to-generation battery life improvement in Intel history," according to a recent statement from Intel CEO Paul Otellini.

Mark Pincus Thinks Angry Birds Won’t Hurt Your Kids

You are the founder and C.E.O. of Zynga, a company responsible for addictive games like FarmVille and the forthcoming Draw Something 2. You know, every time I see my 4-year-old son playing Angry Birds on my phone, I imagine that his little brain is rotting. 
I can commiserate because I have twin 2 ½- year-olds, and they’ve mastered the iPod Touch. I don’t think it’s rotting their brains, if you compare what it’s replacing — TV. My kids are mastering puzzles, it’s challenging their thinking. I want to ultimately reward them with screen-time minutes for chores and achievements.

Have you managed to get 2-year-olds to do chores? If so, I’d love to know your secret. 
Literally on the morning that they were born, I said to the nurse, “I really want an iPod app that is a job wheel.” But I was just told by our nanny that I have to stop bribing my kids, so I’m not sure that the achievement thing is a good idea.

The night you met your wife, Alison, you asked her what she thought about Carmen and Georgia, the names of your future twin daughters. Is it true you told her you had no future unless she agreed to those names? 
It was actually the second night. I had made up these almost-cartoon characters of Georgia and Carmen over the years, and I fell in love with them. Georgia Pincus was this funny, bigger-than-life Jewish Southern belle, and Carmen was this feisty Latin Jewish girl. It wasn’t a deal killer, but if she hated those names, then maybe we were coming from different places.

You’ve done a Tony Robbins retreat, hired a life coach, and since Zynga’s founding, people like Apple board member Bill Campbell have come in to consult on your management style. Is there a problem? 
Maybe this reveals the difference between the coasts you and I live on. A New York point of view would be “What’s wrong with you,” but in California it’s more like “Wow, you want to work on yourself, that’s so cool.” Bill Campbell is supergrounded, and he was really helpful in the last couple quarters.

I thought the venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers brought Campbell in because the stock was down and executives were leaving in droves. 
I’ve sought out everyone I could find who could help me. If you want to be a great entrepreneur, you’re going to have to burn your résumé and stop worrying about your reputation, because you’re probably going to go through long periods of people calling you stupid.

You once said that you learned you should be an entrepreneur because you got fired from every job you had. Why did you get fired so often? 
I thought of myself as C.E.O. at every company I was at. Not many companies are set up so people low in the hierarchy can challenge everything like a C.E.O.

You’re one of the original investors who became billionaires when Facebook went public, and Zynga’s games have been instrumental in the site’s success. But the relationship between Zynga and Facebook has been strained at times. Did your relationship with Mark Zuckerberg suffer? 
No. We have a good relationship. It’s pretty amazing how both our businesses initially got together without a single sheet of paper being signed between the companies. It might be a first in business history.

Is every day still “Bring your dog to work day” at Zynga’s San Francisco headquarters? It must stink.
This place is almost as full of dogs as employees. But I don’t ever smell a dog, and I never see dog hair. My dog Zynga used to be in every meeting. She would sit in chairs and look at who was talking. It freaked some people out, but it spices up your day.

Did you make any attempt to take advantage of the fact that Alec Baldwin got kicked off a plane for playing Zynga’s Words With Friends? 
I got on the phone and brainstormed with Alec Baldwin, but those ideas never made it to life. We’re not at a point that we can justify, say, a $15 million Super Bowl ad.

Use for 3-D Printers: Creating Internal Blood Vessels for Kidneys, Livers, Other Large Organs

The audiences at TED talks are used to being wowed as they learn about advances in technology. Even by TED standards, however, the 2011 presentation by Anthony Atala of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine was amazing. 

Unseen by the audience at first, various vials and nozzles hummed with mysterious activity behind Atala while he was on the stage. About two thirds of the way through the talk, a camera zoomed in on the device's internal armature and showed it weaving back and forth, depositing living cells grown in a laboratory culture layer by layer on a central platform, basing its activity on highly accurate three-dimensional digital renderings. The process, known as 3-D printing, resembles the operation of ink-jet printers but, in this case, instead of ink the printer uses a solution of living cells. In the end, Atala's machine produced, layer by layer, a life-size kidney made of human cells, much as a personal 3-D printer can spit out, say, a plastic replacement part for a coffeemaker.