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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 three particular stories of interest today.

Microsoft Prepares Windows 8 for Battle Against iPad

At Tuesday’s Microsoft Build conference, Microsoft will unveil its new operating system, Windows 8. The next generation OS is designed for PCs and tablets. Sources tell us that the device will be manufactured by Samsung but has been designed meticulously by Microsoft in an attempt to create the iPad alternative.

New Facebook Feature Reduces Email Notifications

Facebook is testing a new feature that lets users group their email notifications into summary emails, which is ideal for users who receive dozens of daily friend requests or are frequent participants in Facebook conversations.

How Digitally Connected Are the U.S. News Top 20 Colleges?

The U.S. News list of top ranking national universities and national liberal arts colleges came out Tuesday. The rankings take several factors into account, including tuition, acceptance rate, retention rate, class size, SAT scores and graduation rate. We decided to add another factor for review: social media connectedness. We looked at Twitter feeds encompassing university life, official Facebook Pages and YouTube channels, not to mention the follower count for each official university/college account.

Further News

• “iPhones are not that cool anymore. We here are using iPhones, but our kids don’t find them that cool anymore,” said Martin Fichter, acting president of HTC America, during the Mobile Future Forward conference in Seattle
• After numerous patent lawsuits from Apple, Samsung has responded with another lawsuit of its own — this time in France. The Korean manufacturer claims that Apple has infringed on three of its technology patents regarding UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) and “not on the design of the tablets.”
• European astronomers have discovered 50 new planets, including 16 so-called Super-Earths, one of which is potentially habitable.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, DNY59

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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 three particular stories of interest today.

Microsoft Prepares Windows 8 for Battle Against iPad

At Tuesday’s Microsoft Build conference, Microsoft will unveil its new operating system, Windows 8. The next generation OS is designed for PCs and tablets. Sources tell us that the device will be manufactured by Samsung but has been designed meticulously by Microsoft in an attempt to create the iPad alternative.

New Facebook Feature Reduces Email Notifications

Facebook is testing a new feature that lets users group their email notifications into summary emails, which is ideal for users who receive dozens of daily friend requests or are frequent participants in Facebook conversations.

How Digitally Connected Are the U.S. News Top 20 Colleges?

The U.S. News list of top ranking national universities and national liberal arts colleges came out Tuesday. The rankings take several factors into account, including tuition, acceptance rate, retention rate, class size, SAT scores and graduation rate. We decided to add another factor for review: social media connectedness. We looked at Twitter feeds encompassing university life, official Facebook Pages and YouTube channels, not to mention the follower count for each official university/college account.

Further News

• “iPhones are not that cool anymore. We here are using iPhones, but our kids don’t find them that cool anymore,” said Martin Fichter, acting president of HTC America, during the Mobile Future Forward conference in Seattle
• After numerous patent lawsuits from Apple, Samsung has responded with another lawsuit of its own — this time in France. The Korean manufacturer claims that Apple has infringed on three of its technology patents regarding UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) and “not on the design of the tablets.”
• European astronomers have discovered 50 new planets, including 16 so-called Super-Earths, one of which is potentially habitable.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, DNY59

More About: morning brief

For more Social Media coverage:

• Follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Social Media channel
• Download our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad

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 three particular stories of interest today.AOL Earnings Beat ExpectationsAOL has released its Q3 2010 earnings, reporting total revenue of $563.5 million, higher than analyst predictions of $557.04 million. This is good news for AOL CEO Tim Armstrong who has missed his targets in each of the last two quarters.While AOL's net income was up, it's not all sunshine and roses. AOL's ad revenue continues to tank, down 27% compared to the year ago quarter. Most startling is the company's international display ad revenues, down more than 54% year-over-year.AOL also announced that it paid $97.1 million in acquisitions of 5min, TechCrunch and Things Labs.Former eBay and HP CEO's Lose Political BidsThe overarching success of Republican candidates in U.S. mid-term elections did not extend to California, not even with former tech CEOs running for office. Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman lost the race for governor to Democrat Jerry Brown, and Carly Fiorina -- the former CEO of HP -- lost her race for the U.S. Senate, being defeated by incumbent Barbara Boxer.Both women ran loud, glitzy campaigns, buoyed by their own personal fortunes. As VentureBeat's Dean Takahashi notes, "The pedigree of being an executive at a major tech company isn't necessarily a winning background for California politics."The one bright spot for politicians with a Silicon Valley bent is the win by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in his race for lieutenant governor.Palm Pre 2 Pre-orders May Start November 8Are you interested in webOS 2.0 and the Palm Pre 2? If you're a U.S. Verizon customer you might not have long to wait.The eagle-eyed PreCentral watchers noticed that HP's Facebook Page for students noted that pre-orders for the Palm Pre 2 will begin on November 8.Although HP's Facebook Page has since been changed to simply say "coming soon" -- a November pre-order date would jive with some internal Verizon documents that previously indicated that the next-generation webOS device would hit the U.S. in November.Other News

• Google E-mails Users About Buzz Settlement -- Check your inbox, Google has sent out a message to every Gmail user informing them of the settlement in the class action lawsuit over Google Buzz. Our big question: How long before Buzz goes the way of Wave?
• Apple Triples the Length of iTunes Previews -- You know that episode of The Office where Michael plays that James Blunt song over and over again and you realize he's just playing the 30-second iTunes preview? Well, soon Steve Carrell's hapless manager will be able to enjoy triple the song preview length. Hey, if this doubles again, iTunes might sort of start to resemble Lala!
• Foursquare Businesses Can Oust Cheating Mayors -- Hey, dude that never comes into my Starbucks but is inexplicably the mayor, your days are numbered thanks to a new tool Foursquare is offering business owners.

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Reviews: Facebook, Google, Google Buzz, foursquare, gmail

For more Social Media coverage:

• Follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Social Media channel
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