Technology Round-Up: April 16th, 2012

Xbox 720 to be a 16-core powerhouse?

Now, if this is indeed the case – there is some serious power packed into the next-gen Xbox. Possibly too much power just to play games.

Xbox World reckons that the extra power boost could be to do with Kinect 2 – which apparently will suck the life out of four of the cores, due to the pinpoint accuracy that the new motion controller will bring.

DOJ sues Apple and book publishers

Facebook buys Instagram for a billion dollars

For years, we've focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we'll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.

Follow JasonTate and HeyImNic

Apple denies E-book collusion

The U.S. accused Apple Inc. and five of the nation's largest publishers Wednesday of conspiring to raise e-book prices, in a case that could radically reorder the fast-growing business.

Spotify debuts embeddable Play Button

Spotify has gone from strength to strength since it launched in 2008, and last year its deep Facebook integration and U.S. launch helped take the music-streaming service to the next level. From today, however, Spotify takes a pretty big step towards really establishing itself in the mainstream, as it rolls out a new embeddable button for bloggers and Web editors.

The fact that this just launches the program kinda sucks.

Spotify plans a special announcement for next week

Spotify looks set to bombard us with another launch next week, following the announcement of a special event in New York. The Swedish streaming giant has sent out press invites for the Ad Age Digital event on Wednesday, where CEO Daniel Ek will take the stage for a keynote address.

Kindle due for a major display upgrade

Now that Amazon has taken a big leap into the tablet market with the Kindle Fire, the etailer may spread some of that joy around with some rumored improvements to its line of ereaders. The rumor is that Amazon's next Kindle models will feature a "glowing" display, which would jettison the traditional E-Ink screen above a "front-lit Kindle" to debut later this year.

Sony to cut TV production, 10,000 employees

News leaked earlier this week that Sony was to shed 10,000 jobs and in a press conference today Sony CEO Kaz Hirai confirmed that this was the case and with it the promise that "Sony will change".

Console-quality games coming to Facebook

Cloud gaming service Gaikai has announced that it has launched a beta version of its app through Facebook, promising console-quality gaming through the social network. Gaikai is currently going head to head with OnLive – with both services offering up an alternative to console and PC gaming. Using the cloud, you pay a subscription fee and they pipe content through your computer of set-top.

Nokia Lumia 900 reviews post - Can it save Nokia and Windows Phone?

Reviews are in.

Google redesigns Google+

Will you use it now?

Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn unexpectedly resigns

More like Best Bye Brian Done, amirite?

Editor's Note: Feel free to add any stories in the replies you thought were big this week. The relevant threads from around the website are: Official Apple Thread, Official Google Thread, Microsoft, Windows, Zune, XBox (Official Thread), Facebook (Official Thread) -- check those out for great nerdy conversations throughout the week. I added in some other articles, commentary, and blog posts I found interesting around the internet as well. Oh, and you can follow @NicVargus on twitter and me @jason_tate.