VanRoekel Promises Less Govt. Hardware, Software Waste. Speaking at the prestigious Palo Alto PARC site, the government’s Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel made several positive remarks about innovation and creativity, but also promised to “use technology to improve government productivity” while reducing wasteful spending on hardware and software initiatives, and embrace cloud tech and mobile solutions. –KE
Sprint Lessens Loss, Hangs Much On iPhone. Sprint Nextel just posted its most recent earnings, with a loss of $301 million for the third quarter, much reduced from its $911 million loss a year ago. Revenues meanwhile popped up 2% to $8.33 billion and the company gained over a million new subscribers and runs on the iPhone “surpassed expectations.” Investors are worried about its plans to accelerate its LTE upgrade however. –KE
Conde Nast Subscriptions Soar On Newsstand. In the weeks after Newsstand came alive on iPads updated with iOS 5, Conde Nast titles are flying off its digital shelves. The publishing company announced yesterday that subscriptions have gone up 286 percent and that single issue purchases have gone up 142 percent across all its titles, compared to the 8 weeks leading up to the iOS 5 launch, AppleInsider reports. —NS
90,000+ Blogger Passwords Leaked In Sweden. The account passwords of 90,000 users of the Swedish blogging site Bloggtoppen.se were published via the (also hacked) Twitter account of a Swedish politician. The operator of the blog told a Swedish newspaper that the site had been hacked through a security bug in the site, and had since been shut down. According to The Local, an English newspaper in Sweden, more than 130 politicians were among the affected users. —NS
–Updated 7:30 a.m. EST
Nokia’s Windows Smartphone Revealed. After months of development and much speculation, Nokia’s first Windows-powered smartphone is the Lumia 800. With Win Phone 7 inside, the smartphone is being dubbed by Nokia as the “first real Windows 7” phone, despite many earlier offerings, and is an adjusted version of its partly-cancelled N9 phone. It’s available for €420 in Europe from next month at first, arriving in the U.S. in 2012. –KE
“Asha” Is Nokia’s Hope For Emerging Markets. Nokia’s new line of phones wants to bring media playing features and Web browsing to places like India, where smartphones have yet to take off. The “Asha” series (“Asha” means “wish” in Hindi) comes in 4 models: the 200, 201, 300, and 303. The phones run Symbian Series 40 OS, and will have Nokia Browser installed for accessing the Web. Blanca Juti and CEO Stephen Elop say the phone is targeted at the world’s “next billion,” giving people in markets like India where Nokia is already popular, access to the Web on their phones at a low cost. —NS
Virginia Romnetty IBM’s New CEO. IBM has appointed Virginia Romnetty as its new president and CEO, replacing current chairman, president and CEO, Samuel Pamisano. Romnetty has also been elected to the board of the company. Palmisano will stay on in his current role as chairman, and Romnetty will assume her new position on January 1, 2012. —NS
China Wants More Control On Social Media. In a document released on Wednesday, China’s ruling Communist party described its intention to gain more control of how information is spread on the Internet. The government has become increasingly wary of the microblogging service “weibo” in the past months, Reuters explains, and a policy move like this could indicate upcoming regulations enforcing stricter censorship. —NS
