Today in Tech News Digest, Windows 7 makes a comeback, Yahoo beats Google, Apple plays hardball with Samsung, the iPhone 6 is rumored to be a phablet, Feedly throws new features at us, and the Jamaican bobsled team go crowdfunding.

The success of Windows 8 is exemplified by HP offering Windows 7 on certain new PC's and marketing and advertising it

— Pratik Patel (@ppatel) January 21, 2014

HP is actively marketing new computers with Windows 7 as the default operating system. This is despite Windows 8 being the current version of Windows, and the one Microsoft wants you to use (even though Microsoft employees suspect Windows 8 of being the new Vista).

HP is not only advertising the Windows 7 PCs on its U.S. website, it has also sent an email out to customers telling them about the offer. The pitch includes the term, "Back by popular demand," suggesting the company is responding to customers wishes.

While Microsoft hasn't yet put a stop to OEMs pre-installing Windows 7 rather than Windows 8 on new computers, seeing HP pushing the older operating system in such an open way is rather shocking.

There is speculation that HP is acting now in order to persuade Windows XP users to buy a new machine ahead of Microsoft ending support for that operating system (on April 8). Whether this is the case or not, Microsoft cannot possibly be pleased with this turn of events.

Yahoo Beats Google

Time to make Yahoo! our homepage again? "@Yahoo Top Web Property in the US for Six Months Straight" http://t.co/YRScatpk4d @google #traffic

— Richie Hannah (@rrrrichie) January 20, 2014

It's hard to imagine Google being beaten in terms of usage, but that's exactly what is happening at the moment. According to comScore, Yahoo gets more visitors than Google, at least in the U.S. and amongst desktop users.

December 2013 was the sixth month in a row that Yahoo enjoyed a greater number of unique visitors than Google, with the most recent numbers being 195 million over 192 million. Yahoo may be struggling as a company in many different ways, but it seems a lack of traffic isn't an issue.

Apple Vs. Samsung: The Clone Wars

http://youtu.be/YciM_54HzZk

The fierce legal battle between Apple and Samsung is rolling on, but negotiations are taking place as both companies try to avoid another court date. The problem preventing a settlement occurring is Apple's insistence that Samsung essentially stop copying Cupertino's products.

As spotted by FOSS Patents, B.J. Watrous, Apple's chief intellectual property counsel, recently stated in a court filing that "discussions with Samsung have consistently included limits to both the scope of any license and a prohibition against cloning Apple products." Unsurprisingly, Samsung has so far refused to accept such a provision.

New iPhone 6 Rumors

Omg all these pics bout what the iphone 6 might look like ???? #whydidmyscreenbreak #iwant6

— Nikki Tran (@ilhubveuu) January 21, 2014

The latest rumors regarding the iPhone 6 suggest it will arrive in June 2014 and have a larger screen size than previous models. Apple Insider is actually suggesting there will be two different models, one with a 4.7-inch screen, and another with a 5.7-inch screen. The latter can accurately be described as a phablet.

Interestingly, these new rumors mesh nicely with the previous rumors (from November 2013), suggesting there is at least some truth to them. Apple fanboys had better start saving their pennies now. And queuing outside their nearest Apple Store.

Feedly Features Froth Forth

feedly-graphic

Feedly has been rather busy of late, announcing a slew of new updates and added features. First up, the company has launched a URL shortener it hopes will up the rate of content sharing. Feedly has also released an update to its iOS app, with speed reading and a night theme being amongst the extras on offer. Is this all enough to counter its previous bad behavior?

Cool Runnings, Hot Crowdfunding

http://youtu.be/95y3vZNcUbs

And finally, the Internet has raced to the rescue of the Jamaican bobsled team. The team recently qualified for the Winter Olympics in Sochi -- cue talk of Cool Runnings and an unlikely success story -- but realized they couldn't afford to make the trip to Russia.

Thankfully, the Internet stepped in to ensure the Jamaicans could attend the Olympics. More than $100,000 has been raised on Crowdtilt, more than $30,000 has been raised on Indiegogo, and 26 million Dogecoins were donated in the space of just a couple of hours.

All that's required now is for the Jamaican bobsled team to win the gold. Otherwise the Internet will ask for a refund.

Tech News Digest… Breaking News Into Bite-Sized Chunks.

Image Credit: Imilyas