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Alan Patmore left his job as general manager for Zynga's CityVille in August and headed over to a job as VP of product at Kixeye -- a much smaller social-gaming company also based in San Francisco. Zynga is now saying that when Patmore stepped down, he stole important company trade secrets.

In a complaint filed in Superior Court in San Francisco on Friday, the gaming company alleges that Patmore nabbed data files, financial information, unreleased game design documents, and more.

"Zynga respects the rights of its employees to resign and seek employment with other companies," the gaming … Read more

Microsoft is sponsoring some free Wi-Fi sites in New York and San Francisco to drum up interest in Windows 8.

Six different Manhattan subway stops will feature free Wi-Fi starting immediately, and another 200-plus hotzones across the city will light up November 1. The subway locations are supported by Transit Wireless, which provides Wi-Fi service for travelers riding the rails underground.

Residents of San Francisco can surf at Microsoft's expense at hotzones in such locations as Union Square, Fisherman's Wharf, UN Plaza, the Financial District, and Nob Hill. The hotzones in New York City and San Francisco all … Read more

Zynga is now testing a sequel for "CityVille," the company wrote on its blog today.

The social games creator promises are more "visually rich game" with "CityVille 2," which was released today to specific players for testing.

"It has all the features in CityVille that players love -- from neighbor visits and crews to buildables -- blended with some of the innovations we introduced in CastleVille and FarmVille 2 such a crafting and 3D graphics," according to the post.

The company has said -- and Wall Street seems to agree -- that … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- A device to call your mom when you crash your bike.

- Stop the madness: 3D-printed headphones?!

- A jacket that hugs you for getting "Likes" on Facebook.

- Target adds QR codes to hot holiday toys for secret shopping.

- Also, New York is about to have QR codes everywhere soon.

Bathroom break video: Salt Lake from Lance follows up… Read more

"SimCity is a game about endless choices," says lead designer Stone Librande. "Ultimately, you can do whatever you want."

While that isn't entirely true -- you can't play offline -- at least we can get a sense of how the fifth iteration of the city management game works in a nine-minute clip released today by Maxis and EA.

The video shows how the game plays essentially from the beginning as Librande creates a casino-themed city from scratch. Seasoned SimCity 4 players may notice vast differences in the user interface, which seems easier to navigate while simultaneously adding a slew of new options. … Read more

Google's special treatment in Kansas City has caught the attention of its competitors.

According to The Wall Street Journal, which obtained a copy of agreements on file with the city government, Google was offered everything from free office space to a team of government employees "dedicated" to the development of its Gigabit Internet service. In addition, the company is able to use all city "assets and infrastructure -- including fiber, buildings, land, and computer tools" for free, the Journal has learned.

Although the deal was great for Google, it has become an issue for competitors … Read more

A 625-foot-tall Ferris wheel, the New York Wheel, is set to debut on Staten Island in 2015, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced today.

When construction ends, the New York Wheel should stand as the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, outpacing the current champ, the Singapore Flyer, by 84 feet. The iconic London Eye and upcoming Las Vegas "High Roller" Wheel also stand far below New York's mega wheel in height. … Read more

The Big Apple is seeing a surge in stolen Apple devices.

The latest data from the New York City Police Department shows that iPhone and iPad thefts have soared 40 percent this year so far, compared with the same period last year.

Between January 1 and September 23 of this year, a total of 11,447 cases of stolen iDevices were reported to the New York City police, a rise of 3,280 over 2011, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said in a report sent to CNET.

"As if to mirror the market place, thefts of Apple products increased this … Read more