AOL acquires TechCrunch

In yet another move to recreate itself as a new, powerful media company, AOL has acquired TechCrunch. The news came Tuesday from AOL CEO Tim Armstrong and TechCrunch Founder and Co-editor Michael Arrington during the TechCrunch Disrupt conference.

The acquisition will give AOL power over TechCrunch's global network of properties from Europe to Japan, as well as its related sites including Mobile Crunch, CrunchGear, TechCrunchIT, GreenTech, TechCrunchTV and CrunchBase.

"Michael and his colleagues have made the TechCrunch network a byword for breaking tech news and insight into the innovative world of start-ups, and their reputation for top-class journalism precisely matches AOL's commitment to delivering the expert content critical to this audience," said Tim Armstrong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AOL.

AOL has been on somewhat of a conquest over the past few years to build itself a Web-media empire. In 2005, the company bought Engadget, a consumer electronics blog and Joystiq, a popular video game news company. AOL also owns The Unofficial Apple Weblog, Shoutcast and Winamp.

In addition to the acquisition of TechCrunch, AOL also acquired what the company describes as the Web's largest video content syndication platform - 5min Media - allowing AOL to offer high-quality video across its sites, including TechCrunch.

According to AOL, Arrington, who founded TechCrunch in 2005 will take part on the sites operations for at least three years as part of the purchase deal. Arrington, still a blogger for the site, breaks most of the biggest stories on TechCrunch.

Apple offers free cases as solution to iPhone 4 antenna problem

It's funny to hear Josh Topolsky of Engadget talk about the iPhone's new antenna design and describe it as an "improvement" in this June episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Last Friday, however, iPhone users may have gotten what they were looking for, some kind of apology in the form of a gift.

That's right, according to Engadget, Apple will be offering free iPhone 4 cases to all users who bought the device before September 30. Cases can be shipped or picked up at any Apple Store location. If a user has already bought a case Apple, you'll get a refund in full. Check out the full story at Engadget.