This Day in Tech: Facebook blocks contact-exporting tool, Twitter buys BackType

Too busy to keep up with today's tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET for Tuesday, July 5.

Facebook blocks contact-exporting tool
Social network hobbles a Chrome extension that moves friends' contact info to Google+, but a programmer is working on a way around the restriction. More

Twitter buys influence with BackType acquisition
The next battleground in social networking is measuring influence, not just winning users. Twitter's acquisition of social-media analysis company BackType illustrates that trend. More

iPhone 5 order: 15 million for Sept. launch, report says
Apple has put in an order for 15 million iPhone 5 units from Taiwanese supplier Pegatron, with an eye toward shipping the phones starting in September, according to DigiTimes. More

Verizon confirms shift to tiered data plans
The carrier bids farewell to unlimited data plans this week and says hello to usage-based options. It's also adding a charge to use its mobile hot-spot feature. More

Firefox PDF reader passes 'pixel-perfect' test
With the release of pdf.js version 0.2, the JavaScript-based PDF-reading software can fully handle a test document. Next up: faster performance. More

Report: Google to rebrand Blogger, Picasa
Google wants to respectively rename the services Google Blogs and Google Photos, according to a Mashable report. More

Facebook news event Wednesday: Join us live
Tune at 10 a.m. PT tomorrow to find out what Facebook's mystery announcement is. CNET will bring you the news live from Facebook's headquarters as the event takes place. More

Tooling around San Francisco's TechShop
CNET gets a tour of one of TechShop's four commercial-scale hacker facilities, which are helping to bring the maker culture to the mainstream with classes and monthly memberships. More

Android IP headache may become a migraine
How dominant can Google's Android become? Dominant enough for almost an entire industry of rivals to play a $4.5 billion game of patent keep away. Now it's time for the lawsuits. More

AT&T offering iPhone insurance
Carrier will cover theft, loss, and damage to the iPhone for a monthly fee of $4.99 and a deductible of $50 or $125 depending on the model. More

WebOS chief: Don't fret over TouchPad reviews
An internal e-mail reveals HP's Jon Rubinstein trying to cheer up his staff about initial response to the tablet, invoking the downer first reviews of Apple's Mac OS X. More

Lodsys files suit against New York Times, five others
The high-profile, patent-holding entity which has gone after app developers has taken aim at six companies in a new lawsuit that says all are infringing on one or more of its patents. More

Mark Zuckerberg: More Google+ followers than anyone
Even though he hasn't posted anything, Mark Zuckerberg has one and a half times as many followers as Google CEO Larry Page and more than anyone else. More

Microsoft skips Apple's copy, paste with Bing 'Lasso'
A new feature in Microsoft's Bing application for iPad aims to make it easier to start a new search from any page you're on just by drawing a circle around a word or two. More

SuperTooth HD
The Bottom Line: The SuperTooth HD's hardware is good, but its Handsfree Assistant social network, text messaging, and e-mail integration service is both its claim to fame and its Achilles' heel. More