Today in Tech: MySpace layoffs today, Verizon iPhone launch

    A curated selection of the day's most newsworthy tech stories from all over the Web.

    • As reported a week ago, MySpace intends to lay off 50%, or between 550 and 600, of its staff today under the guise of restructuring and shedding legacy business divisions. Afterwards, it's expected the struggling social network-turned-entertainment hub will look at sale options. Some possibilities: being picked up by a private equity buyer or even being sold to Yahoo. (AllThingsD)

    • Would-be Verizon iPhone owners rejoice! The day you've all been waiting for -- and we've been speculating about -- is allegedly, finally here. At 8 AM PST/11 AM EST, Verizon will hold a super-exclusive press event at New York's Lincoln Center, where it's believed the number one carrier in America will reveal a CMDA-capable iPhone. I'll be live-blogging the event, so keep a lookout on Fortune and CNNMoney for our continuing coverage throughout the day, but for now, we know buyers will be able to pick it up as early as late January and sign up for an unlimited data plan for $30. Rumored, but nowhere near guaranteed: an appearance by Steve Jobs himself.

    • Speaking of Jobs, the Apple CEO could also appear alongside Rupert Murdoch on stage in San Francisco when the News Corp. head launches the iPad-exclusive newspaper, the Daily, next week. The Daily marks yet another ambitious project from Murdoch, who has hired away top media industry talent like Jesse Angelo, from the New York Post, and New Yorker pop-music critic Sasha Frere-Jones. (9 to 5 Mac)

    • AMD CEO Dirk Meyer surprised some industry insiders by resigning yesterday for unspecified reasons. (CFO Thomas J. Seifert will act as interim CEO.) In a statement however, the chip maker implied Meyer's decision wasn't entirely his to make. "The board believes we have the opportunity to create increased shareholder value over time. This will require the company to have significant growth, establish market leadership and generate superior financial returns. We believe a change in leadership at this time will accelerate the company's ability to accomplish these objectives," AMD said in a statement. 2011 has been shaping up to be a good year for the company, with its well-received AMD Fusion platform at CES and revenue of $1.65 billion for the latest quarter, slightly above analyst predictions. (CNet)

    • Over at Microsoft, CEO Steve Ballmer reportedly ousted Bob Muglia, head of the company's $15 billion-a-year server unit and a 23-year company vet. Said Ballmer in a memo: "Bob Muglia and I have been talking about the overall business and what is needed to accelerate our growth," Ballmer said in a company memo. "In this context, I have decided that now is the time to put new leadership in place for STB (the server and tools business)." Muglia will stay on through the summer, and no replacement has been announced yet. (Reuters)

    • Intel and Nvidia announced a new six-year agreement that gives Intel access to all of Nvidia's graphics chips patents, which are needed to deploy the CPU-maker's Sandy Bridge platform. In return, Nvidia will receive licensing fees of $1.5 billion in five annual installments beginning Jan. 18, and will continue to have access to Intel patents. (Fortune)

    • Groupon raised, "like, a billion dollars." So says the company's official press release, though to be specific, the leading daily deals site actually raised $950 million in private equity financing from new investors like Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. (Fortune)

    • Square, the startup from Twitter creator Jack Dorsey that turns your smartphone into a credit card reader, received $27.5 million during its latest round of funding from the likes of Khosla Ventures, giving it a valuation of $240 million. (AllThingsD)

    • Mobile app maker Bump Technologies, which essentially lets smartphone users share information by "bumping" their devices together, raised $16 million from Andreesen Horowitz and Sequoia. The startup now reports over 25 million users. (Outcast)