Microsoft Collaborates With the NSA and Other News You Need to Know

Welcome to this morning's edition of "First To Know," a series in which we keep you in the know on what's happening in the digital world.

Today, we're looking at three particularly interesting stories. A new report in The Guardian suggests that Microsoft helped the NSA spy on Hotmail, Skype and Outlook communications. In lighter Microsoft news: The Windows Phone is about to get a host of new social apps. And one of the biggest Kickstarter successes of all time — the Pebble smart watch — has received more than 275,000 pre-orders to date. The company has only shipped 93,000 units so far, but those lucky recipients have already downloaded more than a million apps