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2:40 PM ET, March 27, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Prince McLean / AppleInsider:
Apple stores now selling iPhone 3G without a contract  —  Apple retail stores as of Thursday are selling unrestricted quantities of the iPhone 3G at the full, non-subsidized price of $599 for the 8GB version and $699 for the 16GB models.  —  The move follows AT&T's plans to sell …
RELATED:
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Apple 2.0:
Has Apple begun clearing iPhone 3G inventory?  —  Staffers at Apple's (AAPL) flagship Fifth Avenue store in New York City confirm that as of Thursday at 8 a.m., customers are now permitted to buy unlimited quantities of iPhones without an AT&T contract — the very thing the company was working …
Staci D. Kramer / paidContent.org:
Could Disney Join Hulu?  Sources Say Talks Are Serious  —  Updated: The Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) Company could wind up with an equity stake in Hulu in exchange for adding ABC programming to the NBC Universal-News Corp (NYSE: NWS) joint venture, a source familiar with the situation tells paidContent.
Aidan Malley / AppleInsider:
Apple developing ‘stealth’ biometric security for iPhone  —  Apple has developed a new technique that would hide a biometric reader inside an iPhone or a Mac and let owners lock down their systems with fingerprints or even facial recognition — all without ever having to break from their usual routine.
Noam Cohen / New York Times:
When Stars Twitter, a Ghost May Be Lurking  —  The rapper 50 Cent is among the legion of stars who have recently embraced Twitter to reach fans who crave near-continuous access to their lives and thoughts.  On March 1, he shared this insight with the more than 200,000 people who follow him …
Monica Chen / DigiTimes:
Asustek to launch new Eee PC with built-in ODD in mid-April  —  Asustek Computer is scheduled to launch its new Eee PC, the E1004DN, which will be the first Eee PC to have an optical disc drive (ODD), in mid-April, and will follow with the 1008HA in May, according to sources at retail channels.
Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:
Jeff Bezos Works In Kentucky Distribution Center For A Week  —  Jeff Bezos is spending this week working in an Amazon distribution center in Lexington, Kentucky (AMZN).  He apparently wants to see what it's like to be a rank-and-file Amazon employee.  More CEOs should try that once in a while.
Chris Foresman / Ars Technica:
JavaScript to get 3x speed boost in iPhone OS 3.0  —  Regardless of whatever new hardware Apple might introduce this summer, existing iPhone users will see an average 300 percent speed increase in JavaScript performance in Mobile Safari.  The increased speed will be helpful for iPhone-specifc web apps …
Eric Eldon / VentureBeat:
Music startup imeem making money, not dying unless the labels kill it  —  Sure, the music industry — including music startups — are having trouble coming up with significant online music business models, but recent rumors circulating about imeem's money problems appear to be exaggerated.
Discussion: TechCrunch, MediaMemo and Music Ally
Brian Stelter / New York Times:
8 Hours a Day Spent on Screens, Study Finds  —  IN a world with grocery store television screens, digitally delivered movie libraries and cellphone video clips, the average American is exposed to 61 minutes of TV ads and promotions a day.  —  Some people may think that amount seems excessive.
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Youth Bloggers Network Acquired By Teens In Tech  —  Teens In Tech, a blogging network founded by 16 year old Daniel Brusilovsky, has acquired the Youth Bloggers Network (YBN).  YBN consists of a network of over 100 young bloggers, and was founded by Patrick DeVivo, who is also a young entrepreneur.
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Reddit's Ad Experiment Is Good News for Condé Nast.  Maybe for Digg, Too.  —  How do you sell ads on a user-generated content site frequented by people who love technology and hate ads?  —  Sell ads that look exactly like the content itself.  —  That's the strategy that Condé Nast …
Charles Arthur / Guardian:
House of Commons network hit by Conficker computer worm  —  Parliamentary computers have been infected by the Conficker worm, like an estimated 10m PCs worldwide - and experts fear next week will see problems worsen  —  The House of Commons internal computer network has been infected by the …
Discussion: Security Fix
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Akamai Data: Internet, Broadband Still Going & Growing  —  The launch of super high-speed DOCSIS 3.0 cable broadband technology, the increased deployment of fiber and faster DSL lines resulted in a sharp increase in the average speed of broadband connections during the fourth quarter of 2008 …
Discussion: DSLreports
Enigmax / TorrentFreak:
EU Rejects ‘3 Strikes’ for File-Sharers  —  For the third time in a year the European Parliament has spoken out against tougher anti-piracy legislation that would allow alleged file-sharers to be disconnected from the Internet based on evidence from anti-piracy lobby groups.
RELATED:
European Parliament:   Security and fundamental freedoms on the Internet
NVIDIA Press Room:
NVIDIA Files Countersuit Against Intel  —  Seeks Termination of Intel's License to NVIDIA Technology  —  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  —  SANTA CLARA, CA.  — MARCH 26, 2009 — NVIDIA Corporation today announced that it has filed a countersuit in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware …
RELATED:
Alexei Oreskovic / Reuters:   Nvidia countersues Intel in licensing battle
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
The $70 Million Obopay Deal Is More About The UnBanked Than The Banked  —  When news came out earlier this week that mobile payments company Obopay raised another $70 million, effectively doubling its total funding raised to date, some observers were surprised at the sheer size of the round.
Rafe Needleman / CNET News:
Twitter still has no business model, and that's OK  —  Don't let the attention-grabbing headlines elsewhere fool you.  Twitter still has not announced a business model.  There are no Pro Twitter accounts.  There is no TwitterWords advertising program.  You still can't buy plush toy Fail Whales from Twitter.
Zach Epstein / Boy Genius Report:
AT&T offering refurbished BlackBerry Bold for free  —  In the market for a new AT&T smartphone?  Don't care if it's refurbished?  The BlackBerry Bold is about as good as it gets from AT&T right now, and those of you who haven't pulled the trigger yet are in for a treat.  How does free sound?
Thomson IR:
Charter Communications Commences Previously Announced Pre-Arranged Financial Restructuring  —  Company's debt expected to be reduced by approximately $8 billion; includes $3 billion refinancing and new equity capital  —  Operations to continue as usual under Pre-Arranged Plan Trade creditors to be paid in full under Pre-Arranged Plan
Shawn / Cell Phone Signal:
HTC Magic Passes FCC with T-Mobile USA Branding  —  Well well well, what do we have here?  Today the HTC Magic, showing some sexy pink and gray T-Mobile USA branding and sporting T-Mobile USA 3G bands, passed through the beloved FCC filters.  The HTC Magic, codenamed “Saphire,” …
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
Flickr Founder Launching New Startup, Hunch  —  We hear that Hunch, Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake's new startup, is launching in beta as soon as today.  —  NYC-based Hunch is a “consumer decision engine of some sort,” according to this report from Alarm:Clock, which noted two weeks ago …
Discussion: Gawker, Thanks:mrinaldesai
Spencer E. Ante / Business Week:
Can Venture Capital Come in from the Cold?  —  Allegis Capital and a handful of boutique firms are eyeing new investments amid a crisis of confidence among Silicon Valley VCs  —  These days, many venture capitalists resemble mice, afraid to invest in the rough economy.
Thanks:atul
Wendy Davis / MediaPost:
Amazon Sued For Search Ads  —  A company that sells instructional videos and CD-ROMs has sued e-commerce giant Amazon for trademark infringement stemming from ads on Google.  The complaint, filed this week by Lakewood, Colo.-based Video Professor, alleges that Amazon uses the phrase …
Discussion: MarketingVOX
 
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 More Items: 
Todd / The Official Netflix Blog:
Netflix Launches New Personalization Features
Discussion: AppScout
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
MyID.is Now In Public Beta, Aims To Become The Digital Certification Standard
Discussion: MyID.is a Digital …
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Roundtable:
Google Releases Major Blog Search Blogroll Algorithm Update
Discussion: Search Engine Land, Thanks:atul
Ryan Paul / Ars Technica:
Google searches for holy grail of Python performance
Discussion: jessenoller.com and eWeek, Thanks:atul
Guardian:
Behind the music: Chris Anderson's ‘freeconomics’ don't add up
Discussion: MediaPost and hypebot, Thanks:mrinaldesai
 Earlier Items: 
Joe Leahy / Financial Times:
India's outsourcers fight to block trade barriers
Neil McAllister / Fatal Exception:
IBM: The new development powerhouse?
Robert McMillan / ITworld.com:
Researchers can ID anonymous Twitterers
Discussion: BBC and fiercecio.comwatch
Amy / Slash7 with Amy Hoy:
Google is Evil, Worse than PayPal: Don't use Google Checkout for your business
Discussion: Marco.org and Beyond Search
Eric Lai / Computerworld:
Dreaming of a PC with 192GB of RAM? Dell makes it reality
Discussion: The Toybox and CrunchGear
Nick Wingfield / WSJ.com:
PC to Mac: I'm Cheaper
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:
Internal memo: Hearst Magazines president announces layoffs as part of a decision to “reallocate resources” to “continue our focus on digital innovation”

Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
National World, one of the UK's biggest newspaper groups, gets a £56.2M buyout offer from shareholder Media Concierge, a 40% premium to its Nov. 21 stock price

Lachlan Cartwright / The Ankler:
Sources: MSNBC renewed Rachel Maddow's contract early this fall, but with a pay cut; MSNBC bosses' plan to shake up daytime and weekend programming

 
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