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5:05 PM ET, June 19, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Crave: The gadget blog:
Live blog: iPhone 3G S launch day  —  The rolling rollout of the iPhone 3G S is under way.  Apple's latest iPhone has been going on sale Friday at 7 a.m. local time in each time zone where it's available.  —  We've got a team of people covering the launch.
RELATED:
Slash Lane / AppleInsider:
Apple warns iPhone 3G S activations may take up to 2 days  —  In a near repeat of problems that plagued last year's iPhone 3G launch, Apple's iPhone activation servers are showing signs of buckling under the pressure of hundreds of thousands of customers who are attempting to activate …
Katie Marsal / AppleInsider:
AT&T: iPhone 3G S pre-orders in the “hundreds of thousands”  —  Although some of its retail stores on the east coast have already run dry of their initial allotment of iPhone 3G Ss, Apple's exclusive U.S. wireless provider AT&T tells AppleInsider that it sold “hundreds of thousands” …
Sam Oliver / AppleInsider:
Some AT&T stores sell out of iPhone 3G S in less than an hour  —  While the verdict is still out on how well stocked U.S.-based Apple retail stores will be for this morning's iPhone 3G S launch, some of AT&T's shops are reported to have already run out of their initial allotment of the new handsets.
Dan Sabbagh / Times of London:
Sony should beware — Activision chief is not simply playing games  —  Bobby Kotick and a partner bought the once-struggling Activision for $440,000 in 1991, at a time when it was losing $30 million on $10 million in revenues.  Now the world's biggest independent computer games company …
Katie Marsal / AppleInsider:
Apple's iPhone 3G S sports chip with 720p HD video capabilities  —  With Apple's new iPhone 3G S hitting store shelves in Europe overnight, the device was thrown within minutes onto the operating table and gutted, revealing a Samsung-branded system-on-a-chip (SoC) featuring a multi-format codec …
RELATED:
Stefan Constantinescu / IntoMobile:
Courtesy of Microsoft: Pick up an iPhone 3G or iPhone 3G S …
Brooke Crothers / CNET News:
iPhone 3G S: First peek under the hood
Franz Och / The Official Google Blog:
Google translates Persian  —  Today, we added Persian (Farsi) to Google Translate.  This means you can now translate any text from Persian into English and from English into Persian — whether it's a news story, a website, a blog, an email, a tweet or a Facebook message.
RELATED:
David Talbot / Technology Review:
Wikipedia Gets Ready for a Video Upgrade  —  The organization behind Wikipedia is close to launching an editable online video encyclopedia to enhance the current textual one.  The hope is to revolutionize the popular reference site and goad content providers—from public broadcasters to the music industry …
Discussion: Mashable!, VatorNews and Beet.TV, Thanks:atul
RELATED:
Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:
Wikipedia Getting Video within Months
Michael McWhertor / Kotaku:
Microsoft: There Will Be “No New Console”  —  Today, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer indicated that the company would be releasing a new Xbox 360 in 2010, one featuring a built-in camera.  That seemingly confirmed a new hardware configuration with the company's Project Natal built-in.  Microsoft's official word?
RELATED:
Chuq Von Rospach / Palm Developer Network Blog:
An update on the early access program and the SDK.  —  With the Pre now in customers' hands and reports of webOS hacks in the news, we know that you are more anxious than ever to get access to the SDK and start developing for webOS.  —  We've been working very hard on the SDK and are eager …
Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:
Steve Ballmer Is Making A Bad $10 Billion Bet  —  Steve Ballmer says he is willing to invest 5%-10% of Microsoft's operating income over the next five years on search.  —  That's a boatload of money.  —  Specifically, assuming Microsoft's operating income stays constant (it will likely grow), it's $5.5-$11 billion.
Craig Labovitz / Arbor Networks Security:
Iranian Traffic Engineering  —  The outcome of the Iranian elections now hangs in the balance and perhaps, also on the availability of the Internet (or at least Twitter and Facebook according to the US State Department).  —  Based on significant Internet engineering changes over the last week, the Iranian government seems to agree...
RELATED:
Eli Lake / Washington Times:   Iran has tech to track tweets, texts
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
That Was Quick: Veodia Acquires Screen Capturing Startup ScreenToaster  —  ScreenToaster, easily one of the best web-based screen recording tools out there, is now in the hands of enterprise video platform provider Veodia.  The San Mateo, CA based company - backed by $8.3 million in venture capital …
Ina Fried / CNET News:
Microsoft looks to give MSN fresh wings  —  Although most of the discussion of Microsoft's online business has been around Bing, Microsoft is also working on a fall revamp for MSN, its decade-old portal site.  —  Though often overlooked by Microsoft watchers, the MSN portal remains critically important to Microsoft's online business.
Discussion: VentureBeat, Neowin.net and paidContent
Ian Paul / PC World:
iPhone Tethering: Do You Really Need it?  —  Apple iPhone fans may not have to wait too much longer to get Multimedia Messaging and tethering services from AT&T. A confidential source within AT&T says the carrier will offer MMS by mid-July with tethering to follow about two weeks later, according to Appmodo.
John Poirier / Reuters:
FCC chair-designate to look at mobile handset deals  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's choice to head the Federal Communications Commission plans to review the exclusive arrangements between wireless carriers and cell phone makers.  —  The issue of exclusive agreements among …
RELATED:
internetnews.com:
Debate on Mobile Deals Has CTIA at a Crossroads
Discussion: PC World and Electronista
Paul Miller / Engadget:
Dell Vostro 1220 leaks out, looks as cool as it sounds  —  It's hard to hate on Dell's Vostro lineup: cheap is cheap, and there's nothing wrong with that.  In truth, it could probably look a lot worse, but there's just something vaguely depressing about these unflattering leaked shots …
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
Dear Wanna-bes, Your Twitter Stardom is Coming to an End  —  One of the most controversial practices widely used to build up influence on Twitter is now cause for account suspension, according to a message on the Twitter developers email list from a company support team member.
Discussion: Stay N' Alive
Edward Wong / New York Times:
China Disables Some Google Functions  —  BEIJING — The Chinese government disabled some search engine functions on the Chinese-language Web site of Google on Friday, saying the site was linking too often to pornographic and vulgar content.  Government officials met with managers …
Michael Learmonth / AdAge:
‘MeinSpace’: Can Bruno Save MySpace From Cultural Irrelevance?  —  Sacha Baron Cohen Remakes the Social Network for Follow-up to ‘Borat’  —  NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Sacha Baron Cohen, or “Bruno,” wants you to “freund” him on MySpace, or as he says as his Austrian alter ego, “MeinSpace.”
Claire Cain Miller / Bits:
Twitter Plans to Offer Shopping Advice and Easy Purchasing  —  Someday, when you ask your Twitter followers to recommend the most comfortable running shoe or the best digital camera, you might be able to go one step further and buy the product on the Twitter site.
Michael Masnick / Techdirt:
So Why Can't Major Record Labels Provide Accurate Accounting To Bands?  —  The more you learn about the way major record labels work, the more ridiculous it seems.  Unlike pretty much every other creative deal making situation, musicians who sign major record label contracts basically hand over all their rights to the label.
 
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 More Items: 
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Like Your Kindle Books Cheap? Don't Get Too Used to It.
Katharine Viner / Guardian:
‘Internet has changed foreign policy’
Alex Chitu / Google Operating System:
Authors Are More Visible in Google News
Thanks:atul
Technology Review:
If you thought email is making geographical distance less important, think again.
Andrew LaVallee / Digits:
Dell Challenges Apple's Greenness
Discussion: TUAW
Robert Andrews / paidContent:
Wrong-Headed Newspaper Biz Tries Again To Charge For Links
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Occipital Brings Seamless Barcode Scanning To The iPhone With RedLaser
Caroline McCarthy / CNET News:
Twitter-clueless Rep. Hoekstra is the new Ted Stevens
 Earlier Items: 
Cliff Edwards / Business Week:
Windows 7: Microsoft vs. the PC Makers
Debby / My Sex Professor:
iPhone Vibrator App from MyPleasure.com
Discussion: Gizmodo
Ryan Tate / Gawker:
Facebook Tell-All Released Into Wild
Jolie O'Dell / ReadWriteWeb:
Twitter Censoring Trending Topics? Isn't It About Time?
Discussion: VentureBeat, Thanks:atul
Ross Harmes / Flickr Blog:
Nearby on Your Phone  —  We've always liked the idea of showing …
Discussion: Ars Technica, mocoNews and NPR Blogs, Thanks:atul
Fred / Electronic Frontier Foundation:
Record Labels' $1.9 Million Win in Thomas Retrial Constitutional?