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2:50 PM ET, July 21, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Yahoo Finally Rolls Out New Homepage to the Masses-and, Drum Roll, It's Good (Plus Screenshots)  —  Although it's not news that Yahoo has been readying a new version of its homepage and has spent a lot of time doing so-in fact, it's gone all Handy Manny with a whole lot of test renovations …
RELATED:
Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land:
Yahoo's New Homepage Gets Personal, Tests Search Filters  —  When I heard about the call with Yahoo yesterday, which was to feature “a significant announcement,” I thought: “Bing, here it is.”  When it turned out the call was about a formal announcement of the new Yahoo homepage I was disappointed; it seemed anti-climactic.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
What's Up Next For Yahoo? …
Discussion: Seeking Alpha
Clint Boulton / eWeek:
Is Yahoo Home Page Refresh Timed to Temper Tepid Earnings?
Discussion: PC World and digg.com
Eric Eldon / VentureBeat:
iPhone prototype goes missing; Chinese worker investigated, commits suicide  —  Last Thursday, 25 year-old Sun Danyong committed suicide after a fourth-generation iPhone prototype he was responsible for went missing.  It's a story, from what tech-industry friends in China tell me …
RELATED:
Eliot Van Buskirk / Epicenter:
Apple Preparing iPod Touch With Camera, Microphone: Source  —  Rumors have swirled about Apple readying a new version of the iPod Touch with a camera and microphone, which, combined with a Skype account, would pretty much obviate the need for a home phone line once and for all.
RELATED:
Ben Thompson / BBC:
UAE Blackberry update was spyware  —  Middle East business reporter, BBC News, Dubai  —  An update for Blackberry users in the United Arab Emirates could allow unauthorised access to private information and e-mails.  —  The update was prompted by a text from UAE telecoms firm Etisalat, suggesting it would improve performance.
Discussion: RIMarkable, Techgeist, Engadget and TechVi
RELATED:
Bill Ray / The Register:
RIM fights BlackBerry snoop gaffe
Discussion: IntoMobile, p2pnet and InformationWeek
Ben Rometsch / Solid State Group:
Google Wave - First Impressions  —  First Thoughts on Google Wave  —  Yesterday I was given my Developer Preview account by the Google Wave team.  To say I have been eager to try Wave out since watching the original video is something of an understatement!
Douglas Quenqua / Wired News:
Hotseat: The Creator of Facebook's Most Annoying App Explains Himself  —  By now, you probably know your Facebook friends' five favorite albums, TV stars, and sodas.  Blame Tim O'Shaughnessy, creator of LivingSocial, the site's most-used and most-annoying application ever.  We asked him to explain himself.
Discussion: PC World and digg.com
RELATED:
Zach Epstein / Boy Genius Report:
More pics of Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 surface; announcement imminent?  —  Historically speaking, an increased frequency in live shots generally indicates that an official announcement isn't far off.  Sony Ericsson fans can only hope that's the case as a new round of pics bubble up to show off …
Fred Vogelstein / Wired News:
Why Is Obama's Top Antitrust Cop Gunning for Google?  —  “I think you are going to see a repeat of Microsoft.”  —  Christine Varney's blunt assessment sent a buzz through the audience at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.  Varney, a partner at Hogan & Hartson and one of the country's …
JBC / Nokia Conversations:
Nokia 6760 Slide unveiled  —  GLOBAL - Finger tappers everywhere will soon have new buttons to press as the Nokia 6760 slide messaging device is coming to Europe.  The Nokia 6760 slide shares many (but not all) traits with its US sibling, the Nokia Surge, announced in the US last week.
Brooke Crothers / CNET News:
Intel boosts speed, cuts prices of solid-state drives  —  Intel is introducing new solid-state drives with increased performance as these devices find a more welcome home in Windows 7.  —  Intel said Tuesday it is moving to a more advanced 34-nanometer manufacturing process for its X series of solid-state drives (SSDs).
Paul Boutin / Wired News:
Laid Off?  It's Good for You and Good for the Tech Industry  —  Here in Silicon Valley, the recession has a different face than in Manhattan or Detroit.  Our panic is more genteel, softened by balmy California weather, a laid-back attitude, and, OK, the fact that we haven't had a local industry completely implode.
Discussion: digg.com
Msav / ai.rs blog:
HTC Leo specs  —  ai.rs blog Exclusive  —  We are pleased to announce exclusive specifications of the upcoming HTC Leo.  It is expected that this name will change since it is temporary.  We are not certain about a release date yet, but we suppose HTC won't miss the chance to have it before the holidays - so we tip Q4/2009.
John Paczkowski / Digital Daily:
Barnes & Noble to Amazon: Mine Is Bigger Than Yours  —  Six years after shuttering its first e-book effort, Barnes & Noble has embarked on a new one.  Monday afternoon, the bookseller announced what it describes as “the world's largest eBookstore,” an online storefront that boasts 700,000 titles.
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Adobe Unveils New Open Source Initiatives Targeted Towards Media Companies  —  Adobe has rolled out two new open source initiatives aimed specifically towards developers for media companies and publishers.  Adobe's Open Source Media Framework lets developers build more robust …
Rebecca Buckman / Forbes:
Khosla Bucks VC Fundraising Drought  —  He's set to close $1 billion in new funds—though some new deals may pass through a “conflicts committee.”  —  BURLINGAME, Calif. — It's a tough time to raise a venture-capital fund.  But not if you're superstar investor Vinod Khosla …
Elizabeth Woyke / Forbes:
Qualcomm Ramping Up With Android  —  Wireless tech giant is expected to report healthy third-quarter earnings Wednesday and benefit from Google Android products.  —  It's no secret that the semiconductor industry spies rosier days ahead.  Intel sparked optimism last week with its strong second-quarter results.
Sydney Morning Herald:
The great WiFi robbery: police to patrol down your street  —  The Queensland Police fraud squad says it will be the first police force in the world to go on “wardriving” missions to warn homes and businesses if their wireless networks are not secure.  —  Detective Superintendent Brian Hay …
Mark Hachman / PC Magazine:
802.11n Should Be Finalized By September  —  By Sept. 11, it's probable that the 802.11n standard will finally be approved.  —  On Friday, Bob Heile, the chairman of the IEEE 802.15 working group on Personal Area Networks, sent an email confirming that the IEEE 802.11n draft standard …
DigiTimes:
Digitimes Insight: Intel Pine Trail launch to delay  —  Intel showcased its next-generation netbook CPU, the Atom N450, at Computex Taipei 2009, with plans to launch it later this year.  But since then nothing much has been heard from major PC vendors about developing new systems based on the 45nm CPU, codenamed Pineview.
Business Wire:
SlideRocket Raises $5 Million in Series B Funding and Announces New CEO  —  SAN FRANCISCO—(BUSINESS WIRE)—SlideRocket, the first and only complete online presentation solution, today announced it received $5 million in Series B funding and that Chuck Dietrich, a former General Manager & Vice President …
Discussion: Contentinople and VentureBeat
Toby Sterling / Associated Press:
Would-be buyer of Pirate Bay backpedals in court  —  AMSTERDAM — The would-be buyer of Web site The Pirate Bay backpedaled in a Dutch court Tuesday, saying that it is uncertain whether the purchase will ever be completed.  —  Lawyer Ricardo Dijkstra said Sweden's Global Gaming Factory X …
Discussion: TorrentFreak
Chris Ziegler / Engadget:
Toshiba TG01 passes FCC with some CDMA thrown in  —  The Snapdragon-powered Toshiba TG01 is a beast of a phone — as Windows Mobile-powered phones go, anyway — but for Americans, there's one small problem: it's not clear how, when, or if it's getting here.  We still don't have many answers there …
ABCNEWS:
Looking to Score Legal Marijuana?  Check Your iPhone  —  New iPhone App Pinpoints Providers in States That Have Legalized Medical Marijuana  —  Smoking marijuana is known to have an adverse effect on memory and concentration, but now, thanks to a new iPhone application …
Discussion: AppScout
Chris Ziegler / Engadget Mobile:
Verizon's HTC XV6975 turns out to be the Whitestone: 5 megapixels, no keyboard  —  Remember way back in March when HTC's 2009 lineup first started to come apart at the seams?  You might recall that there was a “Whitestone” in there, rumored to be packing a wide VGA display, 5 megapixel camera …
 
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 More Items: 
Arik Hesseldahl / Business Week:
Apple: Augur of Recovery?
Discussion: Macworld, DailyFinance and TUAW
Nancy Gohring / Network World:
Zer01's mobile offer may be too good to be true
Discussion: VoIP Watch and Gadgetwise
John Timmer / Ars Technica:
Industry study claims strong copyrights fuel economic engine
Discussion: TeleRead
Clint Boulton / eWeek:
Zoho Takes Aim at Google, Salesforce.com with Mail-CRM Integration
Discussion: Zoho Blogs and ReadWriteWeb
Milo Yiannopoulos / TechCrunch Europe:
Spotify strikes deal with IODA, adds 2 million more tracks
Discussion: Electricpig.co.uk and Gadgetwise
Andrew Chen / Futuristic Play:
Social design explosion: Polls, quizzes, reviews, forums, chat …
 Earlier Items: 
Michael Masnick / Techdirt:
From Closed To Open: iPhone App Developer Skepticism Highlights Platform Trajectory
Discussion: Marco.org
Patrick Thibodeau / Computerworld:
IBM tool allows virtual management from x86 servers to mainframes
Discussion: The Register, eWeek and insideHPC
John Markoff / New York Times:
New Technology to Make Digital Data Self-Destruct
Discussion: Elias Bizannes and AppScout
Joe Sharkey / New York Times:
A Race to Provide Wi-Fi (but Not the Voice Part)
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Analyzing Comcast's spinoff of cable networks, purposefully structured with low debt: the move might be a signal to the industry that it's time to consolidate

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Tubi launches Scenes, a mobile feature that lets viewers watch 60-to-90-second trailer-style clips from its library to help with content discovery

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
James Harding says the Tortoise-Observer deal could create a profitable media group and there isn't a guaranteed future for the Observer with the Guardian

 
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