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2:40 PM ET, July 31, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Tan Weizhen / The Straits Times:
World's first tablet PC  —  Singapore firm launches touchscreen tablet computer  —  A SINGAPORE company is racing to be the first in the world to bring an almost mythical creature - the touchscreen tablet computer - to the market.  —  The start-up, Fusion Garage, has teamed …
RELATED:
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
Why The CrunchPad Is Toast  —  Michael Arrington's CrunchPad — a touchscreen tablet running a Web browser — is reportedly real, and should arrive by Thanksgiving for about $400.  —  But if Apple (AAPL) is really coming out with a tablet, too — a big iPod touch that sells for around $600-700 — the CrunchPad is probably doomed.
Discussion: TomsTechBlog.com
BBC:
Apple to fix iPhone security flaw  —  Apple is set to release a software patch to address a recently described security flaw in the iPhone, the UK network operator 02 has said.  —  Experts revealed on Thursday that modified SMS messages could result in iPhones being disconnected from the network or hijacked altogether.
Anil Dash:
Apple: Secrecy Does Not Scale  —  Apple is justifiably revered in the worlds of technology and culture for creating one of the most powerful brands in the world based on the combination of some key elements: Great user experience and design, and an extraordinary secrecy punctuated by surprising reveals.
Thanks:atul
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Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
I Quit The iPhone  —  I have loved the iPhone, but now I am quitting the iPhone.  —  This is not an easy decision.  —  I was there in January 2007 when it was announced and I bought the first iPhone as soon as it was available.  I happily bought the iPhone 3G a year later.
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Is Google's Android Killing Windows Mobile?  —  Earlier this morning, I got a chance to catch up with Dr. Sanjay Jha, co-CEO of Motorola, soon after his company reported earnings (they met Wall Street's modest expectations) to talk about everything from the state of the mobile market to prospects for Motorola.
RELATED:
Ed Bott / Ed Bott's Microsoft Report:
Microsoft sticker shock: Anytime Upgrade, Family Pack details  —  With its upcoming launch of Windows 7, Microsoft is trying to walk a fine line on pricing.  Maintaining a high average selling price for Windows is crucial to the company's bottom line, but in a deep recession, PC buyers are more concerned with their own bottom line.
RELATED:
Brandon LeBlanc / The Windows Blog:
Windows Anytime Upgrade and Family Pack Pricing  —  Most people buy a PC preinstalled with the edition of Windows that meets their unique needs.  However, for some customers their needs may change over time.  —  Windows Anytime Upgrade  —  With Windows Anytime Upgrade (or WAU) …
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Microsoft's Long, Slow Decline  —  There were two interesting Windows-related news stories last week.  First, Joe Wilcox's story on a report from NPD claiming that 91 percent of $1,000-and-higher retail computer sales now go to Apple.  Second, Microsoft's quarterly financial results …
RELATED:
Harry McCracken / Technologizer:   Will Windows 7 Win Back Defectors to the Mac?  Probably Not.  And That's OK.
Tom Krazit / CNET News:
A Google Wave reality check  —  MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—Lars Rasmussen sighed, half an hour into a demonstration of Google Wave, the company's audacious attempt to reinvent Internet communication: we'd found another bug.  —  Rasmussen had patiently worked around other minor bugs during …
Alexkoc / Genuine Windows Blog:
Windows 7 OEM Product Key Leak  —  Yesterday we were alerted to reports of a leak of a special product key issued to an OEM partner of ours.  The key is for use with Windows 7 Ultimate RTM product that is meant to be pre-installed by the OEM on new PCs to be shipped later this year.
RELATED:
Tom Warren / Neowin.net:
Microsoft blacklists leaked Windows 7 OEM key
Discussion: geeksmack.net and Network World
Neil Hughes / AppleInsider:
Steve Ballmer calls Apple's Mac growth a “rounding error”  —  Speaking to a group of market analysts this week, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer repeatedly mentioned Apple, including a suggestion that a growing rate of Mac adoption is statistically insignificant.
Discussion: MacDailyNews and Digital Daily
RELATED:
Steve Ballmer / Microsoft:
Financial Analyst Meeting 2009
Discussion: BNET Technology and I4U News
Google Watch:
How to Create an Online Store with Google Checkout in 5 Minutes  —  Google Checkout may not be the successful payment processing platform Google hoped it would become, but the company keeps trying to leverage it in other ways.  —  Yesterday, the search engine brought us the Google Checkout store gadget …
Darren Murph / Engadget:
China Unicom's iPhone gets regulatory approval, pictured  —  Still having doubts that an iPhone will ever come to China via legitimate means?  Have a gander at this.  According to the listing after the break, which was discovered on China's State Radio Regulatory Commission (SRRC …
Eric Bangeman / Ars Technica:
Judge: Tenenbaum guilty of copyright infringement  —  It's all over for Joel Tenenbaum—except for the size of the check he'll be told to write the RIAA.  In a reversal of her decision last night, Judge Nancy Gertner has granted the record labels' motion for a directed verdict on the issue of copyright infringement.
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
Apple Not Building An ‘iTunes For e-Books’  —  Earlier this week, we wondered if Apple (AAPL) was planning to open its own e-book store — an “iTunes for e-books” — for its forthcoming tablet device and the iPhone and iPod touch.  The answer is no, according to a source connected to the e-book business.
Discussion: MacRumors, Macsimum News and Gizmodo
Gmail Blog:
Send mail from another address without “on behalf of”  —  Quite a few of you use Gmail's custom “From:” to send messages with one of your other email addresses listed in place of your Gmail address.  Since these messages are sent by Gmail's servers but “from” a non-Gmail address …
Stephanie Clifford / New York Times:
Ads Follow Web Users, and Get More Personal  —  For all the concern and uproar over online privacy, marketers and data companies have always known much more about consumers' offline lives, like income, credit score, home ownership, even what car they drive and whether they have a hunting license.
Douglas MacMillan / Business Week:
Yahoo: Losing the Geek Factor  —  Surrendering search responsibilities to Microsoft will likely take a toll on Yahoo's engineering and innovation prowess  —  An identity crisis gripping Yahoo! (YHOO) had reached Shakespearean proportions by late 2007, when Apple (AAPL) …
Discussion: PC World and NBC Bay Area
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
The New MySpace Mail Quietly Emerges As A Big-Time Email Competitor  —  We've been covering the new web email project MySpace has been working on in stealth mode for the past several month.  Now it's ready to begin a quiet rollout today, in beta, for users around the globe.
Andrew Culf / Guardian:
Hacker loses US extradition appeal  —  • McKinnon's family and supporters express dismay at decision  —  • High court rules that Jacqui Smith had taken Asperger's into account  —  The British computer hacker Gary McKinnon failed today in his latest legal attempt to avoid extradition …
Eliot Van Buskirk / Epicenter:
Twitter URL Service Bit.ly Says No to Ads, Yes to Data-Mining News  —  When the world's 20 million or so Twitter users click links in their feeds, most of the time, they're routed through bit.ly's URL shortening service, like sands through an hourglass.  By channeling people through the service …
Discussion: Guardian and Fast Company
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Wall Street Journal Creating New “LinkedIn Killer” Called WSJ Connect  —  The Wall Street Journal has long envied the success of professional social network LinkedIn and its 15 million or so monthly visitors (WSJ.com has just a third of that).  In late 2008 they launched WSJ Community, a social network bolted onto the main WSJ site.
Phone Arena:
First live photo of the Motorola Shules Android smartphone for Verizon  —  Published on: Today by PhoneArena Team  —  Keep in mind that the information in this article is not official.  —  Can't wait to see a new image of the Android-powered Motorola Shules (or Sholes)?
Discussion: SlashGear and Engadget Mobile
 
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 More Items: 
BBC:
Firefox passes billion milestone
Discussion: TechVi
Emma Barnett / Telegraph:
Microsoft delays music streaming service
Rob Pegoraro / Washington Post:
Laptops For Those Who Need to Survive Away From Outlets
Alex Chitu / Google Operating System:
Toolbelt for Google Image Search
E.B. Boyd / BayNewser:
Google Engineering Director Spells Out Vision for the Future of Digital Books
Discussion: ReadWriteWeb, CNET News and TeleRead
Ryan Naraine / Zero Day:
Researchers find insecure BIOS ‘rootkit’ pre-loaded in laptops
Discussion: Slashdot
 Earlier Items: 
Ben Lorica / O'Reilly Radar:
iTunes App Store Incubation Period Increases In Most Categories
Discussion: ReadWriteWeb
Sarah Lacy / Business Week:
Amazon-Zappos: Not the Usual Silicon Valley M&A
Discussion: TechFlash and The Equity Kicker
Geoffrey A. Fowler / Digits:
Lawsuit: Amazon Ate My Homework
 

 
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”

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced she will leave the agency on January 20; she was the first woman to be confirmed to lead the agency

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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