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12:30 PM ET, October 19, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Boy Genius Report:
Motorola Droid hands on!  —  We absolutely nailed this puppy to the wall over and over and over again, so it's only fitting we'd be doing the first actual unveiling, right?  We're not going to get too in-depth though, that will come at a later time.  Here are some brief thoughts before the photos:
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Plastic Logic Offers a (Quick) Look at Its Kindle Killer: Meet the Que  —  Plastic Logic, which has been talking up its coming e-reader for some time now but hasn't actually started selling it, has a little more to say: It will have more to say about its coming e-reader in a few months.
Michael Bettiol / Boy Genius Report:
Random users Google Voice mail is searchable by anyone?  —  Holy crap.  It seems that Google is going to have some pretty serious explaining to do this morning, as one of our readers has sent us in a tip that reveals a major security flaw involving Google Voice.
FoneFrenzy:
Bigger News for Verizon Than Motorola's Droid  —  This weekend was chocked full of Verizon and Motorola news.  Earlier this month, Verizon and Google had a joint news conference debuting the new Motorola Droid and announcing a partnership to leverage high-speed network and open Android platform for wireless innovation.
RELATED:
Jonny Evans / 9 to 5 Mac:   Apple testing 4G iPhone on Verizon, a blogger claims
Christina Warren / Mashable!:
Wolfram Alpha Launches $50 iPhone App  —  On Thursday WolframAlpha launched its developer API, which should allow large and small developers (as well as businesses and educational institutions) to harness the power of the computational knowledge engine to enhance their own applications or products.
RELATED:
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Wolfram Alpha Miscalculates What Its iPhone App Should Cost  —  Apple wasted little time approving Wolfram Alpha's new iPhone app, which we hinted at last week.  Just a few days after they submitted it to the store, Apple sailed it right through the approval process with such speed …
springdesign.com:
Spring Design Announces Dual Screen E-book Reader,  —  Hyperlinking Text with Multimedia  —  Secondary color touchscreen supplements text with web-based or any linked multimedia content; Enables users to enhance original text with their own embedded video, audio, photos and notes
RELATED:
Harry McCracken / Technologizer:
Spring Design Springs into the E-Reader Game
Discussion: eWeek, jkOnTheRun and Electronista
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Rock Band Hits The App Store  —  The much anticipated and hyped Rock Band for iPhone and iPod Touch is out!  We first scooped the news of the launch of the app a few weeks ago.  Shortly afterwards, Rock Band for the iPhone/iPod touch was officially announced by Electronic Arts.
Amy Schatz / Digits:
Facebook and Twitter Founders Join Net-Neutrality Wars  —  Fed up with a barrage of letters that arrived at the FCC last week from net-neutrality opponents (or lawmakers urging a cautious approach toward the new rules), a coalition of Internet companies are urging the FCC chairman to hold steady.
Jeff Aguero / The Official Google Blog:
Flying in a WiFi wonderland: Free Internet from Google on Virgin America flights  —  We know the holiday season seems to come earlier every year (sorry, Halloween), but before you make your final travel plans, we're excited to let you know that we're partnering with Virgin America …
Microsoft:
Microsoft Update on Sidekick Data Restoration  —  The Danger / Microsoft team is continuing to work around the clock on the data restoration process.  We apologize that this is taking so long, but we want to make sure we are doing everything possible to maintain the integrity of your data.
Steve / The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs:
NY Times all but says it: Ballmer must go  —  Ashlee Vance gets access to Ballmer and delivers a death blow.  The Borg, Vance says, is on a “long and winding course toward irrelevance.”  Seriously, this is a devastating piece.  Money quotes (lots of them) after the jump.  I'm still reeling.
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Vevo Gets Its Investor: Abu Dhabi Media Joins “Hulu for Music Videos”  —  Vevo, the music industry's version of Hulu, now has its own version of Providence Equity, the outside investor that took a flyer on the Web TV and movie joint venture: Abu Dhabi Media Company has purchased a stake …
Jessica E. Vascellaro / Digits:
Photo-Blogging Site DailyBooth Raises $1 Million  —  Money continues to rain down on “real-time” start-ups-Web sites, like Twitter, that are devoted to helping users share details about their lives as they happen.  The latest example: a fledgling two-person company called DailyBooth …
Discussion: Softpedia News, TechCrunch and Pulse2, Thanks:atul
Mike Shaver:
.NET Framework Assistant (ClickOnce support) unblocked  —  We received confirmation from Microsoft this evening that the Framework Assistant add-on is not a mechanism for exploiting the vulnerabilities detailed in the earlier post, so we've removed it from the blocklist.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Google Expands “Going Google” Ad Campaign Worldwide  —  Google continues to hit milestones with Google Apps - 2 million businesses and 20 million users in over 100 countries and 40 languages (up from 1.75 million businesses in June).  And they aren't slowing down the advertising, either.
Thomas Ricker / Engadget:
Sony's 360-degree 3D display prototype makes virtual pets more lifelike, expensive  —  In case you missed it, Sony's got a thing for 3D with big plans to push the technology into your living room next year.  While the first application will be applied to the flat screen TV …
Discussion: Maximum PC, T3.com News and DVICE
Claudine Beaumont / Telegraph:
Microsoft to open Apple store rival in Arizona  —  Microsoft's first dedicated high-street store will open in the trendy US town of Scottsdale, Arizona, on Thursday  —  The opening will coincide with the launch of Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 7.
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch Europe:
Google loses Europe COO Ben Legg to European Directories  —  European Directories has announced a big win this morning with the appointment of Ben Legg as Chief Operating Officer.  —  Legg joins the Dutch/British company from Google, one of its main competitors, where the man served …
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Zoho Projects Now Integrated With Google Apps  —  Web-based productivity suite Zoho has continued to integrate its products with Google in order to make it easier to use Gmail and Zoho apps simultaneously.  Last summer, Zoho, a web-based software suite that includes document …
Discussion: Softpedia News
Jenna Wortham / New York Times:
Face-to-Face Socializing Starts With a Mobile Post  —  Twitter and Facebook ask users to answer the question: What are you doing right now?  —  But for many urbanites in their 20s and 30s, two other questions are just as important: Where are you, and can I come join you?
Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, Bits and Glass House, Thanks:atul
Monica Chen / DigiTimes:
Asustek Android smartphone to make appearance in 4Q09, investment in solar may be in company's future  —  During a recent get together with local Taiwan media, Asustek Computer chairman Jonney Shih and company president and CEO Jerry Shen discussed opportunities in the green energy market …
 
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 More Items: 
Business Wire:
Sprint Nextel to Acquire Wireless Affiliate iPCS, Inc.
Christopher Mack / Inside Social Games:
Friendster To Add Virtual Currencies
Arnold Zafra / Search Engine Journal:
Waveboard Brings Google Wave to the Mac Desktop, iPhone App to Follow
Thanks:aczafra
Craig Settles / GigaOM:
Gates Foundation Proposal: Linchpin to National Broadband Strategy?
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
HubSpot Closes $16 Million Series C Round Led By Scale Venture Partners
Kevin J. O'Brien / New York Times:
Nokia Tries to Undo Blunders in U.S.
Discussion: /Message, Seeking Alpha and atmaspheric
 Earlier Items: 
Dan Grabham / TechRadar.com:
24 years of Windows package design
Amy Thomson / Bloomberg:
Verizon Plans to Sell Mobile Service in Discounted TV, Internet Packages
Rob Walker / New York Times:
The Song Decoders  —  On first listen, some things grab you for their off-kilter novelty.
Mark Suster / Both Sides of the Table:
VC Seed Funding is Dead, Long Live VC Seed Funding!
Discussion: Feld Thoughts
Sean Percival / Sean Percival's Blog:
Gawker Redesign: Hybrid of Blog, Facebook and Twitter
Scobleizer's Posterous:
Twitter Lists; Limitations, bugs, impact, and brilliance
 

 
From Mediagazer:

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

Evan Drellich / New York Times:
The MLB is planning national packages for streaming companies to bid on in 2028, when its national TV deals with ESPN, Fox, and Turner expire

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

 
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