Check out Mini-Techmeme for simple mobiles or Techmeme Mobile for modern smartphones.
3:40 PM ET, November 5, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
The Official Google Blog:
Transparency, choice and control — now complete with a Dashboard!  —  Today, we are excited to announce the launch of Google Dashboard.  Have you ever wondered what data is stored with your Google Account?  The Google Dashboard offers a simple view into the data associated with your account — easily and concisely in one location.
Adam Lashinsky / Fortune:
The decade of Steve  —  How Apple's imperious, brilliant CEO transformed American business.  —  (Fortune magazine) — How's this for a gripping corporate story line: Youthful founder gets booted from his company in the 1980s, returns in the 1990s, and in the following decade survives two brushes with death …
RELATED:
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Brainstorm Tech:
Fortune magazine names Apple's Steve Jobs CEO of the decade
Discussion: MacNN
Walter S. Mossberg / Personal Technology:
Motorola's Droid Is Smart Success for Verizon Users  —  Verizon Wireless customers tend to love the company's fast 3G network.  But many tech-oriented Verizon loyalists gripe about the carrier's high-end smart phones, which haven't matched the cachet and versatility of the Apple iPhone sold by AT&T (T).
RELATED:
David Pogue / New York Times:
Call It an ‘App Phone’ (A What?)  —  Last week, I reviewed not one, but three new phones.  You'd think that would be enough for a while, but fall is peak season for new mobile devices, and another major release — Motorola's Droid — is upon us this week.  —  But before we get to today's big review of the Droid, we need a noun.
Google Code Blog:
Introducing Closure Tools  —  Millions of Google users worldwide use JavaScript-intensive applications such as Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Maps.  Like developers everywhere, Googlers want great web apps to be easier to create, so we've built many tools to help us develop these (and many other) apps.
The Official Google Blog:
Introducing Google Commerce Search: Finding holiday gifts faster  —  The holiday season is right around the corner, so online retailers are gearing up for spikes in traffic.  When people go to shop online, search is big part of finding the right product, whether they're looking for a gift or just something for themselves.
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
RealNetworks to Lay Off Four Percent of Staff Today  —  The Seattle area is going to get another jobless jolt today, with RealNetworks planning to lay off four percent of its workforce, sources said.  —  That's a small number-just about 70 people out of its 1,700-person staff-but the move comes …
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Online Real Estate Broker Redfin Adds More Recent Sales Data And Links To Blogs  —  Online real estate broker Redfin is revamping its website to add recent data and photos of recent home sales as well as links to blog discussions of a listing.  The Seattle-based startup, which is profitable …
Discussion: Redfin Corporate Blog
Dan Ackerman / CNET News:
Hands on with the new Dell Adamo XPS  —  After months of teaser shots and cameo appearances, Dell has officially announced pricing and other details for the revamped Dell Adamo XPS laptop.  Without setting a specific date, Dell says it expects to “begin taking orders and shipping the Adamo XPS in time for the holidays.”
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
I Love the Smell of Settlement in the Morning: Skype Founders Set to Get 10 Percent, Option to Buy Three Percent More and Two Board Seats  —  According to several sources close to the situation, barring any unforeseen delay, a deal to settle the Skype imbroglio is likely to be announced around the time the markets open tomorrow.
Discussion: paidContent, GigaOM and p2pnet, Thanks:atul
Taylor Wimberly / Android and Me:
Has the T-Mobile HSPA 7.2 rollout begun?  Yes!  Confirmed.  —  Earlier today we reported that T-Mobile's HSPA 7.2 upgrade was still on track for 2009.  One of our readers Ted left an interesting comment: HSPA has been lit up in Chicago!  I just tested it and got 6.8 Mbps!
John Cox / Network World:
Verizon confirms Droid tethering option, hefty price tag  —  Motorola Droid smartphones to match capability of Apple's iPhone  —  Verizon has confirmed that customers will have the option of connecting a laptop to their new Motorola Droid smartphones, on sale tomorrow, using the phone as a wireless modem.
Discussion: Mashable! and DSLreports
Pew Internet:
Social Isolation and New Technology  —  This report adds new insights to an ongoing debate about the extent of social isolation in America.  A widely-reported 2006 study argued that since 1985 Americans have become more socially isolated, the size of their discussion networks has declined …
Antuan Goodwin / CNET News:
Garmin communicates with your car via ESP  —  We stopped by Garmin's booth at the 2009 SEMA Show expecting a new GPS device or news of another OEM integration deal, but we stumbled upon something even better.  Sometime next year, Garmin's Nuvi GPS devices will gain the ability to communicate with your car through ESP.
Imad / Moblin Blogs:
Moblin v2.1 project release for netbooks and nettops - it's here  —  The Moblin™ project steering committee today announces the project release of Moblin v2.1 for Intel Atom* processor-based netbooks and nettops.  This project release includes the broadest feature additions …
Boy Genius Report:
AT&T gearing up to launch $99 8GB iPhone 3GS?  —  Definitely not confirmed, but rather interesting nonetheless.  We've heard now from two sources that AT&T, and we guess Apple, are contemplating launching an 8GB iPhone 3GS at the $99 price point before Christmas.
Brandon Badger / Google Book Search Blog:
List of all magazines now available in Google Books  —  Posted by Jeffrey Peng, Software Engineer, Google Books  —  I'm a software engineer on Google Books.  One of my main projects is adding magazine content and features to the site.  In September we were excited to announce the availability …
Kat Bailey / 1UP.com:
PS3 Netflix Disc Arriving Friday  —  Disc-based solution will give PS3 users another way to watch movies.  —  Netflix for the PlayStation 3 is almost here.  According to a note that arrived in our inbox this morning, the disc is in the mail even now.  —  Sony and Netflix made it official …
Discussion: The Tanooki, DailyTech and Engadget
Dan Goodin / The Register:
Twitter fanatic glimpses dark side of OAuth  —  ‘Secure’ authentication can be anything but  —  A mobile enthusiast and professional internet strategist got a glimpse of OAuth's dark side recently when he received an urgent advisory from Twitter.  —  The dispatch, generated when Terence Eden tried …
John Cook / TechFlash:
Plumber vs. Programmer: A face-off over an online directory  —  For more than 30 years, Evan Conklin has practiced plumbing in the Seattle area fixing broken water heaters, leaky faucets and malfunctioning toilets.  And during those three decades, Conklin has seen a lot of crap in the business world.
Discussion: Local Onliner and Screenwerk
Om Malik / GigaOM:
SlingMedia Founder Invests In Clicker, Joins BOD  —  Ever since Blake Krikorian left Sling Media, the place shifting startup that he sold to Echostar for $380 million in September 2007, he's been lying low.  Instead of trying to build yet another startup, he has been spending time trying …
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Google Has Music Search.  Yahoo Responds By Searching YouTube For Music Videos.  —  Last week Google launched the Music Onebox — a special new music search product that lets users stream songs in their entirety for free.  Today, Yahoo Video is answering by improving its music video search offering.
Zee / The Next Web Appetite:
Facebook Chat Coming to Gtalk, Jabber Imminently  —  Facebook Chat's integration with Jabber/XMPP is just around the corner which means you'll be able to use applications like Gtalk to communicate on Facebook.  —  According to ProcessOne the launch is imminent as their bot on IMTrends …
Michael Tsang / Bloomberg:
Ancestry.com Surges After Company Raises $100 Million in IPO  —  Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) — Ancestry.com Inc., the world's largest online provider of family histories, surged in its first day of trading after raising $100 million in an initial public offering.  —  The Provo, Utah-based company …
Discussion: Reuters, Digital Trends and VatorNews
Douglas MacMillan / Business Week:
Private Online Shopping Sites Cash In  —  A Virtual Velvet Rope  —  The most exclusive club in town may be just a few mouse clicks away.  Invitation-only shopping sites with names like Gilt Groupe and Rue La La are gaining popularity online.  They're generating millions of dollars in revenue …
Discussion: 901am
Jonny Evans / 9 to 5 Mac:
Dating habits of iPhone users revealed  —  Hey, fresh this morning from the spurious but strangely amusing iLifestyle desk comes a breakdown of the dating habits of iPhone users..  —  According to Retrevo (remember them, they told Apple what to charge for its current fantasy tablet product last week) …
Zachary M. Seward / Nieman Journalism Lab:
Google CEO Eric Schmidt envisions the news consumer of the future  —  For all the bluster about Google as an enemy of the news industry, you might be surprised to learn that Eric Schmidt, the company's CEO, is kind of a triumphalist for mainstream media, big newspapers, and print.
Discussion: MediaMemo, GigaOM and The Equity Kicker, Thanks:atul
Andy Ihnatko / Chicago Sun Times:
iCan't stand by and watch Droid ad smear iPhone  —  Verizon's ubiquitous “iDon't” commercial has been peppering TV for weeks now.  It makes two conventional mistakes in advertising.  It's not clear that it's an ad for the Verizon Droid phone, a remarkable new handset made by Motorola …
Cory Doctorow / Boing Boing:
Tell the FCC to say no to Hollywood's insane “Selectable Output Control” kill-switch … Yes, you read that right.  The studios want the right to randomly switch off parts of your home theater depending on which program you're watching.  And the FCC is taking this bats**t proposal seriously.
Discussion: Gizmodo, NewTeeVee, /Film and PC Magazine
Nicholas Carlson / Silicon Alley Insider:
AOL's Patch Dumps Google Maps, But Not For MapQuest  —  How committed is AOL's new management to old-line products like Mapquest?  —  One AOL source tells us the fear inside the company is that the answer is “not very.”  —  The latest fuel for this fire: After a Spring-time acquisition …
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of Techmeme at 3:40 PM ET, November 5, 2009.

View the current page or another snapshot:


 
 Techmeme Sponsor Posts: 
Meta:
Open Source AI: Available to all, not just the few  —  Meta's open source AI enables small businesses, start-ups, students, researchers and more to download and build with our models at no cost.
Tribe AI:
Build AI products that matter  —  Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact.  We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Zoho:
5 common accounting mistakes  —  This is a guest post by Yaali Bizappln Solutions.  A lot of businesses manage their customers and finances on separate platforms.  This disconnect often leads to missed invoices …
Hamming:
Make AI Voice Agents trustworthy  —  Hamming AI automatically tests AI voice agents and continuously monitors them in production.
Sponsor Techmeme
 
 See Also: 
Techmeme: site main
Techmeme River: reverse chronological Techmeme
Techmeme Mobile: for phones
Techmeme Leaderboard: Techmeme's top sources
 
 Subscribe: 
Techmeme RSS feed
Techmeme on X
Techmeme on Mastodon
 
 
 More Items: 
Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:
As Facebook Ages, Gen Y Turns to Twitter
Discussion: Ypulse
Maria Khomenko / Gmail Blog:
Choose which messages get downloaded for offline use
Discussion: Geek.com, jkOnTheRun and Lifehacker, Thanks:atul
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Judge In Google Book Settlement Case Says Photographers Are Not Authors
Discussion: pdnonline.com and Seeking Alpha
AT&T:
AT&T Donates Netflix Prize Money to Advance Science, Youth Organizations
Tricia Duryee / mocoNews:
AT&T Drops Price Of FLO TV; Adds Three New Channels
Phil Goldstein / FierceWireless:
T-Mobile loses 77,000 subs in Q3
Doug Aamoth / MobileCrunch:
Verizon DROID ERIS officially announced for $99 after $100 rebate and contract
 Earlier Items: 
T3.com News:
Motorola Droid not coming to T-Mobile or O2 in the UK
Greg Kumparak / MobileCrunch:
Leaked AT&T Memo: If Anyone Asks About The Verizon Lawsuit …
Discussion: GottaBeMobile.com and DSLreports
 

 
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

Max Goldbart / Deadline:
The English Premier League ends its content partnership with IMG and plans to bring content production and distribution in-house in 2026

 
Sister Sites:

Mediagazer
 Top news and commentary for media professionals from all around the web
memeorandum
 What US political commentators are discussing online right now
WeSmirch
 The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page