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2:00 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.
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.
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 and MacDailyNews
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.
RELATED:
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 …
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!
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: GigaOM and p2pnet, Thanks:atul
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.”
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 …
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.
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
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 …
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 …
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) …
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
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 …
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
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
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 …
AT&T:
AT&T Donates Netflix Prize Money to Advance Science, Youth Organizations  —  Prize-Winning AT&T Labs Researchers Aim to Promote Innovation, Education by Selecting Four Community Organizations to Share in Prize Winnings
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.
Twitter Status:
Testing new tweet notifications  —  We're starting a limited test of notifications on twitter.com for when you have new tweets.  So if one of the folks you follow has tweeted since you loaded your homepage, you'll get a little notice saying “1 new tweet” that, when clicked, will display the new content.
Cyril Kowaliski / The Tech Report:
Toshiba crams 320GB into new 1.8-inch hard drive  —  Hard-drive makers don't just ramp capacities in their 3.5" and 2.5" products—teeny 1.8" drives are also quietly growing in storage density.  This morning, Toshiba announced a new 1.8" mechanical hard drive lineup, the MK3233GSG series …
Discussion: Toshiba, SlashGear and Liliputing
Tricia Duryee / mocoNews:
AT&T Drops Price Of FLO TV; Adds Three New Channels  —  AT&T (NYSE: T) is dropping the price of Qualcomm's FLO TV service from $15 a month to $9.99 a month starting Nov. 8.  The price drop is likely in an effort to drive more subscribers to the service, however, there's still one major hurdle …
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.
Discussion: NaviGadget, Ubergizmo, Engadget and DVICE
Mayumi Negishi / Reuters:
Microsoft CEO eyes Yahoo partnership outside U.S  —  TOKYO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Thursday the company could look to extend its search engine partnership with Yahoo outside the United States, if it gets regulatory approval.
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 …
Doug Aamoth / MobileCrunch:
Verizon DROID ERIS officially announced for $99 after $100 rebate and contract  —  The HTC-built DROID ERIS will go on sale tomorrow at Verizon stores for $99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and two-year contract agreement.  Equipped with HTC's “Sense” user interface, the ERIS …
 
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 More Items: 
Phil Goldstein / FierceWireless:
T-Mobile loses 77,000 subs in Q3
Nicole Lee / Crave: The gadget blog:
LG Chocolate Touch is now official
Discussion: Electronista
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch Europe:
Digital music startup Deezer debuts desktop client, premium offering
Discussion: Pocket-lint.com and paidContent
Ville Heiskanen / Bloomberg:
Research In Motion May Buy Back $1.2 Billion in Stock
Discussion: 9 to 5 Mac
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Isabella Products and AT&T launch two-way sharing digital photo frames
Discussion: Engadget, Electronista and Gizmodo, Thanks:enauzer
Jeffrey R. Young / Chronicle of Higher Education:
Music Industry Changes Tune of New Program to Fight File Sharing
Discussion: p2pnet
 Earlier Items: 
T3.com News:
Motorola Droid not coming to T-Mobile or O2 in the UK
Jeff Smykil / Ars Technica:
Developers stealing from developers: an App Store tale
Discussion: Edible Apple
Mallary Jean Tenore / poynter.org:
Texas Tribune's Launch ‘Just the Beginning’ of Databases, What's to Come
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
A Little Perspective (Digg, Twitter, Facebook)