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5:00 PM ET, January 4, 2010

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
John Paczkowski / Digital Daily:
Major Apple Product Announcement Set for Wednesday, Jan. 27  —  So, that rumored Apple event everyone has been jawing about these past few weeks?  It's on and it's going to be a big deal.  —  Sources in a position to know tell me Apple (AAPL) is indeed planning a media event later this month …
RELATED:
Joshua Topolsky / Engadget:   ‘Major’ Apple announcement coming January 27th, devs already working with beta SDK
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Pinging In The New Year: Seesmic Acquires Ping.fm  —  Well that didn't take long.  Just four days in 2010 and we already have an acquisition.  Social networking application Seesmic has acquired the social status updater Ping.fm.  —  The move positions the various Seesmic applications …
RELATED:
Loïc Le Meur / Seesmic Blog:
We've acquired Ping.fm.  Get ready to update 50 social networks from Seesmic  —  Your friends are not all in one social network, but we want to help you stay in touch with them anytime and from any device.  That is Seesmic's vision and to deliver this faster, we have acquired Ping.fm.
Discussion: Financial Times and TECH cocktail
David Colker / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Facebook fights back, disallows the Suicide Machine  —  Like the computer in the movie “2001,” Facebook is struggling to keep its profiles from virtual extinction at the hands of its arch enemy - the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine.  —  The Suicide Machine is a clever Web site out of the Netherlands …
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Google And Spotify Dance Over U.S. Launch  —  Spotify.  The elusive European streaming music startup that you just can't get access to in the U.S., unless you know someone or jump through a few hoops.  —  The U.S. launch has been delayed over aggressive negotiations with the labels …
changewaveresearch.com:
New Survey Shows Android OS Roiling the Smart Phone Market  —  Google's (GOOG) Android mobile operating system was released more than a year ago, midst high expectations it would change the smart phone market.  But the big transformation never materialized - until now.
Nilay Patel / Engadget:
Nokia asks ITC to ban iPhone, iPod, and MacBook imports, files another lawsuit against Apple  —  Looks like Nokia is going all-out in its patent fight with Apple: in addition to the lawsuit it's filed over GSM standards and last week's International Trade Commission complaint …
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Exclusive: VMware Likely to Buy Zimbra from Yahoo  —  Yahoo is close to selling its Zimbra unit to VMware, according to several sources close to the situation.  —  Sources said the deal could be announced soon, but the price for the open-source email unit was still unclear.
Caroline McCarthy / The Social:
Fresh legal woes for ConnectU founders  —  It must have been quite the unwanted holiday gift: CNET has learned that there's a new lawsuit on the table against Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the identical twins who alleged that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg stole their code and business plan …
Discussion: PE Hub Blog
Business Wire:
Flixster Inc. Acquires Rotten Tomatoes From IGN Entertainment  —  Combination of Top Brands Creates a Leader in the Online Movie Space, Reaching 30 Million Monthly Moviegoers; IGN to Receive Equity Stake in Flixster  —  SAN FRANCISCO—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Flixster Inc., producer …
Jonny Evans / 9 to 5 Mac:
Coming soon: Apple's $20 billion revenue explosion  —  Blink and you may have missed it in among the seasonal festivities and dawn of the new decade, but CNBC's December 30 Power Lunch show gave a little insight into the power behind Apple's stock advance, with Phil Cusick …
Discussion: Between the Lines
Brad Stone / New York Times:
Trying to Add Portability to Movie Files  —  It is easy to take a DVD to a friend's house and watch it on his TV.  But things are more complicated when digital video downloads are involved.  A movie file bought from Blockbuster.com will not work on a Sony HDTV, for example …
Jay Yarow / Silicon Alley Insider:
Hearst Shows Off Its Snazzy E-Reader, The Skiff Reader  —  Hearst released images of a new e-reader, the Skiff Reader, which it will begin selling later this year for a price it has yet to announce.  —  It will be the thinnest e-reader to hit the market, weighing just over a pound and sporting an 11.5" touch screen.
RELATED:
Priya Ganapati / Gadget Lab:
Slim, Large Screen E-Reader Skiff to Debut on Sprint
Discussion: Engadget, 9 to 5 Mac and Gizmodo
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Social Network Removes 5,000 Users For Putting On Weight During Holiday Season  —  No doubt seeking attention by making controversial decisions and statements, elitist social networking site BeautifulPeople.com says it has kicked out 5,000 users because other members signaled that they became …
Wall Street Journal:
Apple to Ship Tablet Device in March  —  Apple Inc. plans to unveil a new multimedia tablet device later this month, but doesn't plan on shipping the product until March, people briefed by the company said.  —  While the shipping time hasn't been finalized and could change …
Chris Silver Smith / Search Engine Land:
A New Behemoth Emerges In Google Maps: Wikipedia  —  Google's recent introduction of Place Pages within Maps came in sync with some key adjustments in the factors used to rank local search content.  The combination of changes has resulted in Wikipedia abruptly emerging as a major influence on local search rankings.
Discussion: Screenwerk, Thanks:atul
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Facebook Rolling Out Redesign To Some Users  —  Facebook seems to be rolling out its new site design to at least some people outside the company, although none of us at TechCrunch have yet to be graced with its presence.  The new design is “exactly” like the screenshots that GigaOm posted on December 27, says one source.
Discussion: ReadWriteWeb and Neowin.net
Ashlee Vance / New York Times:
Watching TV Together, Miles Apart  —  SAN FRANCISCO — For the lonely couch potato, help is on the way.  —  Simple technology, including video chatting services like Skype, is making it possible for far-flung friends to watch shows together, even if they can't share the same bowl of popcorn.
Discussion: The Next Web and Gawker
Daniel Brusilovsky / TechCrunch:
Graphic.ly Raises $1.2M For Comic Publishing  —  Graphic.ly, a content delivery system and community platform for the publishing world, today announced that they have raised $1.2 million in funding.  Graphic.ly was originally named Take Comics, and was part of the 2009 TechStars program in Boulder, Co.
Electronista:
Popbox hub promises 1080p anywhere, Netflix  —  Syabas preluded CES today with its most ambitious media hub to date.  The Popbox replaces the Popcorn Hour as the flagship media hub and revolves around a major, much more polished interface overhaul designed by Moxie's inventor and former Microsoft executive Dewey Reid.
Kim-Mai Cutler / VentureBeat:
LivingSocial grabs $5 million more to expand group-shopping deals  —  Social discovery network LivingSocial, which lets people review and share books, movies, restaurants and other types of entertainment, just raised another $5 million in an extended first round.
Discussion: GigaOM and paidContent
Peter Cohen / The Loop:
Device turns iPhone, iPod touch into universal remote  —  L5 Technology is using this week's CES trade show in Las Vegas to debut the L5 Remote, a $50 accessory (paired with a free application) that turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a universal remote control.  It's coming in February.
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
A look at Apple's love for DRM and consumer lock-ins  —  Apple is a company known for many things, but embracing copyright freedoms has not been one of them.  The company loves creating new and innovative products that challenge the world's perception of what it thought it wanted …
Tricia Duryee / mocoNews:
Len Lauer Leaves Wireless Industry; Lands CEO Job At Print Technology Company  —  With the mobile industry potentially entering one of its biggest growth periods in history, this one took us as a bit of a surprise: Len Lauer, who announced his resignation as Qualcomm's COO late last year …
Discussion: Tech Trader Daily
Darren Murph / Engadget:
Freescale reveals 7-inch smartbook reference design, hopes to see it ship for $200  —  Freescale Semiconductor is helping to kick this year's CES off with a bang, as its latest reference smartbook design actually has somewhat of a sexy flair to it.  Currently, the model is little more than a great idea …
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft:
Microsoft offers Windows XP, Office XP users 50 percent discount to encourage upgrades  —  Microsoft officials are well aware that its biggest Windows 7 and Office 2010 competitors are its own previous product iterations (Windows XP and Office XP/2003).  To try and wean users away from older …
Discussion: Ars Technica and CrunchGear
Darren Murph / Engadget:
Pink Palm Pixi spotted on Sprint system, Cupid is like ‘boomshakalaka’  —  You know what's in just over a month?  We'll tell you: Valentine's Day.  You know what's coming up this Thursday?  Something “new” from Palm.  Now, we won't go so far as to say that a pink Palm Pixi is definitely …
 
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 More Items: 
EITB.COM:
Hacker hangs photo of Mr Bean on European Presidency website
Discussion: Reuters
Devindra Hardawar / Royal Pingdom:
Is there hope for Palm in the 2010 smartphone wars?
Jackie Noblett / Boston Business News:
EMC acquires Archer Technologies
Discussion: TechCrunch
Matt Buchanan / Gizmodo:
Synaptics Scrybe Is Like Quicksilver Plus Fingerpainting for Your …
Discussion: Download Squad, jkOnTheRun and Engadget
Iljitsch van Beijnum / Ars Technica:
A decade's worth of IPv4 addresses
 Earlier Items: 
Dave Rosenberg / CNET News:
IBM software sticks to the plan for 2010
Jessica Shambora / Brainstorm Tech:
When the Princeton Review met Facebook
Seth Weintraub / 9 to 5 Mac:
When/will Apple update the iPhone 3GS's Wifi to 802.11N?
Discussion: PMP Today
Elizabeth Woyke / Forbes:
Vonage's Second Calling
Louis Gray:
Twitter Continues Hiring Spree, Adding Ten New Staffers
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
The year ahead: Five moving parts behind a 2010 tech recovery
 

 
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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