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4:05 PM ET, February 8, 2010

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Chris Gourlay / Times of London:
Google leaps language barrier with translator phone  —  GOOGLE is developing software for the first phone capable of translating foreign languages almost instantly — like the Babel Fish in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  —  By building on existing technologies in voice recognition …
Matt Phillips / MarketBeat:
Apple Management: iPad Prices Could Change … Apple intends to stay “nimble” on pricing of the iPad, possibly lowering prices if the newly unveiled tablet device fails to gain traction among consumers.  —  That was just one of the items in a note out Sunday night from Credit Suisse recounting meetings with Apple executives.
Nicholas Carlson / Silicon Alley Insider:
Google Launching Twitter-Killer For Gmail!  (GOOG)  —  Google could launch a Twitter-killer as soon as this week, the Wall Street Journal reports.  —  Google already allows Gmail users to update their status.  The prompt reads, “let people know what you're up to, or share links to photos, videos, and Web pages.”
RELATED:
Ben Parr / Mashable!:
Google Could Unveil Gmail's Social Features Tomorrow  —  We learned earlier today that Google is launching a social status update feature in Gmail.  While details are sparse, The Wall Street Journal reports that it is a new Gmail module that could integrate status updates as well as content from YouTube …
Discussion: GigaOM
Chris Ziegler / Engadget:
Motorola Droid's next update to be Android 2.1, includes multitouch browser  —  We've just gotten the inside line on the next Droid update that's making the rounds through Verizon's testing department from one of our trusted sources, and overall, it looks like this should take users 95 percent …
Eric Schmidt / The Official Google Blog:
Love and the Super Bowl  —  If you watched the Super Bowl this evening you'll have seen a video from Google called “Parisian Love”.  In fact you might have watched it before, because it's been on YouTube for over three months.  We didn't set out to do a Super Bowl ad, or even a TV ad for search.
RELATED:
Jeffrey Oldham / The Official Google Blog:
2010 Super Bowl: Some search touchdowns  —  While 106 American football players sought yardage in the 2010 Super Bowl, millions of people sought information related to the big game from Google search.  We looked at some game-day search trends and data* to see what football fans were searching for this year.
Discussion: Domain Name News and twopointouch, Thanks:mrinaldesai
Charles Arthur / Guardian:
The iPhone is the new Internet Explorer 6, says mobile developer  —  On the flip side of the debate about whether Flash is ill, in rude health, or simply untroubled by Apple's wilful refusal to countenance it on the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad, we have an analysis from Peter-Paul Koch, a …
RELATED:
Ppk / QuirksBlog:
The iPhone obsession  —  Since my attempts at capturing web …
Thanks:arjo
Jolie O'Dell / ReadWriteWeb:
Verizon Blocks 4chan  —  According to 4chan's Twitter account and status update blog, they have been “explicitly blocked” by the Verizon wireless network.  —  If you're unfamiliar with 4chan and why an ISP/wireless company would block it, read more about it on Wikipedia.
Pwarden / PeteSearch:
How to split up the US  —  As I've been digging deeper into the data I've gathered on 210 million public Facebook profiles, I've been fascinated by some of the patterns that have emerged.  My latest visualization shows the information by location, with connections drawn between places that share friends.
Discussion: Brian Solis, Thanks:atul
Cade Metz / The Register:
Google doppelgänger casts riddle over interwebs  —  Why is Google routing the world through ‘Googol’?  —  Sometime in the middle of October, Google silently launched a new net domain - a barely-disguised doppelgänger to the familiar google.com - and according to the latest stats …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Intel's monster of a chip: an Itanium microprocessor with 2 billion transistors  —  Intel announced its Itanium 9300 series microprocessor today, a high-end supercomputing chip with 2 billion transistors on a single chip.  —  The number of transistors, or basic on-off switches that control …
RELATED:
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Tapulous launches new iPhone game, Riddim Ribbon  —  Tapulous has managed to maintain a strong business on the iPhone with its Tap Tap Revenge music games, despite the entry of RockBand from the big guys, MTV Networks and Electronic Arts.  Now Tapulous wants to hit another home run with a new music app for the iPhone.
Camille Ricketts / VentureBeat:
Flixster continues rapid growth with new $12.5M  —  A little over a month after it gobbled up primary competitor Rotten Tomatoes, Flixster, a social-networking site for movie enthusiasts, has landed $12.5 million in a new round of equity and common stock, according to a filing with the SEC …
Discussion: TechCrunch
Electronista:
Nook to reach Barnes & Noble shops this Wednesday  —  Barnes & Noble today said that the Nook will at last reach its retail shops.  While it has had demo units in stores since launch in the fall, the bookseller now says it expects most locations to have units directly available to buy on Wednesday the 10th.
Cecilia Kang / Post Tech:
Netflix warns loophole, Comcast-NBC merger could hurt open Internet  —  Netflix's main business — DVDs delivered by mail — couldn't be more 1990s.  But increasingly, the company's streaming online video service has emerged as a threat to cable and satellite television providers.
Heidi Blake / Telegraph:
British Library to offer 19th Century first editions for free download on Amazon Kindle  —  The British Library is to make more than 65,000 rare first editions of 19th Century fiction available for the public to download for free from the spring.  —  Owners of the Amazon Kindle e-book device …
Nick Bilton / Bits:
Job Postings Hint at Amazon's Plans for the Kindle  —  It looks like color screens and Wi-Fi might be the next additions to Amazon's Kindle.  —  Last week, Brad Stone and I reported that Amazon had acquired the New York based multi-touch screen company Touchco to integrate into Lab126, the Kindle hardware division.
Wu Yiyao / CHINAdaily:
Biggest hacker training site shut down  —  What is believed to be the country's biggest hacker training site has been shut down by police in Central China's Hubei province.  —  Three people were also arrested, local media reported yesterday.  —  The three, who ran Black Hawk Safety Net …
Jonny Evans / 9 to 5 Mac:
Hackers ship Pwnage Tool for 3.1.3 for iPhone  —  The iPhone Dev-Team has introduced PwnageTool 3.1.5 for Mac OS X which now supports Apple's recently-released iPhone OS 3.1.3.  —  “Phone 3GS users (regardless of unlock) should stay away from this and all 3.1.3 jailbreak tools unless you know you have your …
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
The Bids Are In for AOL's Sale of ICQ-It's Down to a “U.N.” of Four Buyers  —  AOL has taken another step closer to selling off its ICQ instant messaging service, culling seven bids to four “serious” ones, said sources close to the situation.  —  The price for the service is hovering …
Christina Warren / Mashable!:
TweetDeck Brings YouTube and Flickr Inside the Client  —  All right Tweetdeck fans, rev up your engines and prepare to update to Tweetdeck 0.33, which adds a slew of new features, better API management and more in-Tweetdeck media previews.  —  We could list all the new features in Tweetdeck 0.33 …
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
Apple To Upgrade MacBook Pros Tuesday Ahead Of Macworld Conference?  (AAPL)  —  Apple may finally announce a new MacBook Pro lineup tomorrow, perhaps including new, faster Intel chips, as the Macworld conference gets underway in San Francisco.  —  “An anonymous source who works for Apple …
Discussion: Bloomberg, 9 to 5 Mac and CrunchGear
Amy Thomson / Bloomberg:
Sprint May Buy MetroPCS to Win Prepaid Customers, Analyst Says  —  Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) — Sprint Nextel Corp., the third- largest U.S. wireless carrier, may buy MetroPCS Communications Inc. as acquisition activity in the low-priced mobile-phone service industry heats up, Collins Stewart LLC said.
Ryan Tate / Gawker:
The iPad Tweet That Enraged Steve Jobs?  —  There was inevitably some cultural friction when Apple's secretive CEO took his new iPad around to New York's professionally indiscreet media.  Exhibit A is a single tweet from a Wall Street Journal editor, which purportedly made Steve Jobs go ballistic:
 
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 More Items: 
Andrew Hampp / AdAge:
To Regain Luster, Oscars Get a Social-Media Makeover
Associated Press:
Spain's Telefonica considers charging Google
Tim Bajarin / PC Magazine:
Apple's iPad: A Blessing and Curse for Publishing
Shane McGlaun / SlashGear:
Samsung Super AMOLED screen to show up on mobile phone at MWC
Eric Pfanner / New York Times:
In Secret, Nations Work Toward Crackdown on Piracy
Electronista:
Nokia retools factory, cuts jobs to focus on smartphones
Discussion: InformationWeek
 Earlier Items: 
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Oracle Buys AmberPoint To Boost Application Management And Performance Offerings
Discussion: Market Wire and Seeking Alpha
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Wikia Says It's Profitable, Goes On Hiring Spree
Discussion: Softpedia News
Douglas MacMillan / Business Week:
Google's Display-Ad Sales Should Top $1 Billion
Discussion: Pulse2 and Google Watch
Bill Brenner / Computerworld:
ShmooCon: Inside FarmVille's sinister underbelly
Discussion: Help Net Security and ITworld.com
Brandon Miniman / pocketnow.com:
Exclusive HTC Incredible Photos (Update: Video)
 

 
From Mediagazer:

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

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

 
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