Techmeme: Apple Releases iPhone OS 4 Beta 2 and SDK to Developers (Eric Slivka/MacRumors)

4:40 PM ET, April 20, 2010

Top Items:

John Herrman / Gizmodo:

Why Apple Couldn't Get the Lost iPhone Back — It's such an obvious question: Why couldn't Apple track this phone down? As it turns out, they may have had two chances to get it back - and blown them both. The timeline of the night goes something like this: On March 18th …

Brian Lam / Gizmodo:

A Letter: Apple Wants Its Secret iPhone Back — Well, how can I explain this? I got some interesting calls today. It was Apple. And they wanted their phone back. — This phone was lost, and then found. But from Apple's perspective, it could have been considered stolen.

Jesus Diaz / Gizmodo:

How Apple Lost the Next iPhone — The Gourmet Haus Staudt. A nice place to enjoy good German ales. And if you are an Apple Software Engineer named Gray Powell and you get one too many beers, it's also a nice place to lose the next-generation iPhone. — The 27-year-old Powell …

Ian Betteridge / Technovia:

Has Gizmodo broken the law with its iPhone story? — I am not a lawyer. But I do play one on the weekends. — More importantly, over the years I've become intimately familiar with the law as it affects journalists on both sides of the pond. I've covered cases like the “trade secrets” …

Discussion: Daring Fireball

Foster Kamer / Runnin' Scared:
Gizmodo's iPhone Scoop: The Nick Denton Interview

Discussion: Gawker

Bloomberg:
Apple Gets IPhone Prototype Back After Lawyer Sends Letter, Gizmodo Says

Discussion: Digits, RustyBrick, Inc. and Electricpig.co.uk

priv.gc.ca:

Letter to Google Inc. Chief Executive Officer — The Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Jennifer Stoddart, and the heads of the data protection authorities in France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom sent the following letter …

Agence France Presse:

Ten nations call on Google to better defend privacy — SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Officials from 10 nations have banded together to demand that Internet giant Google better defend people's privacy. — “While we hear corporations such as Google pay lip service to privacy, we don't always …

Discussion: Venture Chronicles

Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
90% of Content on Google Buzz is Bots, Report Finds

Discussion: PostRank Blog

Boy Genius Report:

BlackBerry OS 6.0 screenshots, details! — If you're a BlackBerry fan, there is probably not a single thing you have been looking forward to more than what we have right here — screenshots and full details of RIM's upcoming operating system, OS 6.0. One of our AT&T sources has not only showed us …

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, Phone Arena, The Toybox, T3.com News, Business Hacks, CrackBerry.com blogs, MobileCrunch, Electronista, Digital Trends, Electricpig.co.uk, Phones Review, TiPb, Engadget, SlashPhone, Erictric, I4U News, IntoMobile and Know Your Cell

MG Siegler / TechCrunch:

Steve Jobs Reiterates: “Folks who want porn can buy an Android phone” — Apple CEO Steve Jobs is on a roll. While he's probably had better days than today, he's lately been shooting off emails left and right in response to customers' concerns. We just were sent what appears to be one such Jobs response …

John Hanke / The Official Google Blog:

Introducing Google Places — Today the Local Business Center is becoming Google Places. Why? Millions of people use Google every day to find places in the real world, and we want to better connect Place Pages — the way that businesses are being found today — with the tool …

Discussion: Search Engine Watch, eWeek, Google Operating System, Understanding Google …, USA Today, Mashable!, Silicon Alley Insider, Screenwerk, TechCrunch, Fast Company, Search Engine Journal, the Econsultancy blog, ReadWriteWeb, Erictric and Domain Name Wire

Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb: Beyond Street View: Google Photographers Begin Going Inside Businesses

Tom Krazit / Relevant Results:
New features, new name for Google Places

Discussion: VentureBeat, paidContent, Search Engine Land, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim and Softpedia News, Thanks:atul

Alex Wilhelm / The Next Web:

Google Launches ‘Government Request Tool’ To Show Censorship Requests — Google is, for good or ill when it comes to your personal information, a strong advocate for public access to as much data as possible. Google is acting on that today by launching a new tool that shows the number content removal …

Discussion: The Official Google Blog, The Register, Freedom to Tinker, Tech Daily Dose, Search Engine Land and pluGGd.in

David Drummond / Washington Post:

Our challenge: Keeping the Internet open — The Internet is one of the world's most important means of free expression. Yet censorship of the Web is growing; more than 40 governments censor information today, up from about four in 2002. And some governments are blocking …

Discussion: Post Tech, Guardian, L.A. Times Tech Blog, ReadWriteWeb, CNET News, TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, Silicon Alley Insider, Susan Crawford blog, Threat Level and Associated Press

Apple:

iPad Wi-Fi + 3G Models Available in US on April 30 — Apple® today announced that the Wi-Fi + 3G models of its magical iPad™ will be delivered to US customers who've pre-ordered on Friday, April 30, and will be available in Apple retail stores the same day starting at 5:00 p.m.

Business Wire:

Yahoo! Reports First Quarter 2010 Results — Display Advertising Grew 20% Year Over Year — Companies: — Related Quotes — SymbolPriceChange — 18.40 — SUNNYVALE, California—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO - News) today reported results for the quarter ended March 31, 2010.

Discussion: Tech Trader Daily, TechCrunch, paidContent, BoomTown, Search Engine Land and CNBC

MarketWatch: Apple earnings surge by 90% in second quarter

PR Newswire: Apple Reports Second Quarter Results

Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:

This is What a Tweet Looks Like — Think a tweet is just 140 characters of text? Think again. To developers building tools on top of the Twitter platform, they know tweets contain far more information than just whatever brief, passing thought you felt the urge to share with your friends via the microblogging network.

Discussion: dygiscape, Thanks:atul

Mike Melanson / ReadWriteWeb:

Facebook Shutters Facebook Lite — Facebook just announced via its Facebook profile that the ultra-lightweight version of its website, Facebook Lite, is no more. — The site, which many (including us) called yet another Twitter imitation, had only been live since last September but now redirects to the main Facebook homepage.

Discussion: paidContent, All Facebook, Mashable!, Computerworld, The Next Web, Erictric and Switched

Patrick Goss / TechRadar.com:

Google CEO talks about Chrome OS devices — Aiming to be first successful new platform this millennium — Google CEO Eric Schmidt has talked about the eagerly anticipated Chrome OS devices, insisting that the price point will remain at around £200 to £275 and that he would …

Discussion: The Register, Gizmodo, Gadget Lab, Techland, SlashGear, Liliputing, I4U News, GottaBeMobile, Electronista and Neowin.net

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

Tumblr Raises Another $5 Million From Spark and Union Square. Now It Wants Your Money. — Who wants to bet on a Web company with lots of users but very little revenue? The same people who bet on it before. Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures have poured another $5 million into Tumblr …

Discussion: GigaOM, Fast Company, alarm:clock, paidContent, Mashable!, VentureBeat, Daily Patricia and TechCrunch

Joe Wilcox / BetaNews:

10 questions to ask before buying iPad — On Friday night, I bought an iPad nearly three months after giving 12 reasons why I wouldn't. An unexpected reason came up: My wife's MacBook Pro died. I reckoned she could temporarily use the tablet (which cost way less than any new Mac laptop) …

Discussion: Lockergnome Blog Network, TUAW and Technology Questions

Eric Slivka / MacRumors:

Apple Releases iPhone OS 4 Beta 2 and SDK to Developers — Apple today released via the iPhone Dev Center its second beta version of iPhone OS 4 and the associated Software Development Kit (SDK) for developers to use in creating and updating applications. The initial versions of iPhone OS 4 …

Discussion: Engadget, MobileCrunch, BlogsDNA and Phones Review

John D. Sutter / CNN:

‘Skinput’ system turns hands into buttons — Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) — In Chris Harrison's ideal world, mobile phones would be the size of matchbooks. They'd have full-size keyboards. They'd browse the Web. They'd play videos. — And, most importantly, you'd never have to touch them.

Matt Marshall / VentureBeat:

Will FaceCash, the mobile payment application, kill the credit card? — A Silicon Valley company with a noteworthy founder has created a mobile payment system called FaceCash that it hopes will one day displace credit cards. — You might be tempted to write this off as too audacious.

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