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4:30 PM ET, August 25, 2010

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Robin Schriebman / Gmail Blog:
Call phones from Gmail  —  Gmail voice and video chat makes it easy to stay in touch with friends and family using your computer's microphone and speakers.  But until now, this required both people to be at their computers, signed into Gmail at the same time.
RELATED:
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Google Voice Phone Booths To Start Popping Up In Airports, Universities  —  Google wants to get you hooked on Google Voice, and it's got a new weapon in its arsenal: charming red telephone booths inspired by the sort that litter the UK.  Today at a press event where it announced the launch …
Sean Hollister / Engadget:
Google introduces Voice in Gmail, free calls to US and Canada (update: impressions)  —  Rumors have been buzzing about since June, but Google just made it official — the company's baking Google Voice calls right into Gmail today.  Like the Google Chat text, voice and video chat integrated …
Brad McCarty / The Next Web:
Google calls: Not a Skype-killer, but still a viable option.
Discussion: GigaOM
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
Is this Microsoft's new Internet Explorer 9 interface?  —  Microsoft has delivered four developer previews of Internet Explorer (IE) 9 so far, but has yet to show off the new interface for its next-generation browser.  That is expected to happen on September 15, during Microsoft's beta launch event in San Francisco.
Eric Savitz / Tech Trader Daily:
Apple Issues Invitation For September 1 “Special Event”  —  Apple (AAPL) has e-mailed invitations to the media for a “special event” to be held September 1 at 10 a.m. at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco.  Previous reports suggested that Apple would be holding an event on September 7 …
RELATED:
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
Is Apple Really Going To Announce A TV Gadget At An Event With A Guitar On The Invitation?  —  Apple has invited reporters to an event in San Francisco on Sept. 1, with this guitar as the invitation art.  —  This tells us it's obvious that Apple will announce updates to its music lineup at the event …
Discussion: AppleInsider and NBC Bay Area
Peter Burrows / BusinessWeek:
Apple's New Video Strategy Coming Into Focus  —  The blogosphere has been buzzing with talk of a radically updated version of the Apple TV set-top box.  It turns out Apple plans to unveil the $99 device at an event on Sept. 7, my Bloomberg colleagues and I reported today .
RELATED:
Neil Hughes / AppleInsider:
New Apple TV will have ARM processor, App Store access - report  —  Like the iPhone 4 and iPad, the new Apple TV will run the iOS operating system and be powered by a processor with ARM architecture, and will also have access to the App Store, according to one prominent analyst.
Dan Provost / The Russians Used a Pencil:
Controlling Apple TV
Discussion: VideoNuze and cubicgarden.com
Kevin Rose / Digg Blog:
Digg Version 4  —  I'm excited to announce that today we opened up the newest version of our Digg platform.  We've been working hard on this next evolution of Digg (what we've been calling “v4") and everyone here is really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the changes we've made.
RELATED:
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
New Version of Digg Goes Live For Everyone This Morning
Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:   Hey, Digg — This 17-Year-Old Knows What You Are Thinking
Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:
Amazon Loses E-Book Deal  —  A month after jolting the book industry with a deal to give Amazon.com Inc. exclusive digital access to some of the country's best-known literary works, literary agent Andrew Wylie is largely abandoning the agreement.  —  The Amazon deal was struck after Mr. Wylie failed …
Adam Vaughan / Guardian:
Apple blocks iPhones from green ranking scheme  —  Scheme rates handsets on factors such as ecological impact of raw materials, manufacturing process and energy efficiency  —  • iPhone app pitches climate change science against scepticism  —  Apple has refused to allow its iPhones …
Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:
Defense official discloses cyberattack  —  Now it is official: The most significant breach of U.S. military computers was caused by a flash drive inserted into a U.S. military laptop on a post in the Middle East in 2008.  —  In an article to be published Wednesday discussing the Pentagon's cyberstrategy …
Mark Milian / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Podcaster Leo Laporte, the everywhere man  —  Leo Laporte arrived Thursday at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank.  —  On Friday morning he arrived at the office of KFI AM 640, the radio station that airs his syndicated “The Tech Guy” program.  At 3:42 p.m., he was back at the airport, ready to fly home to Petaluma, Calif.
Ian Sherr / Wall Street Journal:
Online Coupons Get Smarter  —  Groupon, Rivals Add Personalized Bargains, Staff as Some Merchants Gripe  —  When Jennifer London cut a deal with Groupon Inc. to promote her smoothie shop in an email, she wasn't sure how many people would show up for discounted drinks.
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Amazon: New Kindles Selling At Record Rates, U.S. Store Now Has Over 670,000 Books  —  Amazon has announced today that more “next generation Kindles were ordered in the first four weeks of availability than in the same timeframe following any other Kindle launch, making the new Kindles the fastest-selling ever.”
Graeme Wearden / Guardian:
Shareholder trading values Facebook at more than $33bn  —  With shares selling for up to $76, investors are calculating social networking site is worth nearly twice as much as Yahoo!  —  Facebook is now being valued at more than $33bn (£21.3bn) as investors try to secure a stake …
Discussion: CNET News and DealBook
Mike Luttrell / TG Daily:
Digital Chocolate sues Facebook game giant Zynga over Mafia Wars  —  Casual gaming company Digital Chocolate has just filed suit against Zynga, the leader in social gaming, because it says it owns the exclusive rights to the name “Mafia Wars.”  —  Zynga's Facebook game Mafia Wars has become …
Jenna Wortham / Bits:
CollegeOnly, a Social Network Just for the University Set  —  When Facebook arrived at my university near the end of my fourth year, I remember feeling a huge wave of relief.  —  Not because I had an easy way to keep in touch with my friends after college but because the site arrived …
Slash Lane / AppleInsider:
Third-party iPad clamshell keyboard case revealed in FCC filing  —  A new third-party iPad peripheral coming soon to the U.S. will turn Apple's touchscreen tablet into more of a traditional laptop form factor, with a clamshell case that provides tactile input via an attached Bluetooth keyboard.
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
Encrypted and obfuscated?  Your P2P protocol can still be IDed  —  Typical Web traffic is easy enough to spot: it uses TCP port 80.  But plenty of protocols prefer to remain in the shadows and purposely make themselves difficult to identify—including Skype, BitTorrent, and eMule.
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Facebook Improves Chat's Stability And Speed; Kills Support for IE6  —  According to a blog post today on the company's site, Facebook is revamping its Chat feature to be faster, more stabilized and reliable.  —  Facebook says that Chat, which launched two years ago, is now one of the most …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Qualcomm Services Labs unveils four cool mobile services startups  —  Qualcomm has formed a new incubator to launch next-generation mobile services and applications.  Today, it unveil four such startups at a press event in Palo Alto, Calif.  —  Isaac Babbs (pictured right) …
Discussion: VatorNews, Mashable! and TechCrunch
Emily Glazer / WSJ Blogs - WSJ:
It's Still Too Early to Value Location Services, Businesses Say  —  Are location-based services going to be the next social-networking step for businesses?  —  The big debate lately has been whether Facebook's new location-sharing service, Places, will overwhelm pioneers like Foursquare.
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Foodspotting Investors Put Their Money Where Their Mouths Are With $750K Seed Round  —  People love taking pictures of food.  It's just a fact of life.  Don't even bother arguing about it.  It's just the way it is.  Case in point: Foodspotting, the service which asks you to take pictures of your food to share with others.
Liz Gannes / GigaOM:
$750K for Flowtown's Social Marketing to Existing Customers  —  Yes, Flowtown is yet another social media marketing company, but it's not just another tool for monitoring customer feedback through their tweets.  Flowtown takes a list of your existing customers' email addresses and delivers profiles …
Discussion: alarm:clock, VentureBeat and TechCrunch
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Google's Gaming Advocate Leaves After Only 4 Months On The Job  —  In April of this year, signs started pointing to Google getting serious about gaming.  That was when they hired gaming industry vet Mark DeLoura (formerly of Ubisoft, Sony Computer Entertainment America, Nintendo and others) to be their developer advocate for games.
 
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 More Items: 
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Why Motorola Bought 280 North
Discussion: mocoNews and Know Your Cell
Jay Baer / Convince and Convert Blog:
Is Starbucks the Most Dangerous Competitor to Facebook?
Nick Bilton / Bits:
Stipple Seeks to Tag the Web's Images
Larry Dignan / ZDNet:
Server sales surge in second quarter; HP, Dell gain, says IDC
Discussion: Business Wire and Tech Eye
Justin Houk / ProgrammableWeb:
Transit Score Shows the Power of Open Government Data
Dan Primack / PE Hub Blog:
Andreessen Horowitz Seeks $650 Million for New Fund
Discussion: VentureBeat and Silicon Alley Insider, Thanks:atul
Marc Graser / Variety:
‘Angry Birds’ flies with Hollywood
Andrew Kippen / Boxee Blog:
Boxee Gets a Movie Library, Actually A Few Of Them
Discussion: NewTeeVee and CrunchGear
 Earlier Items: 
Eric Savitz / Tech Trader Daily:
Apple To Dominate Tablet Market Through 2012, iSuppli Says
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Why We Never Talk Anymore
Discussion: CNN, Black Web 2.0 and IntoMobile, Thanks:atul
Tricia Duryee / mocoNews:
Mobile Maps Are Moving Indoors To Pinpoint Specific Items On Store Shelves
Discussion: ReadWriteWeb, Engadget, GigaOM and Google Maps Mania, Thanks:atul
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
GameCrush Is Crushing It. Investors Agree.
Arthur Brice / CNN:
3 Colombian teens on Facebook hit list killed in past 10 days
Discussion: Switched, NPR and Gawker
Brian Caulfield / Velocity:
Is Facebook About To Use ARM Chips In Its Data Centers? No!
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Facebook Follow: The Twitter-Eater, The Preemptive Google Me-Killer
Discussion: Inside Facebook