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12:15 PM ET, September 28, 2010

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Om Malik / GigaOM:
AOL Close to Buying TechCrunch  —  AOL, the New York-based online media company, is on the verge of acquiring TechCrunch, the online blogging network started by former attorney, Michael Arrington.  The deal is at a sensitive stage and might fall apart yet, but I don't think so.
RELATED:
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
The Pros and Cons of a TechCrunch/AOL Deal  —  Could AOL buy TechCrunch-a possibility that both Om Malik and The Wall Street Journal say is on the table?  Sure.  —  Does that make sense?  Good question.  —  TechCrunch is a big, successful Web site, and big successful Web sites are very hard to build.
Robert Scoble / Scobleizer:
Techcrunch Disrupted by AOL: The end of an era in tech blogging?  —  The news/rumor that Techcrunch is up for sale quickly made the rounds at the Techcrunch Disrupt conference this afternoon.  GigaOm started it with a post that a sale to AOL is close at hand.
Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider and Bits
Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:
Michael Arrington And TechCrunch Could Wind Up At AOL After All
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Apple Has Already Approved The Official Google Voice App For iPhone, Expect It Soon  —  The App Store review office at 1 Infinite Loop has officially frozen over: we've gotten word that the official Google Voice application is on its way to the iPhone in the next few weeks.
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Yep, Amazon Launching Their Own App Store For Android Too  —  Earlier today, after several tips, we guessed that Amazon may be close to launching its own app store for Android — yes, another Android app store.  Sources we reached out to weren't sure about what exactly Amazon was launching …
RELATED:
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Rumor: An Amazon Android Tablet May Follow The Amazon Android App Store  —  Okay, we know now that Amazon is on the verge of releasing an Android-based app store.  But last week, before we knew that, we got an interesting tip that such a move was coming soon — this week, actually.
Arnold Kim / MacRumors:
Apple Updates Remote App with iPad and Retina Display Support  —  As predicted, Apple has updated their Remote app that allows iOS users to control iTunes and their Apple TV from their devices.  The app hadn't been updated for nearly a year, but has finally received a 2. update that brings support …
Clayton Morris / Fox News:
EXCLUSIVE Apple TV Review: Hands on With Steve Jobs' New Hobby  —  Apple's latest gizmo, the Apple TV, streams high-definition web videos from your home PCs to your television.  —  Steve Jobs swung for the stands with the new Apple TV, a tiny box that plays high-definition web video on your television.
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Google Buys Schedule Management Startup Plannr  —  According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, Google has just bought Seattle-based mobile planning startup Plannr, which if you remember our coverage launched about two months ago as an Outlook for hipsters.
Dave Rosenberg / Software, Interrupted:
2010 acquisitions—Microsoft: 0 Google: 23  —  A recent blog post from information service provider CB Insights reveals a truly shocking piece of news—that Microsoft has announced zero acquisitions so far in 2010, while Google has acquired 23 companies, 75 percent of which are venture financed or angel-backed.
RELATED:
John Cook / TechFlash:   What Google, Facebook and others look for in M&A deals
Josh Ong / AppleInsider:
Goldman Sachs says Apple planning thinner iPad with camera, mini USB  —  A team of analysts for investment bank Goldman Sachs said Monday that their sources lead them to believe Apple will introduce a second-generation iPad during the spring of 2011 that will feature a camera, mini USB and a lighter design.
Boy Genius Report:
New HTC, full-QWERTY device destined for Verizon breaks cover  —  Hi there HTC Android fans, we have another present for you!  We've just been sent in a handful of images of a new, unseen HTC handset that is destined for Verizon Wireless.  This sleek, all-black, full-QWERTY Android 2.2 handset …
Vlad Savov / Engadget:
Sony Ericsson LiveView acts as a 1.3-inch remote control for your smartphone, requires Android 2.0  —  You've been asking for someone, anyone, to please kick out a tiny remote control display that can save you from having to whip your smartphone out for every little thing and Sony Ericsson, it seems, has listened.
Office For Mac:
Office for Mac 2011 Available October 26  —  We are excited to announce that starting on October 26 you can get your own copy of Office for Mac 2011!  And starting today preorders can be placed at Amazon.com.  —  One of the most visually impactful features in the new suite also is called Dynamic Reorder …
Todd Agulnick / Xmarks Blog:
End of the Road for Xmarks  —  As I write this, it's a typical Sunday here at Xmarks.  The synchronization service continues operating quietly, the servers chugging along syncing browser data for our 2 million users across their 5 million desktops.  The day isn't over yet, but we're on track to add just under 3000 new accounts today.
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
AOL Officially Adds 5Min To Its Roster.  Next?  —  Here's the official press release announcing AOL's acquisition of 5Min Media.  Sources familiar with the transaction tell me it's an all-cash deal at the high end of the $50 million to $65 million range I reported earlier today.  So let's call it $65 million.
Miguel Helft / Bits:
Virtual Goods Expected to Grow by 40 Percent Next Year, Study Says  —  The booming business in virtual goods — paying real money for things that don't really exist — is expected to continue booming.  —  That's good news for the likes of Zynga and Playfish, and of course, Facebook.
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Amazon Debuts “Kindle for the Web”, Which Is Pretty Much What It Sounds Like  —  Amazon.com today introduced the beta version of “Kindle for the Web”, which enables people to read and share digital book samples in their browsers without the need to install or download anything.
Daniel Emery / BBC:
Adult video-sharing list leaked from law firm  —  The attacks were in retaliation for action against file-sharing site the Pirate Bay  —  The personal details of thousands of Sky broadband customers have been leaked on to the internet, alongside a list of pornographic movies they are alleged to have shared online.
Ogle Earth:
Beware: Chinese iPhone 4 comes with a crippled Maps app  —  The iPhone 4 officially landed in China yesterday, so I bought one from the new Apple Store at Xidan in Beijing.  In China, Apple sells its iPhones unlocked and without a contract (16GB = USD747, 32GB = USD895), so you can pretty much stick in any sim card and go.
Discussion: VentureBeat and Shanghaiist, Thanks:atul
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
OneTrueFan Is The Foursquare For Websites  —  The Foursquare model of checking into a location, earning badges and tapping into your social network to share that location has become one that has been able to be applied to other platforms.  For example, GetGlue allows users to check-in to shows …
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
A Look At The Technologies & Industries Senators Leahy & Hatch Would Have Banned In The Past  —  The more I look at the “Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act,” (COICA) bill proposed by Senators Patrick Leahy and Orrin Hatch (and co-sponsored by Sens. Herb Kohl, Arlen Specter …
Thanks:atul
RELATED:
The Huffington Post:
Stop the Internet Blacklist
Faith Merino / VatorNews:
Face.com pulls in $4.3M in financing  —  Rhodium and Yandex bet on the Israeli-based facial-recognition startup  —  How recognizable are you in a crowd?  According to Face.com, a Tel-Aviv-based company that develops facial recognition technology, you can be pinpointed in a Facebook crowd consisting …
International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran:
Iranian Canadian Blogger Hossein Derakhshan Receives Over 19 Years In Prison  —  Hossein Derakhshan, Iranian-Canadian blogger  —  After months of anticipation and almost two years after his arrest and imprisonment, blogger Hossein Derakhshan was sentenced to 19.5 years in prison by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Courts today.
Gavin Clarke / The Register:
OpenOffice files Oracle divorce papers  —  Uncertainty breeds mistrust  —  Open sourcers have seized control of the OpenOffice project and product and declared their independence from database giant Oracle.  —  The OpenOffice.org Project has unveiled a major restructuring that separates itself …
Eric Zeman / InformationWeek:
First Impressions Of BlackBerry PlayBook  —  Research In Motion kept its PlayBook tablet computer locked behind glass, but InformationWeek still gave it a good once-over to see what it is all about.  Read our thoughts here.  —  Unfortunately, the PlayBook was locked up behind glass …
Discussion: Engadget, techeblog.com, BB Geeks and Pulse2
RELATED:
Spiegel Online:
WikiLeaks Spokesman Quits  —  Daniel Schmitt, who has revealed that his true name is Daniel Domscheit-Berg, says WikiLeaks has a structural problem.  “I no longer want to take responsibility for it,” he says.  —  In an interview with SPIEGEL, Daniel Schmitt — the 32-year-old German spokesman …
Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider and TechEye
Anthony Ha / VentureBeat:
NetShelter raises $15M for its ad network of tech influencers  —  NetShelter, an advertising network built around influential tech sites, has raised $15 million in a second round of funding.  —  (Disclosure: NetShelter sells some of VentureBeat's advertising.)
Discussion: paidContent, Pulse2 and silicontap.com
 
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 More Items: 
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
LinkedIn Beefs Up Company Profiles With News Feeds, Career Data, And More
Tricia Duryee / paidContent:
Verve Wireless Raises $7 Million More To Deliver The News Over Mobile
Darren Murph / Engadget:
Verizon's Mobile Recovery: like ‘Find my iPhone,’ …
Discussion: Pulse2 and MobileContentToday
Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:
Paid Android App Support Expands to More Countries
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
There Are Stories Out There On Twitter, Flickr, YouTube — Build Them With Storify
Discussion: Mark Evans Tech and VentureBeat
Jim Wolf / Reuters:
U.S. mounting first test of cyber-blitz response plan
Discussion: DailyTech
Nick O'Neill / All Facebook:
Facebook Ads Become Dramatically More Transparent
 Earlier Items: 
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Tweetmeme Founder's Datasift Helps You Find A Needle In A Tweetstack
Discussion: VentureBeat
Andrew Ross Sorkin / New York Times:
The Value of a Piece of Facebook
Paul Graham / Y Combinator:
What Happens At Y Combinator  —  (We realized recently that a lot …
Thanks:atul
Ben / MailChimp Email Marketing Blog:
Going Freemium: One Year Later
Discussion: the Econsultancy blog
James Hibberd / The Hollywood Reporter:
Another Twitter feed gets CBS comedy deal
 

 
From Mediagazer:

CNBC:
Comcast confirms plans to spin off its NBCUniversal cable TV networks, including MSNBC and CNBC, with Mark Lazarus as CEO; the separation may take about a year

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Tubi launches Scenes, a mobile feature that lets viewers watch 60-to-90-second trailer-style clips from its library to help with content discovery

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
James Harding says the Tortoise-Observer deal could create a profitable media group and there isn't a guaranteed future for the Observer with the Guardian
 
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