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6:20 PM ET, October 20, 2010

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Brian Barrett / Gizmodo:
New MacBook Airs: Faster, Lighter, Instant On, 30 Day Standby Power  —  It's been two years since the last MacBook Air refresh, but Apple's made up for lost time: the redesigned MacBook Air weighs 2.9 pounds, lasts 30 days on standby power, and rocks complete unibody construction.  And a storage secret.
RELATED:
Jesus Diaz / Gizmodo:
Mac OS X Lion: Sneak Peek Analysis  —  Mac OS X 10.7 Lion is here.  As we predicted, Apple's operating system is going in the same direction as the iPad—and for good reason.  Here is a visual guide to the main features unveiled today.  Updating live  —  Mac OS X Lion is another step …
Nicholas Deleon / CrunchGear:
Say Hello To The Mac App Store: Like The iOS App Store, But For Your Mac  —  There will be a Mac App Store in Mac OS X Lion.  It will be much the same as the current App Store found in iOS devices.  It will open in 90 days.  —  Apple says the various Apps will be managed in something called the Launchpad.
Chris Burns / SlashGear:
Apple FaceTime for the Desktop and Laptop Announced, Beta Available Today  —  Apple announces FaceTime, the first video calling on mobile devices. 19 million Facetime devices shipped in the first 4 months they've been out.  Not only can you use FaceTime on these mobile devices now, you can use them on your laptop or desktop.
Donald Melanson / Engadget:
New MacBook Airs come with Software Reinstall USB drive
Donna Tapellini / Consumer Reports Electronics Blog:
Live from Apple: iPhoto 11 gets Facebook enhancements, better book publishing
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
EA Buys ‘Angry Birds’ Publisher Chillingo For $20 Million, Doesn't Get ‘Angry Birds’  —  According to Reuters, Electronic Arts just bought Angry Birds publishers Chillingo for $20 million in cash.  Apparently early reports caused some confusion as to who actually owned Angry Birds …
Discussion: Digits, TUAW, VG247 and Mobile Entertainment
RELATED:
Reuters:
Electronic Arts to buy Chillingo for $20 mln-source  —  Electronic Arts (ERTS.O) will buy Chillingo, the British publisher of the popular mobile game, Angry Birds, for $20 million in cash, a source close to the deal said on Wednesday.  —  An EA spokeswoman confirmed the agreement but did not disclose the price.
Darren Murph / Engadget:
Verizon to sell Galaxy Tab starting November 11th for $599.99  —  Well, we finally have a price on this thing!  America's largest carrier has announced plans to sell Samsung's Galaxy Tab for... $599.99.  The 3G, Android 2.2-based unit (which will be loaded with V CAST apps, of course) …
RELATED:
Kevin Murphy / The Register:
Sex.com sells for $13m  —  You don't get many of them to the pound, eh  —  The storied domain name sex.com is set to be sold for $13m, The Register has learned.  —  Bankrupt Escom LLC sex.com's current owner, has sealed a deal to hand over the domain to a company called Clover Holdings Ltd …
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Google Engineer Builds Facebook Disconnect  —  Tired of the endless unsolicited entreaties to “Connect via Facebook” as you surf the web?  Excited for Y Connect and want to keep a clean palate beforehand?  Scared about Facebook not necessarily having your best interests at heart when it comes to privacy?
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Netflix Says Streaming-Only Subscriptions Could Come This Year, More International Expansion in 2011  —  First look at Netflix earnings: Revenue of $553 million and GAAP earnings of $0.70.  Non-GAAP earnings were $.078.  Wall Street was looking for $551 million and $0.71 from Reed Hastings' company.
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Developer Joe Hewitt Tears Into Android's Definition Of “Open”  —  In Silicon Valley, there are few developers more respected than Joe Hewitt — he helped create Firefox, he built the indispensible development tool FireBug, and he was also responsible for both Facebook's ‘Touch’ mobile website …
RELATED:
Joe Hewitt:   Android and Open Source
Ashlee Vance / New York Times:
Microsoft and New York in Software Deal  —  New York City has put the squeeze on Microsoft, negotiating a bulk software purchasing deal that should lower technology costs for the city and give government workers access to more modern applications.  —  Instead of having dozens …
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Thanks To PayPal, eBay Beats The Street And Posts 14 Percent Increase In Net Income  —  eBay just posted Q3 earnings today; reporting that revenue for the quarter increased a slight 1% to $2.2 billion, or up 10% excluding Skype, compared to the same period of 2009 (eBay sold Skype in Q3 last year).
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Google Ventures Invests In Local Deals Site Signpost  —  No, it's not what you're thinking — Google Ventures didn't just invest in a Groupon clone.  But the search giant's VC arm is taking a stake in a local deals startup called Signpost, which looks to help you find the best deals in your neighborhood (more on that in a moment).
Vlad Savov / Engadget:
Lenovo says no Android tablet in US until Honeycomb; no Windows 7 tablet, period  —  If you happen to be enthusiastic about Lenovo, tablets, and your American residency, look away now.  Lenovo still plans to ship the Android-based LePad in China some time soonish, but its US roadmap can pretty much be summed up as “wait and see.”
Avner Ronen / Boxee Blog:
Boxee Box Ships on Nov 10th, RSVP for the launch event in NYC  —  We just got final confirmation from D-Link that the Boxee Box will start shipping on Nov 10th.  Boxee and D-Link will have a launch event in NYC to celebrate and demo the Boxee Box, complete with Boxee 1.0.
Lance Whitney / CNET News:
Panda Antivirus debuts for the Mac  —  Panda Security has launched its latest product, this one geared specifically for Mac users.  —  The security firm today unveiled Panda Antivirus for the Mac, designed to defend Mac OS and OS X users against viruses, spyware, adware, and other forms of malware.
Discussion: Erictric, Crave and blogs.chron.com
Joseph Tartakoff / paidContent:
Linden Lab Founder Steps Down As Interim CEO  —  More management upheaval at Second Life-parent Linden Lab: Founder Philip Rosedale, who took over as interim CEO after Mark Kingdon stepped down in June, says he's leaving the post.  Bob Komin, the company's CFO and COO, will take over temporarily …
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Google Demo Slam Hopes To Be American Idol For Tech Demos  —  A couple days ago, we noted the existence of demoslam.com, a mysterious little website operated by Google.  Since it only contained a temporary landing page powered by Flash, it was hard to tell exactly what it would be.  But now we know.
David Gelles / blogs.ft.com:
Square doesn't work with iPhone4 (Updated)  —  Square, the much-hyped mobile credit card processing system created by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has a big problem: it doesn't work with the iPhone4.  —  In a blog post buried deep in the support section of Square's website …
Discussion: ReadWriteWeb, Thanks:dgelles
Om Malik / GigaOM:
State of the Internet: Mobile Web's Explosive Growth  —  In 1999, it was the rapid growth of wired web services that was the top story.  Fast-forward to today, and it's the massive and seemingly unstoppable growth of the mobile Internet that's all the rage.
Discussion: Digits, ReadWriteWeb and Beet.TV
Caroline McCarthy / CNET News:
Facebook files three antispam lawsuits  —  Facebook announced today that it has filed suit against two individuals and a company that it says are responsible for propagating deceptive spam offers across the massive social network, including some that encouraged members to spam their friends in turn.
 
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 More Items: 
Sara Jerome / The Hill:
Yahoo chief: ‘Do I look like a wimp?’
Discussion: TechCrunch
Greg Sandoval / Media Maverick:
Studios once owned Netflix, bailed too soon
Discussion: The Wrap and Crave
Jerry Brito / Technology Liberation Front:
What is the evidence for cybersecurity regulation?
Kelly Hodgkins / IntoMobile:
Samsung working on a new platform for mobile phones and TVs
Discussion: Reuters, SlashGear and Digital Trends
Evelyn Rusli / TechCrunch:
Widgetbox Mobile Launches, Create Mobile Web Apps In A Snap
Discussion: MediaPost
Enterprise Desktop Alliance:
Macs Will Increase Their Market Share in the Enterprise by 57%
Discussion: Macworld, 9 to 5 Mac and THINQ.co.uk
 Earlier Items: 
Kevin C. Tofel / GigaOM:
Mozilla Wants Everyone to Have a Web App Store
cdixon's posterous:
A few comments on Paul Graham re superangels
Keith Plocek / Social Keith:
The Digg Effect v4
Kim Hart / The Politico:
Tech industry waits for President Obama
Greg Sandoval / Media Maverick:
Porn studio a step closer to revealing pirates' IDs
Discussion: TG Daily and the Econsultancy blog
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines Blog:
Salesforce.com's Benioff unplugged: Supervendors suck, Oracle, Zuckerberg as Gates
Discussion: eWeek, CIOInsight and ReadWriteWeb
 

 
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

James Warrington / Telegraph:
Almost 93% of 600 Guardian and Observer staff organized by the NUJ vote in favor of strike action over the proposed sale of The Observer to Tortoise

Kanis Leung / Associated Press:
Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai testifies for the first time in his years-long national security trial; he is already serving a jail term for a fraud conviction
 
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