Techmeme: Android and Open Source (Joe Hewitt)

8:00 PM ET, October 20, 2010

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.

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.

Discussion: Engadget, All about Microsoft Blog, Gizmodo, Fortune, TechCrunch, Digital Daily, VentureBeat and AppleInsider

Donald Melanson / Engadget:

New MacBook Airs come with Software Reinstall USB drive — What's a MacBook Air to do in the case of a software emergency without an internal or external optical drive? Well, Apple's thankfully considered that situation, and has included a Software Reinstall USB drive with both the 11-inch and 13-inch models.

Discussion: AppleInsider, Bits, 9 to 5 Mac, displayblog, TUAW and jkOnTheRun

Louis Gray:

Apple, Google Agree Web is Future of Software Delivery — Apple's announcement this morning of a Mac App Store, part of OS X 10.7 Lion starting next year, and for 10.6 users as soon as 90 days from now, spells another nail in the coffin for the retail box model of software discovery, purchase and installation.

Discussion: MacStories

Chris Burns / SlashGear:
Apple FaceTime for the Desktop and Laptop Announced, Beta Available Today

Discussion: Macworld, Gizmodo, Disruptive Telephony, Download Squad, CrunchGear, Apple, AppleInsider, Skype Journal, Engadget, Silicon Alley Insider, GeekSmack, TiPb and Digital Daily

Vlad Savov / Engadget:
Apple announces iLife '11, $49 upgrade or free with every new Mac, available today

Discussion: Gizmodo, Apple, PC World, CrunchGear, Podcasting News, 9 to 5 Mac, Gearlog, SlashGear, Black Web 2.0, CNET News, The Next Web, Ars Technica and AppleInsider

Donna Tapellini / Consumer Reports Electronics Blog:
Live from Apple: iPhoto 11 gets Facebook enhancements, better book publishing

Discussion: TUAW

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

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) …

Kevin C. Tofel / GigaOM:
At $600, Is Verizon's Android Tablet DOA? Maybe Not.

Discussion: eWeek, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Liliputing, dailywireless.org, PhoneNews.com and MediaPost Raw

Joe Hewitt:

Android and Open Source — Yesterday I made some comments on Twitter that were critical of Android's claims of openness. As many have learned the hard way, it can be challenging to discuss a complex subject in 140 character chunks without omitting important parts of your opinions, so I want to clarify some things.

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, GMSV, TechCrunch, p2pnet and Velocity

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 …

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, socalTECH.com and Neowin.net

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 …

Discussion: eWeek, TechCrunch, Electronista, FierceCIO News, NYConvergence.com and MSDN Blogs

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's company.

Discussion: VentureBeat, Netflix, The Atlantic Online, VideoNuze, DSLreports, CNET News, NewTeeVee, Between the Lines Blog, paidContent, Electronista, 24/7 Wall St. and Multichannel News

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?

Discussion: Download Squad, GMSV, ReadWriteWeb, Geekosystem and Tech Report

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.

Discussion: Gizmodo, Mashable!, Gadgetell, The Toybox Blog, SlashGear, Gearlog, TechSpot and Lifehacker

Sara Jerome / The Hill:

Yahoo chief: ‘Do I look like a wimp?’ — Yahoo chief executive Carol Bartz addressed commentary that she should be fired in an interview Wednesday with Fox Business. — She sounded undaunted: “Look at what Yahoo is doing. If I am being shown the door, I am coming in the door. Watch what we are doing.

Discussion: TechCrunch

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: Press Panda Security, Erictric, Crave and blogs.chron.com

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).

Discussion: paidContent, alarm:clock, VatorNews, SiliconANGLE, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, Screenwerk and MediaPost Raw

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).

Discussion: The Register, New York Times, CNET News, VentureBeat, internetnews.com, Tech Trader Daily, Business Wire and Bloomberg

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.”

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 …

Discussion: GigaOM and blogs.secondlife.com

Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:

Office 365: Sorry, folks. This is not Office in the cloud — Microsoft held a 30-minute press conference on October 19 to unveil its strategy for planned upgrades to its Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), its Live@Edu offering and its Office Live Small Business service.

Discussion: Computerworld and Microsoft

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