Top Items:
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Google's Groupon Offer: $5.3 Billion, With $700 Million Earnout — According to sources close to the situation, Google has offered $5.3 billion for Groupon, in what will be its largest acquisition yet if completed. — Sources said the deal for the social buying site seemed likely to be struck …
Discussion:
paidContent, Google Watch, Screenwerk, Search Engine Land, DealBook, broadstuff, Times of India, Hillicon Valley, SAI, TechEye, Chicago Tribune, MarketBeat, TechCrunch, Deal Journal, Epicenter, The Huffington Post, Mashable!, VentureBeat, The Equity Kicker, VatorNews, the Econsultancy blog, PE Hub Blog, eWeek, Network World, WebProNews, BloggingStocks, Under the Radar, Search Engine Watch and Pulse2
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Aoife White / Bloomberg:
Google Investigated by European Union Over Online Ads, Search — Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) — Google Inc. is being investigated by European Union regulators for allegedly demoting rival services in its search results and for restrictions that may prevent websites accepting some competing ads.
Discussion:
PC World, VentureBeat, TechEye, Fortune, GigaOM, Guardian, Digital Trends, Search Engine Land, New York Times, Telegraph, SAI, Computerworld, Fast Company, Reuters, BBC, TechCrunch, DailyTech, Engadget, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, Electronista, TechCrunch Europe, BGR, The Next Web, WebProNews and TheStreet.com
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EU Press Room:
Antitrust: Commission probes allegations of antitrust violations by Google — The European Commission has decided to open an antitrust investigation into allegations that Google Inc. has abused a dominant position in online search, in violation of European Union rules (Article 102 TFEU).
Discussion:
paidContent, CNET News, Financial Times, Telegraph, The Register, Tnooz, V3.co.uk and THINQ.co.uk
Google Public Policy Blog:
Our thoughts on the European Commission review — Udi Manber, Vice President, Engineering — (Cross-Posted from the European Public Policy Blog) — At Google, we've always focused on putting the user first by providing the best possible answers as quickly as possible …
Daniel Rubino / WPCentral.com:
Rumor: January Windows Phone 7 update to be massive, catches up with iPhone — We've been covering the rumored software update for Windows Phone 7 for sometime now, even having our forum members add some info to the mix. So far, the update is suppose to have the following features:
Stacey Higginbotham / GigaOM:
Forget Net Neutrality, Comcast Might Break the Web — The fight that erupted today between Level 3 and Comcast involves an esoteric agreement between two of the Internet's big players providers colliding with a series of equally arcane policy arguments, but at its core this fight is about money.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Susan Crawford blog, CNET News, Post Tech, Gizmodo, Media Decoder, Digital Society, msnbc.com and Kotaku, more at Mediagazer »
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Joe Waz / Comcast Voices:
Comcast Comments on Level 3
Discussion:
Computerworld, Boing Boing, Epicenter, The Register, Between the Lines Blog, Light Reading, Pulse2, paidContent, GamePolitics News, MediaPost and Hacking NetFlix
Level 3 Communications:
Level 3 Communications Issues Statement Concerning Comcast's Actions
Discussion:
Engadget, Tech Trader Daily, SAI, Data Center Knowledge, GigaOM, Techdirt, SlashGear, Geek News Central, Fortune, CircleID, DailyFinance, DSLreports, ITworld.com and CNET News, more at Mediagazer »
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
Kinect is Selling 2X as Fast as the iPad — The iPad was crowned the fastest-adopted consumer electronic device ever last month, stealing the title from the once-coveted DVD player. Records are made to be broken, though, and the Microsoft Kinect has already come out of the gate twice as fast.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Gearlog, Newlaunches.com, TechFlash, Erictric, Go Rumors, WinRumors and Deep Jive Interests
Mark Gurman / 9 to 5 Mac:
Apple makes PhotoFast stop production of speedy 256 GB MacBook Air SSDs — Back in late October we reported that PhotoFast began producing 256GB SSD upgrade kits for Apple's latest MacBook Air lineup. PhotoFast's third-party SSD upgrade for the new MacBook Airs read and write at 250MB/s …
Discussion:
Macworld, MacRumors, Gizmodo, DailyTech, THINQ.co.uk, SlashGear, Liliputing, Electronista, Engadget, Ubergizmo, SAI, Digital Daily and GigaOM, Thanks:markgurman
Ben Parr / Mashable!:
Google's Secret Social Initiative Delayed Until Spring 2011 [EXCLUSIVE] — Google's big social initiative, once thought to be a full-fledged social network named “Google Me,” is experiencing delays that have pushed back the launch until spring 2011. — Mashable has learned …
Discussion:
The Register, Softpedia News, Pulse2, SlashGear and SAI
Ingrid Lunden / mocoNews:
The Biggest iPad Subsidy Of All: Softbank Gives It Away - What's Behind It? — One more operator is offering a reduced price for the iPad if you take it on a two-year contract: Softbank in Japan is preparing to launch a deal that offers users a 16GB iPad for free.
Discussion:
Engadget, App Advice, O'Grady's PowerPage, MacNN, Softpedia News, IntoMobile, CrunchGear, SlashGear, AppleInsider, BlogsDNA, TUAW, MobileWhack.com, 9 to 5 Mac, Go Rumors, MacStories, Phones Review, Pulse2, iPodNN, msnbc.com, iClarified, MacDailyNews and Fortune
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Facebook Now Worth $50 Billion In Secondary Trading — It was just a few weeks ago that Accel Partners sold off around half a billion dollars of Facebook shares at a company valuation of $35 billion. If you thought that was insane, and a lot of commenters did, then don't read the rest of this post.
Discussion:
VatorNews and All Facebook
Lev Grossman / Time:
The Men Who Stole the World — A decade ago, four young men changed the way the world works. They did this not with laws or guns or money but with software: they had radical, disruptive ideas, which they turned into code, which they released on the Internet for free.
Jessica Guynn / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes officially launches Jumo, social network for social activism — Status update from Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook and the social media whiz kid behind Barack Obama's presidential campaign: On Tuesday he officially launched Jumo.
Discussion:
New York Times, Mashable!, VentureBeat, Techland, Neowin.net and TechCrunch
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Apple Exec Schiller Steps Out On Twitter A Bit More; Answers Questions, Troubleshoots — A week ago, it was revealed that Apple executive Phil Schiller was using Twitter. Actually, he had been on the service for about two years, but he wasn't active, nor was he verified, so no one was sure it was him.
Thomas Ricker / Engadget:
Sandisk, Sony, and Nikon propose 500MBps memory card with more than 2TB capacity — While the CompactFlash Association scoots along at a maximum transfer rate of 167MB per second under its just released CF6.0 specification, Sandisk, Sony, and Nikon are already looking to the future.
Discussion:
Inquirer, PC World, Geek.com, TechEye, Softpedia News and Electronista
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Instagram Captures Their First Big Brand Partner: National Geographic — There seems to be a common cycle for many startups. First, you capture users. Then, you capture brands/celebrities. Then you capture revenues. Most startups never make it past step one, let alone steps two and three.
Charles Arthur / Guardian:
Wikileaks evades hackers with shift to Amazon — Website moves front page to Amazon server hire service but keeps US embassy cables out of reach — Wikileaks, the site that has infuriated the US government by releasing thousands of US diplomatic cables, is being hosted by one of the symbols …
Discussion:
Collaboration 2.0 Blog, Digits, blogs.chron.com, CloudAve, SC Magazine US, iPhoneWorld.ca iPhone and ReadWriteWeb
Robert Quigley / Geekosystem:
How to Make Google Translate Beatbox — Not sure if this falls in the category of Easter Egg or clever manipulation, but either way, there go our afternoons: Redditor harrichr has devised a scheme for turning Google Translate into a makeshift beatbox machine. … For the lazy, just click this link and it'll be done for you.
Discussion:
Search Engine Land, TechCrunch and Neatorama
John Rennie / IEEE Spectrum:
Ray Kurzweil's Slippery Futurism — His stunning prophecies have earned him a reputation as a tech visionary, but many of them don't look so good on close inspection — Don't panic if you look for your computer today and can't find it. We have it on the authority of technology maven Ray Kurzweil …
Wall Street Journal:
Makers of Firefox Browser Explore Do-Not-Track Tool After Scrapping Earlier Effort — Makers of Firefox Browser Explore Do-Not-Track Tool After Scrapping Earlier Effort — The makers of the popular Firefox Web browser are exploring ways to create a do-not-track mechanism that could offer Internet users …
Discussion:
AdExchanger.com
Ben Parr / Mashable!:
Flock Social Browser Declares War on RockMelt With Version 3.5 — Flock, the self-described “social web browser,” is responding to the launch of RockMelt with the release of Flock 3.5, which boasts greater speed and added functionality. — The browser touts social integration …
Discussion:
GigaOM, The Next Web, Download Squad, Pulse2 and Ubergizmo
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
The Founder Institute Publishes Blacklist Of “Unsavory Characters” — The Founder Institute, a very early stage startup accelerator and entrepreneur training program, was launched in 2009 by Adeo Ressi. The company now has programs in a variety of cities in the U.S. and around the world - ten cities at the last count.
Discussion:
MobHappy
Ina Fried / Mobilized:
Microsoft's Plan B to Make Money in Phones: Patents — Although Microsoft is still hoping that Windows Phone 7 proves to be a hit, the company doesn't see its success as the only way to make a profit from all those millions it has poured into mobile phone technology.
Liz Gannes / NetworkEffect:
Twitter Gets a Hollywood Guy: Omid Ashtari — Twitter has hired its first official liaison to the stars: Creative Artists Agency veteran Omid Ashtari. His first day at the microblogging service was today. — Ashtari told me he is “going to be Twitter's L.A. person” and will be dealing with media companies and celebrities.
Discussion:
Lost Remote
Jasmin Melvin / Reuters:
FCC mulls broadcast airwaves for wireless use — (Reuters) - U.S. telecommunications regulators will vote on proposals to free up more airwaves for commercial wireless use on Tuesday in a meeting that could be overshadowed if plans to act on contentious Internet traffic rules are circulated.
