Techmeme: The Android Google Reader app is here! (Peter Baldwin/Official Google Reader Blog)

6:55 AM ET, December 2, 2010

Top Items:

Amit Singhal / The Official Google Blog:

Being bad to your customers is bad for business — A recent article by the New York Times related a disturbing story. By treating your customers badly, one merchant told the paper, you can generate complaints and negative reviews that translate to more links to your site; which, in turn, make it more prominent in search engines.

Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:

Google: Now Using Online Merchant Reviews As Ranking Signal — Earlier this week, the New York Times spotlighted how a merchant with bad reviews nonetheless was ranked well in Google. Today, Google has announced that merchant reviews are now part of its ranking system, to prevent such things from happening again.

Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Google Changes Its Rank Algorithm In Response To DecorMyEyes Story

Discussion: Search Engine Land, Social Studies Blog, Examiner and Media Maverick

Rachel Slajda / TPMMuckraker:

How Lieberman Got Amazon To Drop Wikileaks — Early this week, after hacker attacks on its site, Wikileaks moved its operation, including all those diplomatic cables, to the greener pastures of Amazon.com's cloud servers. But today, it was down again and mid-afternoon we found out the reason …

Discussion: Computerworld, broadstuff, Pulse2, ReadWriteWeb and Daring Fireball

Democracy in America:

Missing the point of WikiLeaks — DAVID BROOK's recent column and Ross Douthat's reply to my defence of WikiLeaks have helped me to pin down and articulate the source of a nagging but previously inchoate sense that somehow we're all missing the bigger picture.

Discussion: Soaring on a Pig …

Peter Svensson / Associated Press:
WikiLeaks site, pummeled by attacks, leaves US

Discussion: Guardian, Gawker, VentureBeat, Ars Technica, paidContent, BoxBinary Blog, Electricpig.co.uk, Neowin.net, BGR, SAI, Boing Boing, ReadWriteWeb, Techie Buzz and TechCrunch, more at Mediagazer »

Peter Baldwin / Official Google Reader Blog:

The Android Google Reader app is here! — It's been a long time coming, but the official Google Reader app for Android is finally here. Let's jump into the features, shall we? — The app supports all the basics you'd expect like unread counts, friends, sharing, liking, and starring, but it also has a whole lot more, including:

Robert Andrews / paidContent:UK:

BBC Plans Subscription-Only U.S. iPlayer On iPad — This is huge. The BBC will launch the long-awaited global version of its iPlayer TV catch-up service on a subscription-only basis, and initially only on iPad. — The service, carrying BBC shows like Doctor Who on-demand …

Discussion: App Advice, THINQ.co.uk, SlashGear, Electricpig.co.uk, PC Pro, TUAW, The Next Web, AppleInsider, Engadget, MacStories, Gizmodo, MacNN and techeblog.com, more at Mediagazer »

9 to 5 Mac:

Apple opens up new business with POS systems — Late last year there were rumors that Apple would release their EasyPay point-of-sale system as a commercial product to third parties. Last month Apple's first customer, Gap Inc's Old Navy subsidiary began piloting them.

Discussion: SAI, IntoMobile, AppleInsider and iClarified

Ina Fried / Mobilized:

Windows Phone 7 Update Is No iPhone Killer — Since it is bubble-bursting Wednesday here at Mobilized, let me assure you that the forthcoming update to Windows Phone 7 is neither “massive” nor an iPhone killer, despite some reports to the contrary. — On the other hand, the software update …

Discussion: Mobility Digest, IntoMobile, InformationWeek, The Next Web, Electronista, Appolicious Advisor, Tech Sanity Check and Electricpig.co.uk

Erica Ogg / CNET News:

Apple patents glasses-less 3D projection — A diagram of how Apple's proposed 3D projection system would work. — It's not that much of a surprise that Apple thinks watching 3D content with plastic glasses is dumb. — And the company that's all about sleek, cool, and simple has actually …

Discussion: The Register, SlashGear, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Electricpig.co.uk and Pocket-lint

David Sarno / L.A. Times Tech Blog:

Verizon to switch on 4G network on Sunday, but not for smartphones — Verizon Wireless said Wednesday that it would turn on its 4G wireless network Sunday in 38 U.S. cities, though the new network will not support smartphones until the first half of 2011. — Instead, the 4G network …

Ina Fried / Mobilized:
Verizon's 4G Network Is Windows-Only, for Now

Discussion: Between the Lines Blog and 9 to 5 Mac

Gmail Blog:

New in Labs: Smart mute and easier ways to unmute — If you subscribe to a lot of mailing lists and like to keep an empty inbox, muting (or preventing a conversation from re-entering your inbox) is an essential feature. We just made a few changes that should make muting even better.

Discussion: The Next Web and SEO and Tech Daily

Dan Frommer / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:

If Net Neutrality Is Coming, So Is The End Of All-You-Can-Eat Internet Access — It looks like FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and the lobbyists from Google will get their way: Net neutrality seems surer than ever, for better or for worse*. — But this will likely mean the end …

Discussion: Inquirer and MediaPost

Arik Hesseldahl / NewEnterprise:
No One Is Happy With the FCC Chairman's Speech, Except Broadband Investors

Discussion: FM Blog, New York Times, The Register, Between the Lines Blog, GMSV, Media Access Project and Reboot FCC Blog

Evelyn M. Rusli / DealBook:

Google's Bid for Groupon Is Considered a Bargain — As investors fret that Google's $6 billion bid for Groupon is too high a price to pay, new details about the company's sales and growth suggest that it might be more like one of Groupon's cut-rate deals. — An individual close to Groupon …

Discussion: Understanding Google … and MediaPost

Naval Ravikant / Startup Boy:

There is No Angel Bubble. There are Many Angel Bubbles. — A common meme floating around right now is that there is an Angel investing bubble. — In the sense that an enormous amount of capital is being placed at risk, and its popping will have grave macro-economic consequences, No.

Discussion: Elias Bizannes and broadstuff

Paul Graham / Paul Graham's Essays:

Tablets — I was thinking recently how inconvenient it was not to have a general term for iPhones, iPads, and the corresponding things running Android. The closest to a general term seems to be “mobile devices,” but that (a) applies to any mobile phone, and (b) doesn't really capture what's distinctive about the iPad.

Taylor Wimberly / Android and Me:

Quad-core processors coming to Android devices in the near future — I'm not sure who coined the phrase first, but those “Chuck Norris quad-core processors” that everyone likes to joke about on Twitter could make their way into Android devices sooner than you think.

Discussion: pocketnow.com, GottaBeMobile, PhoneArena, Android Phone Fans and The Next Web

Mike Bradshaw / The Official Google Blog:

U.S. General Services Administration is going Google — (Cross-posted on the Google Enterprise Blog) — The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) today announced its decision to move 17,000 employees and contractors to Google Apps for Government. GSA oversees the business …

Discussion: Digital Daily, The Next Web, Beyond Search, TechNet Blogs and VatorNews

Alex Wilhelm / The Next Web:

Why Microsoft loves homebrew and hacking — When the Kinect came out around the world, excited hackers took to the high-powered gadget with glee, taking it apart, and recoding it to new purposes. Microsoft initially registered unhappiness with their work which it later fully recanted, coming out in favor of tinkering with the Kinect.

Discussion: Ars Technica, ChevronWP7 and Go Rumors

Kara Swisher / BoomTown:

Amazon Poised to Make a Major Strategic Investment in LivingSocial to Counter Groupoogle (or Goopon?) Threat — With the red-hot acquisition dance between Google and Groupon sucking up all the attention, it's easy once again to ignore the No. 2 player in the fast-growing social buying space-LivingSocial.

Discussion: PE Hub Blog, Screenwerk, Mashable!, L.A. Times Tech Blog, SAI and The Next Web

Anil Dash:

Gawker Is A Blog. Just Like Twitter. — I love blogs. Nick Denton wrote over on Lifehacker about the pending redesign of Gawker's blogs, with a lot of great insights into the leading edge of web publishing today. As with any thoughtful, provocative writing of such length …

Discussion: Felix Salmon, Bits and John Gapper's Business Blog, more at Mediagazer »

Federal Trade Commission:

FTC Staff Issues Privacy Report Offers Framework for Consumers, Businesses, and Policymakers — Endorses “Do Not Track” to Facilitate Consumer Choice About Online Tracking The Federal Trade Commission, the nation's chief privacy policy and enforcement agency for 40 years …

Walt Mossberg / Wall Street Journal:

Apple TV: Streaming and Renting From Devices — Of all the set-top boxes designed to bring online and computer content to your TV, perhaps the best known is Apple TV. But, unlike its maker's other products, Apple TV hasn't caught on in a big way. In fact, Apple CEO Steve Jobs calls it a “hobby.”

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