Techmeme: PlayStation Phone ‘Zeus Z1’ … (Paul Miller/Engadget)

7:25 AM ET, December 4, 2010

Top Items:

Melissa Harris / Chicago Breaking Business:

Sources: Groupon rejects Google's offer; will stay independent — The deal didn't tip after all. Chicago-based Groupon Inc. has eschewed an acquisition offer from Google Inc. and is staying independent, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation.

Kara Swisher / BoomTown:

Groupon Annual Revenues Actually $2 Billion — According to sources close to the situation, Groupon's actual run rate for this year is clocking in at $2 billion in revenue, rather than the widely quoted $500 million. — Who knew hawking spas treatments and stripper pole lessons could be so lucrative?

Discussion: TechCrunch, Screenwerk, CNNMoney.com, Examiner, The Blog Herald, paidContent, SAI and eMoney

Joanna Stern / Engadget:

This is the Google Chrome OS netbook keyboard — It's just a Chrome OS sorta day, isn't it? To catch you up here, we told you earlier that Google is planning to announce its own Chrome OS netbook this coming Tuesday, and well, now we're peering at a supposed picture of that very machine's keyboard.

Discussion: Fortune, Go Rumors, The Next Web, Electronista and Erictric

Joanna Stern / Engadget:

Sources: Google-branded Chrome OS netbook to launch on December 7th — The headline pretty much reveals the brunt of it, but indeed, it looks like next week Google is going to start talking about how its Chrome operating system is coming along. Multiple sources have told us that Google …

Discussion: VentureBeat, Softpedia News, SlashGear, Newlaunches.com, WebProNews, MediaMemo, Epicenter, Liliputing, Fortune, Pulse2, Erictric, TechSpot, Electronista, Gizmodo, Webmonkey, internetnews.com, Download Squad, The Next Web and iClarified

MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Google Begins Emailing Extension Developers To Get Ready For Chrome Web Store

Discussion: SAI

Adam Mills / The Next Web:
Google Confirms Chrome Event For December 7th

Discussion: Engadget, Startup Meme and WinRumors

Mario Queiroz / The Official Google Blog:

On demand is in demand: we've agreed to acquire Widevine — With rapidly improving broadband and wireless speeds, more powerful smartphones, and higher resolution screens on devices of all shapes and sizes, it's becoming easier than ever to watch video wherever you want, whenever you want.

Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Google Buys On Demand Video Service Widevine To Bolster Its Own TV Efforts

Discussion: Widevine Technologies

Joseph Galante / Bloomberg:

PayPal Cuts WikiLeaks' Access to Funds Amid Global Scrutiny — Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) — PayPal Inc., the payment processor owned by EBay Inc., cut access today to the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.org for violating its acceptable use policy. — PayPal suspended the account after the U.S …

Discussion: Mashable!, The Next Web, ReadWriteWeb, The PayPal Blog and Inquirer

Matt Raymond / Library of Congress Blog:

Why the Library of Congress Is Blocking Wikileaks — The news media are reporting today, accurately, that the Library of Congress is blocking access to the Wikileaks site across its computer systems, including those for use by patrons in the reading rooms. — I wanted to provide …

Discussion: TPMMuckraker, ResourceShelf, Techdirt, Scripting News and Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Guardian:

Julian Assange answers your questions — The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, answers readers' questions about the release of more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables — Fwoggie … Julian Assange: — I am an Australian citizen and I miss my country a great deal.

Discussion: Threat Level, GigaOM, techPresident, Netcraft, TechFlash, ITProPortal, CrunchGear, Digital Trends, TechnoLlama, Tech Europe, virtualeconomics, zunguzungu, CNN, News: News blog, SAI, SlashGear, THINQ.co.uk, TorrentFreak and Erictric

Paul Miller / Engadget:

PlayStation Phone ‘Zeus Z1’ caught on video again, this time you can actually see it (update) — Wow guys, we just spotted a new video of the PlayStation Phone, codenamed Zeus Z1, and this time we get a long, loving look at the entire device — a refreshing contrast to last time's blurry tease.

Discussion: IntoMobile, MobileCrunch, Eurodroid, Android Police, Startup Meme, Kotaku, Destructoid, Mobilized, LaptopMemo, AppleInsider, VG247, SlashPhone, Electronista, TiPb, Mashable!, Fortune, MacStories, Go Rumors, The Next Web, Phones Review, PhoneArena, Joystiq, Digital Trends, techeblog.com and Gizmodo

Mike Cohen / The Official Google Blog:

Can we talk? Better speech technology with Phonetic Arts — In Star Trek, they don't spend a lot of time typing things on keyboards—they just speak to their computers, and the computers speak back. It's a more natural way to communicate, but getting there requires chipping away at a range of hard research problems.

Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Google Acquires Phonetic Arts To Make Robo-Voices Sound Human

Discussion: ReadWriteWeb

Zach Epstein / BGR:

RadioShack takes $50 off Apple's iPhone 4 and 3GS — RadioShack announced a limited-time promotion on Friday that offers a $50 discount on Apple's iPhone 4 or iPhone 3GS. The promotion applies to brand new devices — not refurbished phones — and there are no tricky terms and conditions to be afraid of.

Discussion: L.A. Times Tech Blog, everythingiCafe, SlashPhone, Electronista, Go Rumors, 9 to 5 Mac, iLounge, App Advice, Apple Gazette, iClarified, GigaOM and TUAW

Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:

Facebook Shares Only Gain 1.2% Since Last Week — Ok, I flat out love these auctions that SecondMarket are holding for privately held Facebook shares. Last week the first one closed, and $40 million of stock changed hands at $20.76 per share, valuing the company at roughly $50 billion.

Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:

Angry Birds On Android Projected To Generate $1 Million Per Month In Advertising — One of the most successful mobile games right now is Angry Birds, which has been downloaded more than 30 million times across different mobile platforms, with 12 million of those being paid downloads on iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches.

Discussion: Mobilized, The Official Google Blog, IntoMobile, PhoneArena, Fortune, BGR, Android Phone Fans, Eurodroid and SAI

John Ciancutti / The Netflix Tech Blog:

Why We Choose HTML5 for User Experiences on Devices — This is John Ciancutti, VP of Personalization Technology here at Netflix. As you know, last month we released a completely new user experience for Netflix on the PS3. I thought I would tell you about the technology choices we're using …

Discussion: IntoMobile and Mashable!

Galen Gruman / InfoWorld:

The strange, unpredictable pricing of 3G data plans — You'd think a megabyte would cost the same no matter what device used it. You'd be wrong — Cellular carriers inhabit a Twilight Zone universe. For example, they offer “unlimited” data plans that are, in fact, limited and subject to …

Oliver Chiang / SelectStart:

Digg's New Notifications Feature Looks A Lot Like Facebook's — According to Digg's blog, the social news site has added a new notifications feature to its service. The update consists of email and on-site notification options, and the on-site version looks a lot Facebook's notifications.

Discussion: ReadWriteWeb and The Next Web

Owen Thomas / VentureBeat:

Facebook's big move to Madison Avenue — The world's largest social network could soon be opening up shop on Madison Avenue, the iconic address long linked to New York City's advertising industry. — Facebook has leased two floors at 335 Madison Avenue, according to a source …

Discussion: WebProNews and All Facebook

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