Techmeme: Groupon Aims to Emulate Facebook, Not Yahoo, After Walking Away From Deal (Ari Levy/Bloomberg)

1:35 PM ET, December 6, 2010

Top Items:

Introducing Nexus S with Gingerbread — The very first Android phone hit the market in November 2008. Just over two years later, Android's vision of openness has spurred the development of more than 100 different Android devices. Today, more than 200,000 Android devices are activated daily worldwide.

Android Developers Blog:

Android 2.3 Platform and Updated SDK Tools — Today we're announcing a new version of the Android platform — Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). It includes many new platform technologies and APIs to help developers create great apps. Some of the highlights include:

Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:

TechCrunch Review: Google Nexus S — For the last few days we've been using the Google Nexus S, manufactured by Samsung, with the new Android 2.3 “Gingerbread” operating system. This is a phone that was designed with direct input from the Google Android team.

Discussion: SAI, PC World, Guardian, Engadget, CrunchGear, The Atlantic Online, BGR, Gizmodo, Softpedia News, Android and Me, PhoneDog.com, Android Community, SlashGear, TmoNews, Android Phone Fans, GottaBeMobile, Techie Buzz, Electronista, Edible Apple and Geek.com, Thanks:alexia

Devindra Hardawar / VentureBeat:

Google finally spills the beans on Nexus S, coming Dec. 16 on T-Mobile — Get ready for the new Android king. Google has finally unveiled its Nexus One successor, the Nexus S, which will come equipped with the latest Android release, version 2.3 “Gingerbread.”

Discussion: The Toybox Blog, BlogsDNA and TmoNews

Abraham Murray / The Official Google Blog:

Discover more than 3 million Google eBooks from your choice of booksellers and devices — Today is the first page in a new chapter of our mission to improve access to the cultural and educational treasures we know as books. Google eBooks will be available in the U.S. from a new Google eBookstore.

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Google's New Bookstore Cracks Open the E-book Market — Google today launched its long-awaited electronic book store, called simply Google eBooks, with more than 3 million titles and 4,000 publishers participating as partners, including most of the major industry names.

Discussion: BetaNews, PC World, TechEye, SFGate, MacStories, Search Engine Land, eWeek, mocoNews, MediaMemo, USA Today, Technology Review, TUAW, The Next Web and Electronista

James McQuivey / paidContent:
The Ultimate Effect Of Google E-Books: A New Ad-Supported Model For Books

Discussion: GigaOM

Kirk Hiner / Appletell:

Appletell exclusive: Mac App Store to open December 13th? — An inside source has just told us that Apple is targeting a Monday, December 13th launch of the Mac App Store. The company apparently told developers to have their software prepared for a launch as early as Monday the 6th of this month …

Discussion: CNET News, ReadWriteWeb, Engadget, The Toybox Blog, MacRumors, App Advice, AppleInsider, I4U News, Tech Trader Daily, TechSpot, BlogsDNA, Softpedia News, MacStories, Notebooks.com, Ubergizmo, TUAW, Erictric, AppleBitch, Gearlog, 9 to 5 Mac, Geek.com and SlashGear, Thanks:aczafra

Nadia Damouni / Reuters:

AOL plots breakup, then merger with Yahoo: sources — (Reuters) - AOL Inc, undergoing a radical transformation into the king of content on the Internet, is actively exploring a breakup of the company involving a complicated series of transactions that may lead to a merger with Yahoo Inc, sources close to the plans said.

Discussion: Digital Trends, VatorNews, Hillicon Valley, Between the Lines Blog, TechCrunch, Inquirer, CNET News, DailyTech, Mashable!, John Battelle's Searchblog, Techland, Softpedia News, Search Engine Land and VentureBeat, more at Mediagazer »

Josh Wiseman / Facebook Blog:

Introducing the New Profile — Today I'm excited to introduce you to some improvements we've made to the Facebook profile, so now it's even easier for you to tell your story and learn about your friends. — A New Introduction — The profile begins with a quick overview of basic information …

Larry Dignan / Between the Lines Blog:
Facebook launches new profiles: Possible threat to LinkedIn?

Discussion: Notebooks.com

Jesse Stay / Stay N' Alive:
With New Profile Design, Facebook Launches List Sharing (Like Twitter's, but Better)

Discussion: BoomTown, Thanks:jesse

Neil Hughes / AppleInsider:

Verizon may pay Apple to keep iPhone away from T-Mobile, Sprint — With the launch of the Verizon iPhone widely expected in early 2011, the wireless carrier may pay Apple to keep its smartphone off of rival networks Sprint and T-Mobile. — Analyst Shaw Wu with Kaufman Bros. said in a note …

Discussion: GigaOM, TechFlash, MacRumors, Computerworld, 9 to 5 Mac, Digital Daily, Fortune, SAI, MarketBeat, Cult of Mac, Thoughts from the Sidelines, msnbc.com, TiPb, Electronista, GottaBeMobile, IntoMobile, MacStories, Edible Apple and SlashGear

Ari Levy / Bloomberg:

Groupon Aims to Emulate Facebook, Not Yahoo, After Walking Away From Deal — Groupon Inc., which rejected a Google Inc. takeover last week, is betting it can keep increasing its valuation after walking away from a deep-pocketed suitor, something Facebook Inc. pulled off and Yahoo! Inc. failed to do.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Pulse2, Sydney Morning Herald, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, The Next Web and The Register, Thanks:chadcat

Micah Baldwin / Learn to Duck: It All Changes When the Founder Drives a Porsche

Dwight Silverman / Houston Chronicle:

Consumer Reports: AT&T is the worst carrier — Consumer Reports is out with its latest survey of cell phone service by its members, and AT&T is now ranked as the worst in the country, as well as the worst in Houston. — In the 2009 survey, AT&T was at the bottom of the list locally, but came in next-to-last nationally.

Discussion: L.A. Times Tech Blog, IntoMobile, Mobilized, SlashGear, MobileBurn.com, techblog.dallasnews.com, DSLreports, Phones Review and iPhone Buzz, Thanks:dsilverman

Jay Yarow / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:

Mark Zuckerberg Rocked On 60 Minutes (And The Winklevosses Looked, Well, Pathetic) — Mark Zuckerberg just appeared on 60 Minutes. He talks about Facebook's redesign, watching himself in the Social Network, and the Winklevoss twins. We've embedded the video below.

Discussion: All Facebook, VentureBeat, BoomTown, paidContent, Guardian, Mashable!, mediabistro.com and Black Web 2.0, more at Mediagazer »

Mike Isaac / Social Medium:
Mark Zuckerberg's 60 Minutes Interview: Best Piece of Facebook PR Yet

Discussion: Computerworld, Thanks:mj_isaac

Seth Weintraub / 9 to 5 Mac:

Norman Foster to design Apple's new campus called ‘Apple City’ — El Economista reports (English)that renowned British architect Norman Foster is hard at work designing Apple's new campus in Cupertino. The 100 acre campus was picked up from HP last month for a measly $300M.

Discussion: AppleInsider, SlashGear, MacRumors, Gizmodo, Fortune and Softpedia News

Paul Graham:

Founder Control — Someone we funded is talking to VCs now, and asked me how common it was for a startup's founders to retain control of the board after a series A round. He said VCs told him this almost never happened. Ten years ago that was true. In the past, founders rarely kept control …

Tom Warren / WinRumors:

Leaked U.S. embassy cables suggest China uses access to Microsoft source code for cyber attacks — Leaked U.S. embassy cables suggest that China is using access to Microsoft source code for cyber warfare. — Revealed by The Guardian, the latest cable leak from WikiLeaks provides evidence …

Discussion: Hardware 2.0 Blog, Thanks:tomwarren

Werner Vogels / All Things Distributed:

Expanding the Cloud with DNS - Introducing Amazon Route 53 — I am very excited that today we have launched Amazon Route 53, a high-performance and highly-available Domain Name System (DNS) service. DNS is one of the fundamental building blocks of internet applications and was high …

Discussion: Amazon Web Services Blog, Softpedia News, Between the Lines Blog, CloudAve, CNET News, Inquirer and InfoQ

Associated Press:

Swiss cut off bank account for WikiLeaks' Assange — GENEVA (AP) — The Swiss postal system stripped WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange of a key fundraising tool Monday, accusing him of lying and immediately shutting down one of his bank accounts. — The swift action by Postfinance …

Discussion: New York Times and Associated Press

Milo Yiannopoulos / Telegraph:

Dark forces gunning for Google — Microsoft has been funding an organisation seemingly set up to make trouble for the search giant. — Last week's announcement that Google is to be investigated by the EU for allegedly giving preference to its own services and advertisers in search rankings …

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