Techmeme: China makes Skype illegal (Malcolm Moore/Telegraph)

6:55 PM ET, December 30, 2010

Top Items:

Peter Parkes / The Big Blog:

Skype for iPhone now with video calls — It's as simple as that: our iPhone app now comes with video. Download it now from the App Store, or read on to find out more. — Skype for iPhone lets you make and receive free Skype video calls on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, and works over both WiFi and 3G connections*.

Mark Gurman / 9 to 5 Mac:

Skype for iPhone gets Video Chat. Works over 3G and with Computers (data usage: 3.4MB per min.) — Skype just updated their Skype application for iOS to include video chat functionality. It works both over WiFi and 3G networks and two-way video calling is supported by the iPhone 4, iPod touch 4, and iPhone 3GS.

Discussion: SlashGear, Pocket-lint, PC World, L.A. Times Tech Blog, BlogsDNA, OS X Daily, App Advice, Appletell, Fast Company, Hardware 2.0 Blog, MacStories, Switched, SAI, Download Squad, Redmond Pie, IGN Gear, BGR, iThinkDifferent, Insanely Great Mac, MacNN, PhoneArena, Erictric, Macgasm and VentureBeat, Thanks:9to5toys

Chris Ziegler / Engadget:
Skype video calling for iPhone is official, available now (update: hands-on)

Malcolm Moore / Telegraph:

China makes Skype illegal — China on Thursday announced that it had made illegal the use of Skype, the popular internet telephony service, as the country continues to shut itself off from the rest of the world. — In the latest move dashing Western internet company hopes of breaking into China …

Discussion: ReadWriteWeb, PR Newswire, People's Daily Online, Computerworld, Agence France Presse, Fast Company, Switched, Macworld, Xinhua News Agency, Geekosystem, Appolicious Advisor, Geek.com, GigaOM and The Next Web

Jim Jansen / Pew Internet:

65% of internet users have paid for online content — Nearly two-thirds of internet users - 65% - have paid to download or access some kind of online content from the internet, ranging from music to games to news articles to adult material. Music, software, and apps are the most popular content …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Twist Image, CNET News, SiliconANGLE, PewResearch.org, Screenwerk, GigaOM, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, Joho the Blog, Black Web 2.0, Mashable!, Adotas, VatorNews and msnbc.com

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

Parsing Pew: What The Latest Online Content Buying Numbers Really Say — You are about to see a host of references to a new batch of numbers from the Pew Internet & American Life project pop up all over the place. The headline is tantalizing: 65 percent of those surveyed this fall paid for online content.

Discussion: L.A. Times Tech Blog, ReadWriteWeb, TeleRead and Electronista

Peter Burrows / Business Week:

Rethinking the iPhone Threat to AT&T — Apple will soon announce a new version of the iPhone that works on Verizon's network. But it's unclear whether that will leave AT&T, Apple's once exclusive U.S. service provider, in the lurch — Very soon, maybe by Valentine's Day, Apple (AAPL) …

AppleInsider:
Apple expected to hold event by Valentine's Day to announce Verizon iPhone

Discussion: Examiner, I4U News and Webomatica

David Goldman / CNNMoney:

Google: Your new phone carrier? — NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — From robot cars to wind farms, Google's expansive ambitions have taken it into some surprising corners of the tech field. Here's another it could tackle: Becoming your telephone company. — Google has assembled all the pieces …

Discussion: SAI, TechCrunch, IntoMobile, SlashGear, Search Engine Journal and Faster Forward

Electronista:

Kindle book lending quietly goes live — Amazon today quietly turned on Kindle book lending. The feature promised earlier mimics that of the Nook and lets users share a book once for two full weeks. The original owner's access to the book is temporarily revoked, but the feature works on both the Kindle reader and all apps.

Discussion: CNET News, The Digital Reader, App Advice, Engadget, BGR, SlashGear, mediabistro.com, ReadWriteWeb, pocketnow.com, BetaNews, VentureBeat, Switched, Gizmodo, The Next Web and Mashable!

Evan Blass / PocketNow:

“HTC Scribe” Is HTC's Upcoming Android Tablet? — HTC has just filed a trademark application for “HTC Scribe,” suggesting that this will be the name of its upcoming Android tablet. As if the name alone wasn't suggestive enough, HTC has listed the good seeking protection as a “handheld wireless device, namely, a tablet computer.”

Discussion: IntoMobile, GottaBeMobile, Engadget, SlashGear, MobileWhack.com, Know Your Cell, BGR, netbooknews.com, Android Community, Thoughts from the Sidelines, Droid Life, PhoneDog.com and AndroidGuys

Fred / A VC:

Mobile Economics Will Trend Toward Web Economics — I've been saying for a while now that I think mobile economics will trend toward web economics as the mobile web goes mainstream. In other words, the business models that work best on the web will ultimately work best in mobile.The corollary …

Discussion: GigaOM and MarketingVOX, more at Mediagazer »

Neil Hughes / AppleInsider:

Apple investigating Ping-like social networking for retail shops — Apple has shown interest in creating a social networking tool for brick-and-mortar shopping, allowing iPhone owners to share comments, opinions and recommendations about any type of product.

Discussion: MacRumors, Mobile Marketing Watch, TUAW, SlashGear and MarketingVOX

Matt Brian / The Next Web:

Interesti.ng Nigerian domains go on sale, so get registeri.ng — With the registration of the first .ng domain in Nigeria occuring today, we could be on the verge of witnessing some new internet startup naming conventions and companies utilising the top level domain of the African country.

Thanks:m4tt

Deborah Gage / Venture Capital Dispatch:

The “War” For Top Talent In Silicon Valley — The unemployment rate in Silicon Valley may be higher than the 9% national average, but that's not making it any easier for some young technology start-ups looking to hire engineers. — Todd McKinnon, the co-founder and chief executive …

Experian Hitwise:

Facebook was the top search term in 2010 for second straight year — Social network search term tops list for fifth straight year; Facebook top-visited Website for first year. New York, N.Y., Dec. 29, 2010 - Experian® Hitwise®, a part of Experian Marketing Services …

Dan Primack / Fortune:

Big sale: Groupon discloses $500 million investment — Just weeks after spurning a takeover offer from Google, online coupon site Groupon is in the money via a giant new investment. So are many of its earliest backers. — Groupon, the online coupon site that recently turned …

Discussion: VentureBeat, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, TechCrunch, DealBook, SAI, VatorNews, Mashable!, DailyFinance and PE Hub Blog

Florin / Unwired View:

About 4 million Nokia N8 smartphones sold until now? — Back in November, when Nokia announced that the N8 “has received the highest amount of consumer pre-orders” in its history, it didn't say how many units it sold (or expects to sell). — Now we're hearing that Nokia may have shipped …

Discussion: BGR, PhoneDog.com, MobileWhack.com, PhoneArena and Pocket-lint

John Paczkowski / Digital Daily:

Barnes & Noble: We Have a Best-Selling E-Reader Too — If ambiguous, imprecise sales milestones are good enough for Amazon, then they're good enough for Barnes & Noble too. The company said today that its Nook e-reader is its best-selling product ever. Which is exactly what Amazon …

Discussion: SAI, CNET News, Barnes & Noble, Inc., IntoMobile and Tech Trader Daily

Lance Whitney / CNET News:

Amazon, Apple, Netflix tops in customer satisfaction — Online stores scored record sales this holiday season, but it's not just low prices and a tentatively improving economy that may have brought in the buyers. — Though customer satisfaction with the top 40 online retailers dipped 1 percent this year …

Discussion: Digital Trends, CrunchGear, MarketingVOX, The Loop and Web Analytics World

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