Top Items:

Facebook and the 500-Person Threshold — Goldman Sachs's investment in Facebook once again raises the issue of whether the Securities and Exchange Commission will force the social networking company into an initial public offering. In particular, this issue arises because of the special purpose vehicle …
Discussion:
Mashable!, The Atlantic Online, SAI, Deal Journal, Salon, Bronte Media, WebProNews and Digital Trends
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Facebook's $50 Billion Goldman Goldmine: Don't Expect an IPO
Discussion:
DealBook and Don Dodge on The Next …

Goldman Sachs Clients Can Invest In Facebook's IPO — But You Can't
Discussion:
Deal Journal, Adotas, Technology Review, Kevin Burton's NEW FeedBlog, DealBook, Rational Irrationality, Felix Salmon and Fortune

Facebook's Valuation: By the Numbers
Discussion:
Deal Journal, Mediaite, The Atlantic Online, EngageDigital and DealBook


Best Buy's new ‘Buy Back’ program to launch January 5th for phones, laptops, tablets, and TVs — One of our trusted Best Buy sources has come through with several documents that provide additional details on the retailer's new Buy Back program. The new protection plan …
Discussion:
Examiner, Gizmodo, VatorNews, Technologizer, Pulse2, SlashGear, PhoneDog.com, IntoMobile, Electronista, Engadget, Techland, Thoughts from the Sidelines and iClarified


Apple Leads Smartphone Race, while Android Attracts Most Recent Customers — The race for the lead in U.S. smartphone operating system (OS) consumer market share is tighter than it has ever been. According to November data from The Nielsen Company, the popularity of the Android OS among …
Discussion:
ThinkMobile, BetaNews, PC World, Mobilized, Pulse2, Computerworld, Android News, Rumours …, Android Community, Mashable!, 901am, Gadget Lab, Mobile Marketing Watch, Bits, Android Tapp, AppleInsider, IntoMobile, Ars Technica, PC Magazine, PhoneDog.com, InformationWeek, FierceDeveloper, WebProNews, ReadWriteWeb, Yahoo! News, TUAW, CNET News, Evolver.fm, 9 to 5 Mac, GigaOM, Hillicon Valley, mocoNews, SlashGear, Telecompetitor, MarketWatch, Web Analytics World and Internet2Go


Marissa Mayer on Google's Failed Groupon Bid — After incessant buzz that Google was looking to buy Groupon, word finally came that the fast-growing “deal of the day” company had turned the tech giant down. So, does that mean Google might launch its own coupon-type service instead?
Discussion:
paidContent, Fortune, Deal Journal, New York Magazine and SAI


Twitter And Facebook Really Are Killing RSS (At Least For TechCrunch Visitors) — Earlier today, we ran a “TechCrunch 2010 In Review” post featuring some key data WordPress.com sent our way for 2010. Interesting stuff all around. However, as some people have noticed, in our top referrers for the year …
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What will become of Twitter? — The current crop of tech writers …
Discussion:
parislemon, more at Mediagazer »


Q&A Site Quora Builds Buzz With A-List Answerers — It's not just what gets answered here, but who's doing the answering. No matter what your question, Charlie Cheever, Adam D'Angelo, and the Quora team are confident you'll find an expert answer on their site.
Discussion:
Twittercism and TechCrunch
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Trouble In the House of Google — Let's look at where stackoverflow.com traffic came from for the year of 2010. — When 88.2% of all traffic for your website comes from a single source, criticizing that single source feels ... risky. And perhaps a bit churlish, like looking a gift horse in the mouth …


Honeycomb to Require Powerful Processor, Screen: OEM — Google's new Android Honeycomb tablet OS will require a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor to run properly, said Bobby Cha, managing director of Korean consumer electronics firm Enspert. — That means that many existing Android tablets …
Discussion:
Androinica, Android Phone Fans, Electronista, PhoneArena, PhoneDog.com, BGR, IntoMobile, Android Community, Android News, Rumours …, GottaBeMobile, Engadget, pocketnow.com, Gizmodo, Erictric, PC Magazine and Droid Life, Thanks:saschasegan


New iTunes Features Aim To Outdo DVD — Some of the coolest so-called “extras” embedded only on the iTunes' version of several recent film releases from Sony (NYSE: SNE) Pictures aren't even mentioned in their promotional materials. That's because Sony Pictures Home Entertainment …
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb, AppleInsider, Techland, TiPb, MacRumors, GigaOM and iClarified, more at Mediagazer »


What the hell is going on with TV? — Google TV. Xbox. Apple TV. Roku. All these gadgets promise to make television more like the web. There's just one hitch: None of them are ready for primetime. — By Jessi Hempel, senior writer — You don't have to wait for Thursday nights to watch The Office these days.
Discussion:
VentureBeat and Stage Two, more at Mediagazer »


Angel investing, my first three years — I started investing in startups with the assumption that I don't know what I'm doing (which is always true), but that the only way to actually learn anything is through experience. Therefore, my goal was to invest in a variety of startups …
Discussion:
TechCrunch and VentureBeat, Thanks:louisgray

How sticky is Android? — There is an assumption floating around the debates in this and other forums that the “battle” between mobile platforms is a land grab. The unspoken implication of this assumption is that once a user is captured she is permanently locked into the chosen platform never …

Motorola's Jha Seeks to Defy History After Phone-Unit Spinoff — Jan. 4 (Bloomberg) — Motorola Mobility Inc., the mobile- phone maker that's being spun off from Motorola Inc. today, won't just need to challenge Apple Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd. to succeed. It also needs to defy history.
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Motorola's big split takes place tomorrow
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, ITworld.com and Engadget


Reddit Has Banner Year, Boasts 232% Traffic Growth — Social news site Reddit has just posted some interesting statistics on a remarkable 2010 filled with traffic spikes and user engagement growth. Most notable? The jump in pageviews from 250 million in January of 2010 to 829 million in December of 2010, a 232% growth.
Discussion:
Lost Remote, ReadWriteWeb, Mashable!, NewsGrange and VentureBeat, more at Mediagazer »


Study: 40% of iPad owners have Kindles too — Despite stereotypes, almost half of iPad owners also have a Kindle at the same time, JPMorgan found in a new study. About 40 percent have Amazon's e-reader, and another 23 percent still plan to buy one in the next year.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, ThinkMobile and SAI

Intel's Sandy Bridge sucks up to Hollywood with DRM — CHIPMAKER Intel has cut a deal with Hollywood in its Sandy Bridge chips to put digital restrictions management (DRM) in them. — Intel's sellout to the big media companies makes it ‘safer’ for Hollywood studios to offer premium movies …
Discussion:
Examiner, Wall Street Journal, GigaOM, Reuters, FierceIPTV, Pulse2, TG Daily, GMSV, 1001 Noisy Cameras and Engadget, more at Mediagazer »

Windows 7 breaks 20% share barrier — But XP projected to still account for 13% when it's retired in 2014 — Computerworld - Windows 7 cracked the 20% share mark last month, a milestone the problem-plagued Vista never reached, a Web measurement vendor said over the weekend.
Discussion:
Electronista


Google discloses IE ‘cross fuzz’ flaw before Microsoft can issue patch — For the second time in four months, a Google researcher has publicly revealed a fresh security flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser. — In doing so this past weekend, Google researcher Michal Zalewski flatly declined …
Discussion:
Computerworld, PC Magazine and SC Magazine US

LimeWire seeks data from Amazon in bid to avoid big payout to RIAA — As LimeWire awaits its jury trial to determine how much it owes the recording industry, the company is trying to get the inside scoop on how much the RIAA really makes off the work it represents.


Apple's market cap tops $300 billion — Giving ExxonMobil a run for its money in the race to be the world's most valuable company — In a broad 2011 rally that pushed the Dow up nearly a point in mid-morning trading Monday, Apple (AAPL) popped more than $7 (2.25%) to hit new record intraday highs …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, BGR, The Apple Core Blog, Mashable!, TechCrunch, TUAW, Pulse2, Tech Check, Forbes, Engadget, ReadWriteWeb, 9 to 5 Mac, AOL News, MacRumors, iClarified and everythingiCafe