Techmeme: Memo to Facebook: Supersize It (Connie Loizos/PE Hub Blog)

3:55 PM ET, January 13, 2011

Top Items:

Marco Arment / Marco.org:

Too much hardware choice — From my Verizon iPhone post: … Not enough Nick's response: … Yes, it is, for a few major reasons. — Most people don't read gadget blogs or even know what Android is. They generally hear about individual phones, without distinguishing much based on operating system.

Discussion: Coyote Tracks

JR Raphael / JR Raphael's blog:

Android upgrades: Which manufacturers can you trust? — For most smartphone users, Google's Android upgrades are both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, each upgrade opens the door to exciting new features and functions for a phone. On the other hand, the updates don't arrive instantly …

Discussion: IntoMobile, Droid Life and Android Phone Fans, Thanks:jr_raphael

Allen Kiehl / AndroidSPIN:

Breaking: T-Mobile Internals Confirm Samsung Is Holding the Android World Hostage — We recently received a tip from someone we feel is a reliable source. The information in the tip has just confirmed everything we have ever thought about Samsung, OTA's and new devices.

Discussion: Examiner, Technologizer, BGR, ITworld.com, ITProPortal, MobileWhack.com, IntoMobile, TechEye, Electronista, Techie Buzz and Thoughts from the Sidelines

Jonathan S. Geller / BGR:

Exclusive: Apple will remove home button on next iPad and iPhone; Photo Booth and iLife coming? — We just got some pretty wild information from one of our Apple sources and while it's hard to believe at first, it does make sense. We have exclusively been told that the reason Apple …

Chris Foresman / Ars Technica:
Why Apple won't yet ditch the home button on the iPhone and iPad

Discussion: Datamation, lalawag and BGR

John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Can the New iOS 4.3 Switching Gestures Obviate the Home Button?

Discussion: MacRumors and MacStories

Jonathan S. Geller / BGR:

Exclusive: BlackBerry Dakota gets pictured; the touch and type BlackBerry you've been waiting for — We just got our hands on a crystal clear photo of the BlackBerry Dakota — you know, the device that's going to sit right at the head of the BlackBerry family dinner table.

Mark Gurman / 9 to 5 Mac:

iPad 2 will take pics, shoot flicks — We found four interesting files in the latest SDK and they all amount to the next-generation iPad having a camera. You will notice the same shutter screen as found on the iPhone and iPod touch in addition to camera roll icons for videos and pictures.

Discussion: App Advice, PR Newswire, TiPb, iLounge, Engadget, ITProPortal, The Next Web, ITworld.com, Fonehome.co.uk, iPhone, RazorianFly, Thoughts from the Sidelines, Electronista, Erictric, MacStories, O'Grady's PowerPage and Electricpig.co.uk, Thanks:9to5mac

Eric Slivka / MacRumors:

Next-Generation iPad to Launch in the U.S. on April 2nd or 9th? — MacNotes.de reports that the second-generation iPad is currently scheduled to debut in the United States on one of the first two Saturdays in April: the 2nd or the 9th. (The report's headline states the 2nd or 7th …

Arn / MacRumors:

New iOS Feature Coming: ‘Find My Friends’ — Some further digging into the newly released iOS 4.3 developer build has revealed settings for a new feature called “Find My Friends”. The strings are associated with the Settings app and is related to “MobileMe”.

Damon Kiesow / Poynter:

The first look at The Daily, Rupert Murdoch's iPad newspaper — An official introduction to The Daily, Rupert Murdoch's new iPad newspaper, is expected on Jan. 19, possibly at an event with Apple's Steve Jobs. — But peeking inside the source code of its recently-launched companion website …

Discussion: MacStories, The Next Web, Electronista, everythingiCafe and Epicenter, more at Mediagazer »

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

Millennial: For The First Time, Android Surpasses iOS Mobile Ad Impression Share — This has been a significant few weeks for Millennial Media. The ad network just closed a $27.5 million investment round, announced that the company had tripled its revenue in 2010, and today, is releasing one of its more noteworthy monthly reports.

Discussion: Fortune, Mashable!, MediaPost, mocoNews, Light Reading, GigaOM, Electronista, Android Community, Millennial Media, The Register, Android Phone Fans and WebProNews

Awaneesh Verma / The Official Google Blog:

A new look for Google Translate for Android — When we launched the first version of Google Translate for Android in January 2010, we were excited about the year ahead. For the first time, we were bringing the capabilities supported on Google Translate—like machine translation …

Peter Yared / VentureBeat:

Google already knows its search sucks (and is working to fix it) — It's a popular notion these days Google has lost its “mojo” due to failed products like Google Wave, Google Buzz, and Google TV. But Google's core business — Web search — has come under fire recently for being the ultimate in failed tech products.

Discussion: LiveSide.net, Techie Buzz and broadstuff, more at Mediagazer »

Conrad Saam / Search Engine Land:
Google vs. Bing: The Fallacy Of The Superior Search Engine

Discussion: Google Operating System and State of Search

Jonathan S. Geller / BGR:

Exclusive: Next-generation BlackBerry Curve appears, brings specs with it — That BlackBerry 8520 feeling a bit outdated? Well, we might have just what you've been waiting for — the next generation BlackBerry Curve. Codenamed “Apollo,” the new BlackBerry Curve finally brings …

Discussion: Electronista, PhoneArena, IntoMobile, Thoughts from the Sidelines, BB Geeks, Know Your Cell, BerryReview.com, Engadget, Softpedia News, Tracy and Matt's Blog, Erictric, Geeky-Gadgets, CrackBerry.com blogs, Techie Buzz and MobileBurn.com

Larry Dignan / Between the Lines Blog:

IBM's Watson wins Jeopardy practice round: Can humans hang? — IBM's Watson supercomputer won a practice round against Jeopardy champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter and raised a lot of questions about the capabilities of artificial intelligence. — Watson, a four-year effort by IBM …

Discussion: ReadWriteWeb, Epicenter and Engadget

Ingrid Lunden / mocoNews:

Mobile VC Investment Was A Massive $6.1B In 2010. Google, Intel Led The Way — Boutique investment house Rutberg & Company have released their numbers on VC and M&A activity in the mobile sector, and the figures confirm that 2010 was a doozy. — Mobile now represents 34 percent …

Discussion: TechEye, PhoneArena and Mobile Entertainment, Thanks:dangilmartin

Ryan Kim / GigaOM:
Late Surge On Internet Deals Heat Up VC Funding

Discussion: CB Insights, Mass High Tech, Software, Interrupted, Xconomy and ReadWriteWeb

Connie Loizos / PE Hub Blog:

Memo to Facebook: Supersize It — At a Y Combinator event in October, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg told an audience of young entrepreneurs, “We've not once bought a company to get a company. We buy companies to get excellent people.” Indeed, Facebook has grown notorious for small …

Bloomberg:

Google's Purchase of ITA Software May Be Challenged by U.S. — The U.S. Justice Department is preparing for a possible antitrust lawsuit to stop Google Inc.'s $700 million acquisition of ITA Software Inc., according to people familiar with the situation. — Department officials …

Discussion: Hillicon Valley, Wall Street Journal, Mass High Tech and Reuters

Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:

TripIt Bags An ExIt - Acquired By Concur For Up To $120 Million — Concur, a publicly-listed provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions, this morning announced it has agreed to acquire TripIt, which helps travelers easily organize and share travel plans.

Discussion: VatorNews, paidContent, NetworkEffect, Concur Blog, Concur, TripIt Blog, alarm:clock, Mashable!, TechFlash, ZDNet and Tnooz

Jay Yarow / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:

AOL'S NEW PROBLEM: Mike Arrington — When AOL bought TechCrunch last September, the first question on everyone's lips was, “How long could Mike Arrington possibly last as an AOL employee?” — Yesterday, four months after the deal, we may have begun to learn the answer to that question.

Discussion: TechCrunch, NBC Bay Area, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim and Darren Herman, more at Mediagazer »

Peter Bright / Ars Technica:

Feature: Google's dropping H.264 from Chrome a step backward for openness — The promise of HTML5's <video> tag was a simple one: to allow web pages to contain embedded video without the need for plugins. With the decision to remove support for the widespread H.264 codec from future versions of Chrome …

Discussion: ZDNet, L.A. Times Tech Blog, jd/adobe, USA Today, Ed Burnette's Dev …, Ed Bott's Microsoft … and rc3.org

Austin Carr / Fast Company:

Chatroulette Founder Andrey Ternovskiy Raises New Funding: “50,000 Naked Men” — Following a week's worth of back and forth and blown off interviews, including one scheduled at 11 p.m EST, Chatroulette founder Andrey Ternovskiy finally picks up his cell phone after several rings.

Discussion: Geek.com

Read It Later Blog:

Is Mobile Affecting When We Read? — Printed media used to allow us to read in the places we found most comfortable. When you imagine yourself reading the newspaper it's probably in your favorite chair, at the breakfast table, or at the cafe with an orange mocha frappuccino in your hand.

Discussion: blogs.chron.com, ReadWriteWeb, TeleRead and paidContent:UK, more at Mediagazer », Thanks:ideashower

Emma Barnett / Telegraph:

Runet: Why the Russian internet doesn't need the West — Not much is known about Russia's technology scene or ‘Runet’, the term used to describe the Russian language internet, and yet it's keeping pace with Silicon Valley, finds Emma Barnett. — Dmitry Grishin, the chief executive of Mail.ru

Thanks:amzin

Connie Loizos / PE Hub Blog:

Scoop: Benchmark Closes ‘Oversubscribed’ Seventh Fund with $425M — Benchmark Capital, the Sand Hill Road firm that has enjoyed a succession of exits since its 1995 founding — including eBay, Juniper Networks, Red Hat, and, more recently, OpenTable — has closed on $425 million for its seventh fund …

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