Techmeme: Judge points to problems with ‘unsecured Wi-Fi’ prosecutions (Josh Halliday/Guardian)

7:45 AM ET, February 9, 2011

Top Items:

Apple's New iPad in Production — Apple Inc. has started production of a new version of its iPad tablet computer, said people familiar with the matter. — The new device will be thinner, lighter and will come with a faster processor, more memory and a more powerful graphics processor, said the people familiar with the matter.

Mark Gurman / 9 to 5 Mac:

WSJ on iPad 2: FaceTime, thinner, lighter, faster, 1024 x 768 display — The well-informed Wall Street Journal has backed up just about every iPad 2 rumor we have heard so far. The WSJ says the iPad 2 will have a front facing camera for FaceTime video calling, in addition to a new lighter, thinner design.

Discussion: Newlaunches.com and SlashGear

Chris Ziegler / Engadget:

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop rallies troops in brutally honest ‘burning platform’ memo? (update: it's real!) — “The first iPhone shipped in 2007, and we still don't have a product that is close to their experience. Android came on the scene just over 2 years ago, and this week they took our leadership position in smartphone volumes.

Wenzhang Zhu / Google Mobile Blog:

Introducing the Google Translate app for iPhone — Back in August 2008, we launched a Google Translate HTML5 web app for iPhone users. Today, the official Google Translate for iPhone app is available for download from the App Store. The new app has all of the features of the web app …

Charles Starrett / iLounge:

Verizon iPhone 4 antenna problems persist (video) — In the course of conducting our standard suite of iPhone 4 performance tests, iLounge has discovered that the Verizon CDMA iPhone 4 suffers from signal attenuation problems similar to ones discovered in the original GSM version of the iPhone 4.

Discussion: Computerworld, Redmond Pie, IntoMobile, GottaBeMobile, Softpedia News, Neowin.net, MacRumors, TechCrunch, MacStories, SlashPhone, Pulse2, AppleInsider, MobileCrunch, Examiner, 9 to 5 Mac, PhoneArena, Erictric and ThinkMobile, Thanks:starrett

Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:

Mahalo's Calacanis: Time To End The Content Farm Arms Race — No stranger to controversy, Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis threw down a gauntlet at his “content farm” competitors, arguing they're polluting the web and angering Google, to the detriment of searchers and their own companies.

Discussion: SAI and MediaPost, Thanks:bobcaswell

Farhad Manjoo / Slate:
Search engine optimization won't work forever.

Discussion: Bloomberg and @dannysullivan, more at Mediagazer »

Leslie Katz / CNET News:

Dell unveils 10-inch Windows 7 tablet — Steven Lalla, vice president and general manager of Dell's commercial client product group, holds up a non-working mockup of the company's new commercial Windows tablet. — Dell expanded its foray into tablets today with a new 10-inch Windows 7-based device designed …

Joseph Galante / Business Week:

Amazon's Data-Center Guru Honed Skills Fixing Lamborghinis — James Hamilton's challenge: making data centers more efficient while fending off a threat from IBM, AT&T, and Microsoft — Amazon.com (AMZN) Vice-President James Hamilton's schooling in computer data centers started under the hood of a Lamborghini Countach.

Paul Carr / TechCrunch:

Valleywag's Ryan Tate Publishes Photo of Zuckerberg's House; Days Later, Stalker Shows Up — A few months back, I had a few harsh words for Valleywag editor Ryan Tate over his decision to pay a paparazzo for photographs of Mark Zuckerberg's house and girlfriend. — Specifically I said...

Discussion: @ryantate and The Atlantic Online

Ross Miller / Engadget:

PS3 ‘jailbreak code’ retweeted by Sony's Kevin Butler, no punchline needed — Oh, honey. Sony PlayStation's (entirely fictional) Kevin Butler holds many (also fictional) positions within the company, but apparently none of them require him to keep up with (very real) news events.

Discussion: PR Newswire, The Blog Herald, @maymaym, @gjmf, @jonfildes and Threat Level

Ron Carmel / 2D Boy:

Analysis: World of Goo's iPad Launch — We attempted, and failed, to bring World of Goo to iPhone in the summer of 2009. Development was sporadic and slow as we worked with a series of four different contractors who, for various reasons, did not bring the project to completion. So we dropped it.

Discussion: MacStories, AppleInsider, Joystiq, VG247, Touch Arcade, Gamasutra and www.pocketgamer.biz

Mike Davies / < isolani />:

Breaking the Web with hash-bangs — Lifehacker, along with every other Gawker property, experienced a lengthy site-outage on Monday over a misbehaving piece of JavaScript. Gawker sites were reduced to being an empty homepage layout with zero content, functionality, ads, or even legal disclaimer wording.

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

Judge points to problems with ‘unsecured Wi-Fi’ prosecutions — Digital Economy Act under more scrutiny after senior judge highlights problems with copyright claims — A senior court judge has pointed to severe problems with the way the Digital Economy Act enables copyright owners to prosecute people accused of illegal filesharing.

Discussion: The Register

Arnold Kim / MacRumors:

Verizon iPhone 4 Now Available for Online Orders — Verizon and Apple have opened their website to accept orders for the Verizon iPhone. The Verizon iPhone was available for pre-orders for existing customers last week, but is now available for the general public.

Discussion: AppleInsider, BlogsDNA, The Register, Phones Review, Geek.com, The Next Web, Engadget and TUAW

Matt Baume / NBC Bay Area:

Mayor Lures Twitter to Dangerous Skid Row — Mayor Ed Lee wants to keep Twitter in San Francisco. So why is he offering them office space in the worst part? — Ed Lee is expected to announce tax credits targeted specifically at companies like Twitter, according to the Gate.

Eve Batey / SF Appeal:
Proposed Tax Cuts For Twitter Raise Questions Of “Corporate Blackmail …

Discussion: San Francisco Chronicle

Seth Weintraub / Fortune:

Industry first: Smartphones pass PCs in sales — International Data Corp is showing that in the final quarter of 2010, smartphones passed global PC shipments for the first time in history. — As predicted a few months ago, Smartphones have passed PCs in global numbers.

Discussion: Geek.com, SAI, Mobile Knots, ReadWriteWeb and Financial Times, Thanks:llsethj

Dan Goodin / The Register:

Microsoft finally says adios to Autorun — Worm bait purged from older Windows — After a decade of abuse, Autorun is finally being retired in older versions of Windows. — On Tuesday, Microsoft began pushing an update that changes the way Windows Server 2008 and earlier versions …

Discussion: Inquirer, Download Squad, TechNet Blogs and InfoWorld

Nick O'Neill / All Facebook:

Facebook Rolls Out Major Upgrades To Ad System — This evening Facebook has rolled out a number of significant upgrades to the company's self-serve advertising system which will benefit those marketing their Facebook Pages as well as advertisers in general. — Sponsored Stories

Discussion: SAI

Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:

Facebook Makes It Official: We Bought The Old Sun Campus In Menlo Park (And Don't Forget We're Hiring!) — Why has Facebook brought together big time press from Agence France, ABC 7 and TechCrunch together here at Menlo Park City Hall? Because it's hiring, and it wants to announce it by purchasing a building.

Discussion: VatorNews, Pulse2, Bits, Digits, BetaNews, @blam, NBC Bay Area, @furrier, Mashable!, Inside Facebook and All Facebook

Matt Rosoff / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider: Facebook Will Move This Summer

Bloomberg:

EBay to Unveil Plan to Help PayPal Repel Google, Apple Threats — EBay Inc., preparing for a day when its PayPal online-payment unit is its biggest source of revenue, will lay out a three-year plan tomorrow for expanding the business and warding off threats from Google Inc. and Apple Inc …

Discussion: SAI

Mark Milian / CNN:

Verizon plans 4G internet calling service — Basking Ridge, New Jersey (CNN) — Verizon Wireless is close to launching a new cellular calling service that offers better sound quality than its current network and is capable of doing video chat. — The new voice and video protocol …

Discussion: CNET News, GottaBeMobile, Gadget Lab, SlashGear, Android Phone Fans, PhoneArena, IntoMobile, Mashable!, VentureBeat, FierceWireless, PR Newswire, PhoneNews.com, GigaOM, Droid Life, Tecca, Electronista and Engadget

Ronny Kerr / VatorNews:

Bubbli raises $2 million to build the matrix — Recognized by TED and John Doerr, stealth startup secures monetary approval from August Capital — Bubbli, a new stealth startup with some obscurely massive ambitions to change the way we use photos on mobile devices, has raised around $2 million …

Discussion: TechCrunch

BBC:

Newspaper publishers warn Apple over iTunes sales — Apple is being warned against trying to squeeze cash out of the newspaper industry by controlling subscriptions for iPads and iPhones. — The European Newspaper Publishers' Association (ENPA) says it is concerned by the company's plans to direct online sales through iTunes.

Discussion: Nicke's shared items … and AppleInsider

Blogger Repression:

Urgent: Egyptian Blogger Kareem Amer Missing — CyberDissidents.org has just received word that Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer, recently released after four years in prison, has disappeared. Kareem is a member of CyberDissidents.org's blogger board and we are horrified at this news.

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