Top Items:
Bloomberg:
Apple Working on Cheaper, More Versatile IPhone Models — Apple Inc. is working on new versions of the iPhone that are aimed at slowing the advance of competing handsets based on Google Inc.'s Android software, according to people who have been briefed on the plans.
Discussion:
Examiner, PC Magazine, Reuters, Engadget, Technologizer, Daring Fireball, TiPb, Tech Check, PhoneArena, Apple Bitch, MacRumors, Electricpig.co.uk, mocoNews, MobileCrunch, PhoneDog.com, SAI, IntoMobile, Ars Technica, AppleInsider, Redmond Pie, MacStories, SlashGear, Electronista, Erictric, GigaOM, GottaBeMobile, CNET News, Tech Trader Daily, Gizmodo Australia, The Next Web, AppAdvice, The Huffington Post, 9 to 5 Mac, TUAW and NBC Bay Area
RELATED:
Stacey Higginbotham / GigaOM:
Could Apple Be Your Next Phone Company? — Apple's plans to once again change the dynamics of the mobile world are becoming clearer. Bloomberg reported today that the device maker has plans for a universal SIM card that I first reported on in October, and Apple is seeking a way to make it possible …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Thanks:sgbass83
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
The iPhone Nano Rumor Reborn: 1/3rd Smaller, Older Components, $200 With No Contract
Discussion:
Electricpig.co.uk and TiPb
Nishit Shah / The Official Google Blog:
Advanced sign-in security for your Google account — Has anyone you know ever lost control of an email account and inadvertently sent spam—or worse—to their friends and family? There are plenty of examples (like the classic “Mugged in London” scam) that demonstrate why it's important …
Discussion:
PC Magazine, SANS Internet Storm Center …, Google Public Policy Blog, Matt Cutts, NewsGrange, Googling Google Blog, Bits, Neowin.net, Digital Trends, gHacks Technology News, Eurodroid, GottaBeMobile, Mashable!, Search Engine Watch, PC World, Between the Lines Blog, Krebs on Security, The Register, Zatz Not Funny!, Nieman Journalism Lab, Internet Evolution, Geek.com, Zero Day Blog, eWeek, Techie Buzz, The Firewall, Liliputing and CNET News
Yukari Iwatani Kane / Wall Street Journal:
Despite Leave, Jobs Keeps a Hand on Apple — Three weeks into a medical leave he took “to focus on my health,” Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs is staying closely involved in the company's strategic decisions and product development, according to people familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
AppleInsider, 9 to 5 Mac, CNET News, MacRumors, SAI, MacNN and TUAW
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Facebook Unifies UI As It Rolls Out New Design For ‘Pages’ — Back in December Facebook unveiled a significant redesign to user profiles, which now feature a handful of photos at the top of the page, new sections for featuring your family members and best friends, and some other mostly-cosmetic tweaks.
RELATED:
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Exclusive: Facebook Exploring Permitting a Tender Offer for $1 Billion of Employee Shares at $60 Billion Valuation — Facebook is exploring permitting a tender offer up to $1 billion of its employee shares, after being approached by a number of big institutional investors about investing in the company …
Discussion:
SAI, Bloomberg, GigaOM, All Facebook and Pulse2, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:
Nicholas Carlson / SAI:
Facebook Earned ~$250 Million In Q4, Profits Growing At An Astounding Rate
Discussion:
PE Hub Blog
Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:
eHarmony Hacked — Online dating giant eHarmony has begun urging many users to change their passwords, after being alerted by KrebsOnSecurity.com to a potential security breach of customer information. The individual responsible for all the ruckus is an Argentinian hacker …
Discussion:
CNET News and The Next Web
Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
Please Twitter, Don't Sell to Google or Facebook — According to sources quoted by the Wall Street Journal in a story published late Wednesday night, Twitter has been having what the paper called “low-level” discussions about a possible acquisition by either Google or Facebook, at a valuation of between $8 billion and $10 billion.
Discussion:
Felix Salmon, ReadWriteWeb, Digits and MediaPost
RELATED:
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
(Founder Stories) Fred Wilson On Frothy Valuations
Discussion:
Information Arbitrage
Bing:
Making search yours — For years people have talked about personalized search as the next evolution of our amazing technology. Over the years, the biggest obstacle facing search engineers is the simple fact that human behavior is not predictable. Don't get us wrong, people can be creatures …
Discussion:
The Next Web, PC Magazine, SAI, The Microsoft Blog, Search Engine Land, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, eWeek, WinRumors, The Register, NewsGrange, WebProNews, TechSpot and Neowin.net
Royal Pingdom:
Microsoft's woes: It's a Windows-eat-Windows world — Pardon the wordplay on “dog-eat-dog world,” but as you'll see it applies perfectly to what is going on with Windows in the desktop OS space. — Because there are several interesting things going on. Some quite expected, others not so much.
MSDN Blogs:
Acting on Feedback: IE9 Release Candidate Available for Download — The Release Candidate of Internet Explorer 9, available now at www.BeautyOfTheWeb.com in 40 languages, reflects our unique approach to building the best experience of the Web on Windows. IE9 also reflects a more open …
Discussion:
Channel 9, WinRumors, WinRumors, CNET News, Download Squad, ReadWriteWeb, eWeek, TechNet Blogs, Adotas, BetaNews, Black Web 2.0, Computerworld, Ars Technica, The Tech Report, Network World, The Windows Blog, TechFlash, Seattle Times, Digital Trends, paidContent, LiveSide.net, All about Microsoft Blog, Techie Buzz, Redmond Pie, The Next Web, Neowin.net, BlogsDNA, Web Browsers, Hardware 2.0 Blog and The Microsoft Blog
RELATED:
Ed Bott / Ed Bott's Microsoft Report Blog:
IE9 Release Candidate review: will Microsoft's big browser bet pay off?
Discussion:
Technologizer, Notebooks.com and WMPoweruser.com, Thanks:edbott
Carolyn Penner / Twitter Blog:
Twitter for Android - new and improved — Twitter for Android is one of the fastest growing Twitter applications. Six months ago, it wasn't among the top 10 most-used Twitter applications. However, in the last two months, usage has doubled, and now it's among the top five …
Discussion:
AndroidGuys, PC Magazine, ReadWriteWeb, louisgray.com, GigaOM, Engadget, Erictric, Gearlog and WebProNews
BBC:
Stop the presses: Facebook CTO says news next in social revolution — Facebook CTO Bret Taylor says news and media are set get the social treatment — Each week we ask chief technology officers and other high-profile tech decision-makers three questions.
Discussion:
The Next Web
John Cook / TechFlash:
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz backs Groupon, joins board — Groupon is getting a double-shot of good news today. The fast-growing daily deal site announced that Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has joined the board. In a related move, Schultz's Seattle venture capital firm, Maveron …
Discussion:
paidContent, Venture Capital Dispatch, Groublogpon, VentureBeat, Business Wire, Digits, Pulse2 and PE Hub Blog, Thanks:toddbishop
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
The Funny Coincidence between Bing's Rise And Conduit's Declining Traffic — Last December toolbar startup Conduit announced they were bailing on Google search in favor of Bing. — In January Bing surged in search market share, up over 2 points to 12.8%. — You wouldn't think Conduit was the main force behind the rise.
Rob Diana / Regular Geek:
Twitter Stops Whitelisting Applications — Much to my dismay, I read that Twitter has stopped whitelisting applications. What does this mean? Ryan Sarver updated everyone on the Twitter development Google Group that developers could no longer request to be granted a higher number of API calls through the API.
Mike Melanson / ReadWriteWeb:
PayPal's Micropayment Solution Opens to the Public — Online payment company PayPal has opened up its micropayment solution to “game developers, media publishers, or anyone interested in selling digital content on a global scale.” The solution was first announced last October when the company …
Discussion:
The PayPal Blog and @davepell
Blake Irving / Yodel Anecdotal:
Livestand from Yahoo! - Your Digital Newsstand — The way we access and experience the Web is changing every day. By 2013, more than one billion Internet-enabled mobile devices are projected to be in circulation—that equals more than half the total pool of Internet users today.
Discussion:
eWeek, Yahoo! Pressroom Home, paidContent, PC Magazine, PC World, MacStories, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Shoutpedia, TUAW, BetaNews, Digital Trends, Thomas Hawk Digital Connection, Digital Daily, Bits, IntoMobile, GigaOM, Download Squad, Electronista and Between the Lines Blog, more at Mediagazer »
Andrew Rassweiler / iSuppli:
New iPhone Carries $171.35 Bill of Materials, IHS iSuppli Teardown Reveals — Despite having nearly the same functionality and a similar bill of materials (BOM) as the previous model, the new code division multiple access (CDMA) version of the iPhone 4 carried by Verizon Wireless includes significant changes …
Discussion:
CNN, The Loop, Computerworld, everythingiCafe, AppleInsider, eWeek and MacRumors
Michael Wolf / GigaOM:
Pure Digital CEO Leaving Cisco; Was Flip Deal a Flop? — Updated. Pure Digital CEO Jonathan Kaplan will be leaving Cisco on Friday, less than two years after Cisco bought the maker of the Flip video camera franchise for a cool $590 million. According to the company, as part of the reshuffling …
Discussion:
Cisco Blog, PC World and NewEnterprise, Thanks:michaelwolf
Stefan Parker / Facebook:
Developing Facebook's New Photo Viewer — When we looked to revamp the Photos experience, we faced many challenges. While Photos is one of the most core experiences on Facebook, with over 100 million photos uploaded per day, it's supported by some of the oldest code in the system and was in dire need of an upgrade.
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:
Snapshot of an Apple flash crash — What triggered the sell-off that knocked $10 billion off the company's market cap? Something happened to Apple's (AAPL) share price Thursday afternoon that has investors still scratching their heads. The stock, which had been sailing along near …
Discussion:
ZDNet, Stock Tick Tock, MacDailyNews, 9 to 5 Mac, NBC Bay Area and MacNN
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
500 Startups Announces First Class Of New Incubator Program — Six months ago 500 Startups, the angel fund headed by Dave McClure, started investing in dozens of startups — they're now up to around 90 investments. And today the fund is announcing an incubator program similar in many ways to Y Combinator …
Discussion:
500 Startups, Mashable!, NetworkEffect, GigaOM, ReadWriteWeb, VentureBeat, Xconomy, PE Hub Blog and SAI, Thanks:davemcclure
Mike Melanson / ReadWriteWeb:
What HP Really Announced: A Battle With Google Over the Cloud — HP held a big press event in San Francisco yesterday but not to show off a tablet, a phone, or a printer. The company wanted to show the world its vision of the future. HP is betting that in the future, the “cloud” …
Chris Wolf / Gartner:
Windows 7 Update Breaks VMware View Client: An Important Lesson In BYOD — Many customers I talk to are interested in supporting a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) delivery model. A thought frequently echoed by customers is that allowing users to access their applications on their terms improves mobility …
Discussion:
Chris Towles's Blog, Network World, Computerworld and V3.co.uk
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Mobile Insiders Say Apple's iAds Are “Hurting” — Apple's iAds are hitting a rough spot. Across the board, several developers I've spoken to confirm that “fill rates” for iAds dropped drastically after the New Year and have yet to recover. The fill rate—what percentage of the ad inventory …
Discussion:
The Onion, PC World, TUAW, MarketingVOX, AppleInsider, MacRumors and MacStories, more at Mediagazer »
Austin American-Statesman:
Amazon to close Texas distribution center amid sales tax fight — Online retail giant Amazon.com will close its suburban Dallas distribution center amid a dispute with the state over millions in uncollected state sales taxes, The Associated Press reported Thursday.
Discussion:
Bloomberg
