Techmeme: Tech firms snap up GOP lobbyists (Tony Romm/The Politico)

1:30 AM ET, February 15, 2011

Top Items:

New Chrome extension: block sites from Google's web search results — We've been exploring different algorithms to detect content farms, which are sites with shallow or low-quality content. One of the signals we're exploring is explicit feedback from users.

Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Google Crowdsources Content Farm Detection With A Chrome Extension

Discussion: MediaPost, Computerworld, ReadWriteWeb, PC Magazine and BetaNews

Neil Hughes / AppleInsider:

Apple rumored to be evaluating 3 new iPhone prototypes, one with slideout keyboard — A Taiwanese website that has been the source of numerous Apple hardware leaks now claims that Apple has built three hardware prototypes for its next-generation iPhone, including one model with a slide-out physical keyboard.

Discussion: AppAdvice, CNET News, TUAW, MacRumors, tw.apple.pro, Examiner, iPhone Download Blog, RazorianFly, 9 to 5 Mac, Redmond Pie, TiPb, Electronista, MobileWhack.com, Gizmodo Australia, MacStories, iLounge and iClarified

DigiTimes:

Apple to expand iPhone screen size to 4-inches — Apple reportedly will change the screen size of iPhone to 4-inch for its fifth generation iPhone to compete with the Google Android platform in the 4- to 7-inch smartphone market, according to upstream component suppliers.

Discussion: AppleInsider, CNET News, Edible Apple, Redmond Pie, The Next Web, TiPb and MacStories

Mark Gurman / 9 to 5 Mac:
iPhone 5 to pack 4-inch display, A5 processor?

Discussion: DigiTimes and MacStories

Evan Blass / pocketnow.com:

HTC Facebook Phones: First Press Shots [Update] — HTC is indeed preparing a pair of Android handsets with dedicated Facebook buttons, and they are pictured above and below. While no specs were available, it is clear from the images that one is a QWERTY candybar a la the Motorola Droid Pro …

Discussion: Seattle Times, Engadget, IntoMobile, All Facebook, PhoneArena, PhoneDog.com, Eurodroid, AndroidGuys, wirelessgoodness.com, SAI, MobileWhack.com, Electronista and Gizmodo Australia

Leander Kahney / Cult of Mac:

More Detail On Apple's iPhone Nano [Exclusive] — We have more detail on Apple's iPhone nano, which according to Sunday's Wall Street Journal is real and may be headed to market this year. — But what we have will blow your mind. — This week, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal …

Paul Miller / Engadget:
The iPhone nano to forgo local storage? Common sense says ‘no’

Discussion: The Loop and Gizmodo

Arik Hesseldahl / NewEnterprise:

IBM Jeopardy Challenge Day One Ends in a Tie — Day one of the three-day battle between the human brain and silicon on the game show “Jeopardy” ended in a tie. — The IBM supercomputer and human player, Brad Rutter, each had $5,000 on the scoreboard, while Ken Jennings …

Discussion: CNET News, VentureBeat, Examiner, Agence France Presse, Reuters, CNN, The Register, L.A. Times Tech Blog, eWeek, PC Magazine, @bettyfckinwhite, Bloomberg, CrunchGear, @gartenberg, @blam, @flargh and @damonlindelof

Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:

Netflix Finally Arrives On the Boxee Box — Can you hear that? That's the sound of relief coming from Boxee's offices in New York, as the startup is finally able to add a Netflix app to its Boxee Box today. Owners of the device can access the app by manually initiating a firmware update …

Discussion: Appletell, Gearlog and Electronista

Avner Ronen / Boxee Blog:
Happy Valentine's Day: Netflix on the Boxee Box

Discussion: PC Magazine, Gizmodo, The Toybox Blog, eHomeUpgrade, The Next Web, Hacking NetFlix, Engadget, ReadWriteWeb, SlashGear, CNET News, Reddit, VentureBeat, TechSpot and Gadgetell, Thanks:richdemuro

Kara Swisher / BoomTown:

Bill Gross' UberMedia Raises $17.5 Million From Accel, Index and Steve Case — UberMedia, which just bought TweetDeck for $30 million in equity last week, has raised $17.5 million, in a round led by Accel Partners. — The valuation for the Pasadena, Calif. start-up founded …

Discussion: Pulse2 and mocoNews

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
Is UberMedia On a Collision Course With Twitter?

Discussion: MediaMemo, @cdixon, The Ben Weiss Blog and SAI, Thanks:mathewi

Ethan Bauley / Data Central:

HP research shows mainstream media drive Twitter ‘trends’ to a surprising degree — Who gets to determine the big topics of conversation on social media? And how do they do it? Looking to find out, HP researchers recently examined how popular subjects get to be listed among the top ‘trending’ topics on Twitter.

Discussion: Mashable!, ReadWriteWeb, Fast Company and VentureBeat, more at Mediagazer »

Elizabeth Woyke / Mobilized:

Asus Tried Windows Phone 7 Two Years Ago, Assessing Whether To Try Again — Microsoft has won Nokia's support for its mobile platform but Asus is still weighing whether to release handsets that utilize Windows Phone 7. — Asus' hesitance stands out since the Taiwan-based electronics maker signed …

Discussion: MobileTechWorld, WPCentral.com, The Next Web, Engadget, Disruptors and WMPoweruser.com

Amir Efrati / Wall Street Journal:

Yahoo Opts to Friend Facebook — Yahoo Inc. watched as social-networking website Facebook Inc. stole the attention of users and grabbed a major share of the online-advertising market. — Now the Internet pioneer is following an old mantra: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:

Apple's 2011 supplier report: child workers, bribes, “involuntary labor” — Apple discovered underage workers, “involuntary labor,” worker endangerment, and bribery at some of its supplier facilities over the course of 2010, the company revealed in its 2011 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report.

Discussion: The Register, CNET News, AppleInsider, Digital Daily, Between the Lines Blog, Macworld, NBC Bay Area, 9 to 5 Mac, Examiner, SAI, TUAW, Hardware 2.0 Blog and MacStories

Tarmo Virki / Reuters:

Mobile app store GetJar raises $25 million — (Reuters) - GetJar, the largest independent mobile software store, said on Tuesday it had raised $25 million from Tiger Global Management and Accel Partners to fund its wider push into Android software distribution.

Discussion: VentureBeat and GetJar

Jackie Cohen / All Facebook:

First Facebook SIM Card Released — Every GSM cell phone will soon have Facebook built right in, as Gemalto has created the first SIM card including functions related to the social network. — A spokesperson for the social network confirmed the development in via email:

Discussion: Beyond Search, The Register, Hardware 2.0 Blog, Gizmodo, MarketingVOX, Geek.com, Redmond Pie, Pulse2 and Pocket-lint

MG Siegler / TechCrunch:

3 Months To The First Million Users, Just 6 Weeks To The Second Million For Instagram — Back in late December of last year, we noted a huge milestone for photo-sharing app Instagram: a million users. As we noted at the time, remarkably, it took them only three months to hit the mark.

Jessica Guynn / L.A. Times Tech Blog:

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong buys $10 million in company stock — AOL Inc. Chief Executive Tim Armstrong is putting his money where his mouth is. — He has invested more than $10 million in 477,000 shares of his company's stock, according to a Monday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Aza Raskin / Co.Design:

The Untold Story of How My Dad Helped Invent the First Mac — Jef Raskin, my father, (below) helped develop the Macintosh, and I was recently looking at some of his old documents and came across his February 16, 1981 memo detailing the genesis of the Macintosh.

Discussion: MacStories, TUAW and Gizmodo

Aron Kozak / The Qt Blog:

Update on Qt — Judging by the sheer volume of comments on Daniel's post on Saturday you are all feeling like we are. Not the finest time in the history of Qt for sure, but also not the death of Qt that some of you are predicting either. — I was unable to continue to reply to all the comments …

Discussion: PC Magazine, Daring Fireball, CrunchGear and The Register

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

Millennial: For The Second Month, Android Leads iOS For Mobile Ad Impression Share — Millennial Media has released its monthly mobile report this evening, and it looks like Android has continued its reign at the top of the network in terms of mobile ad impression share, after overtaking iOS for the top spot in December 2010.

Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:

Huge Vote Of Confidence: Uber Raises $11 million From Benchmark Capital — Uber, a young startup that let's people book a black car service on the fly via their mobile app, has closed an $11 million round valuing the company at $49 million pre-money valuation, $60 million post-money, we've confirmed from sources.

Discussion: Pulse2

Scott Austin / Venture Capital Dispatch:

Kleiner Perkins Invests In Facebook At $52 Billion Valuation — Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Facebook are together at last. — VentureWire reports today that Kleiner is taking a small stake in Facebook by buying as much as $38 million of stock from other shareholders at a valuation …

Discussion: VentureBeat, WebProNews, EngageDigital, SiliconANGLE, TUAW, Mashable!, All Facebook, GigaOM, Digital Trends and Pulse2

Dan Frommer / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:

Can Microsoft And Nokia Make Windows Phone 7 The Most “Operator Friendly” Without Ruining It For Consumers? — BARCELONA — Microsoft and Nokia say they want to make Windows Phone 7 the most “operator friendly” OS in the smartphone industry. Can they do it without ruining the user experience for consumers?

Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:

Firefox's Director to Leave the Consumer Tech World — Mike Beltzner, the man in charge of the development of open source browser Firefox, announced this morning that he'll be leaving Mozilla once the 4.0 version of the popular browser launches and he's helped transition the team towards developing 5.0 without him.

Discussion: beltzner, @stshank, ConceivablyTech and The Register

Ars Technica:

Call it “3G” or “4G,” America's wireless networks are still slow — If you've followed broadband discussions in Washington, DC, then you've heard that wireless is the future of communications. The National Broadband Plan offers wireless as the competitive solution to the broadband duopoly dilemma …

Discussion: PE Hub Blog

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