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6:15 PM ET, March 1, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
With Jobs Definitely Mulling Appearance at iPad Event, Let's Hope the Focus Is on the Product  —  According to several sources close to the situation, Apple CEO Steve Jobs-who is on a health-related leave from the company-is definitely considering an appearance at its big iPad 2 event tomorrow.
RELATED:
Leander Kahney / Cult of Mac:
Apple Staffer: iPad 3 Is The One To “Make A Song & Dance About”  —  We've received some tidbits of information about the iPad 2 launch tomorrow from an Apple staffer:  — MobileMe is being revamped with cloud storage features.  — The iPad 2 is a ho-hum update.  It's more of a speed bump than a redesign.
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Facebook Acquires Group Messaging Service Beluga In A Talent AND Technology Deal  —  Facebook has just acquired group messaging service Beluga, we've learned.  —  Here's what we know: Facebook has acquired both the product and the team, and the plan is apparently to keep the service open for now.
RELATED:
Nick O'Neill / All Facebook:   Is Facebook Group Texting Coming Soon?
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
Microsoft delivers its ‘other’ tablet operating system: Windows Embedded Compact 7  —  Microsoft announced general availability on March 1 of the final version of its Windows Embedded Compact 7 operating system, codenamed “Chelan.”  —  Microsoft posted a 180-day trial version …
RELATED:
Todd Bishop / TechFlash:
Apple fights for ‘App Store’ name, calls Microsoft clueless as usual  —  Apple is defending its attempt to trademark the phrase “App Store,” saying in a new filing that Microsoft has failed to prove that the term should be left open for use by competing mobile application marketplaces.
Nicholas Carlson / SAI:
WHOA: AOL Finally Fires North American Ad Chief Mark Ellis  —  AOL is finally parting ways with North American ad sales boss, Mark Ellis.  —  MediaMemo had the scoop.  —  Ellis is - was - one of the few top execs at AOL remaining from the Pre-Tim Armstrong era.  —  Now he's gone.
Discussion: MediaMemo and paidContent
RELATED:
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:   Actually, AOL's Mark Ellis Is Headed to Yahoo
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Dirty Percent  —  It's not hard to make the case that Apple's new in-app subscription system offers numerous benefits to users, developers, and publishers.  But whatever those benefits, they stem from the mere existence of these new subscription APIs.  What's controversial is the size of Apple's cut: 30 percent.
Discussion: Technovia
Gaurav Jain / Google Enterprise Blog:
Now available with Google Apps: User Managed Storage  —  Editor's note: Last year we launched an improvement that makes over 60 additional Google services available to Google Apps users.  This series showcases what's new and how your organization can benefit.  —  Welcome to User Managed Storage
Discussion: PC World
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Google's New In-App Payments Product Set For Launch In May 2011  —  Google was originally set to debut in-app payments support for Android in the fourth quarter of 2010, and recently said that the launch would be delayed until the end of this quarter.  Be that as it may, the company is set …
Josh Constine / Inside Facebook:
Facebook's New Comments Box Plugin Filters Website Comment Reels by Relevance  —  Facebook has released a major update to its embeddable Comments Box social plugin for third-party websites.  The plugin processes social signals to surface the most relevant comments, and a new moderation dashboard allows admins …
RELATED:
Peter Cohen / The Loop:
Angry Birds CEO: “We really have Apple to thank”  —  Of the thousands of games available for download from the App Store, none has had the sustained popularity of Rovio's Angry Birds, a 99 cent physics-based puzzler in which you use a slingshot to launch birds of various shapes and sizes at fortresses containing green pigs.
Richi Jennings / Computerworld:
Google Apps and Gmail outage outrage: Problem NOT resolved  —  Update: The Gmail outage is not yet resolved, despite 35,000 Google Apps and consumer Gmail users agonizing over missing mail.  The cloud service provider is furiously restoring from backup tapes as we speak.
Dan Frommer / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:
Amazon's Android App Store Is Supposedly Launching This Month  —  Amazon's app store for Google Android devices is launching soon — this month — according to this tweet from mobile ad network Millennial Media.  —  “Launching this month!  Amazon Appstore for #Android—learn more here,” …
Sinead Carew / Reuters:
Verizon eyes tiered pricing for mid-summer  —  (Reuters) - Verizon Wireless will replace its unlimited mobile data service with usage-based pricing for iPhone customers around the middle of the summer, according to the finance chief of parent Verizon Communications.
Sarah Lacy / TechCrunch:
Big Appetite: Greylock Sends Entrepreneurs a Message with Expanded $1 Billion Fund  —  In case you missed it, being a super angel is officially passe.  The new hotness is having a late-stage growth cash.  Sequoia Capital is doing it.  Andreessen Horowitz is doing it.  Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is doing it.
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Andreessen Horowitz Makes It a Foursome-Adds IronPort's Scott Weiss as Investing GP  —  High-profile venture firm Andreessen Horowitz added another investing general partner to their group today, with the appointment of IronPort Co-founder Scott Weiss.  —  Weiss is the fourth investing GP …
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Google Buys Security Analytics Software Developer Zynamics  —  It looks like Google has made an acquisition today: security analytics software company Zynamics.  —  Here's the post on Zynamic's blog: We're pleased to announce that zynamics has been acquired by Google!
Discussion: WebProNews, Mashable! and threatpost
Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:
StatCounter: Bing Just Beat Yahoo Worldwide  —  According to analytics firm StatCounter, the Bing search engine has just overtaken Yahoo for the first time worldwide during the month of February 2011.  From StatCounter Global Stats, Bing closed out the month with a 4.37% search share compared with Yahoo's 3.93%.
Amir Efrati / Digits:
Coming Soon: Advertiser Alerts on Your Phone  —  Advertisers have long contemplated a world in which they could contact people walking down the street with special offers and get them to change course and enter a store.  There's been new movement this week to make that vision a reality.
@theHipmunk blog:
Hipmunk Hotels  —  Today's a big day for Hipmunk: we're now searching hotels.  We've designed our hotel search around one basic premise: to find you a good deal in a good location.  —  Hipmunk helps you find the interesting parts of a city and see which hotels are nearby.  Our hotel search is built around a big map.
Sharon Begley / Newsweek:
I Can't Think!  —  The Twitterization of our culture has revolutionized our lives, but with an unintended consequence—our overloaded brains freeze when we have to make decisions.  —  Imagine the most mind-numbing choice you've faced lately, one in which the possibilities almost paralyzed you …
Roger Capriotti / The Windows Blog:
IE9 Reaches 36 Million Downloads; Internet Explorer Share Grows  —  Last month, we saw share of both Internet Explorer 8 and 9 grow, and we're pleased to see that momentum continue in February with the availability of the IE9 Release Candidate.  Since its release on February 10th …
Vlad Savov / Engadget:
NVIDIA Tegra Zone officially launched, takes Android to new dual-core heights  —  It's the first of March, which in NVIDIA land means no longer just talking about Tegra Zone, but actually activating it and letting users see what all the fuss is about.  For those who've not yet heard of it …
Peter Bright / Ars Technica:
Hands-on: Google Cloud Connect for Office not ready for prime time  —  Google Docs, the online suite of productivity applications, has long offered collaborative, cloud-based sharing and editing of office-type documents.  A new add-in for Microsoft Office, Cloud Connect …
Discussion: everwas
Kevin C. Tofel / GigaOM:
Too Much Data?  New Evernote Should Help  —  Evernote today launched a redesigned version of its iPhone software, adding new views and features that further help to organize thoughts on the go.  Evernote 4, available in the iTunes App Store, now supports multiple attachments and up to 90 minutes of audio recording per note.
 
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 More Items: 
Sean Hollister / Engadget:
Google gifts Xoom tablets to game devs at GDC 2011
Emma Barnett / Telegraph:
Google issues ultimatum to Yelp: free content or no search indexing
Discussion: Search Engine Land
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Skype Teams Up With Citrix To Bring GoToMeeting Web Conferencing To Business Offerings
Discussion: About Skype, GigaOM, Bits and Skype Journal
Enigmax / TorrentFreak:
70% of the Public Finds Piracy Socially Acceptable
Discussion: GizmoFusion and PlagiarismToday
Neil Hughes / AppleInsider:
Apple granted patent for scratch-proof nitride metal device coating
Discussion: Geek.com
Mike Shields / Adweek:
Hulu Set for Meteoric Growth in 2011
Discussion: Mashable!
 Earlier Items: 
Brice Morrison / Inside Social Games:
How Zynga Defused Its FarmVille Time-Bomb
Discussion: eMoney
Richard G Russell / Foredecker:
Working At Microsoft-20% Time and Prototypes
Christopher Williams / Telegraph:
Gordon Brown ‘blocked knighthood’ for Steve Jobs
Vlad Savov / Engadget:
Motorola prices WiFi-only Xoom at £450 in the UK (update: €700 in Germany with 3G)
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:
Internal memo: Hearst Magazines president announces layoffs as part of a decision to “reallocate resources” to “continue our focus on digital innovation”

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced she will leave the agency on January 20; she was the first woman to be confirmed to lead the agency

Lachlan Cartwright / The Ankler:
Sources: MSNBC renewed Rachel Maddow's contract early this fall, but with a pay cut; MSNBC bosses' plan to shake up daytime and weekend programming
 
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