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3:50 PM ET, March 18, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Mark Gurman / 9 to 5 Mac:
iPhone 5 prototypes spotted: metal back, larger display, iPhone 4 shape?  —  Image is a third-party “metal” back sticker for iPhone 4, not an image of the iPhone 5  —  A source from Foxconn who we believe to be reliable has provided us with some information about Apple's fifth-generation iPhone.
RELATED:
Elizabeth Woyke / Mobilized:
Source: iPhone 5 May Have NFC Contactless Capability  —  Apple's iPhone 4 doesn't have NFC.  But could the iPhone 5?  —  One of the latest, juiciest rumors about Apple's upcoming iPhone, dubbed iPhone 5, is that the device will not include a wireless technology known as Near Field Communication or NFC.
Leander Kahney / Cult of Mac:
How the iPhone, NFC and Mac App Store Will Enable Remote Computing [Exclusive]  —  With all the rumors about NFC being in the next iPhone — or not in the next iPhone — we have a few more details about Apple's remote computing plans that revolve around the technology.
Ted Sarandos / Netflix Blog:
House of Cards  —  Hi, Ted Sarandos, Netflix Chief Content Officer here.  We're delighted to tell you that in late 2012 Netflix will be bringing to our members in the U.S. and Canada exclusively “House of Cards,” the much-anticipated television series and political thriller …
RELATED:
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Netflix Bets Big On “House Of Cards” But Swears It's Not a Strategy Shift: Q&A With Content Boss Ted Sarandos  —  Netflix has bought its first TV show which doesn't exist yet.  The company has finalized a deal to distribute two seasons of “House Of Cards”, a yet-to-be produced political drama directed …
Richard Gaywood / TUAW:
AT&T aggressively moving against unauthorized tethering  —  AT&T is ruining a lot of people's days with a customer mailshot explaining that its “records show that you use [tethering] but are not subscribed to our tethering plan.” iOS, of course, will disable the built-in tethering facility if you do not have an appropriate carrier plan.
RELATED:
Paul Horowitz / OS X Daily:
AT&T Cracking Down on Unofficial iPhone Tethering & MyWi Users
Richard Boscovich / TechNet Blogs:
Taking Down Botnets: Microsoft and the Rustock Botnet  —  Senior Attorney, Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit  —  Just over a year ago, we announced that the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit (DCU), in cooperation with industry and academic experts, had successfully taken down the botnet Waledac in an operation known as “Operation b49”.
RELATED:
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Not Even Kevin Rose Really Uses Digg Anymore  —  How bad are things at the once-mighty Digg these days?  Not so good.  It's been months since Digg relaunched in August in a quest for relevance.  They had 18 million unique worldwide visitors that month according to Comscore.
Nick Bilton / Bits:
Is Amazon Working on an Android Kindle?  —  Amazon has been incredibly successful with its Kindle e-reader, offering a lightweight reader at an affordable price.  But the pizazz of the iPad 2 and the dozens of Android-based tablets that are slowly making their way off of conveyor belts …
Business Week:
Are Four Words Worth $25 Billion for Groupon?  —  Inside Andrew Mason's plan to remake Groupon, fend off copycats, and change your spending habits forever  —  On a frigid Chicago morning in early March, Andrew Mason stood on a street corner outside his company's offices to reveal …
Ben Popper / Betabeat:
Twitter Splits Soho, Takes Facebook Space on Madison  —  Twitter, the Web's biggest repository of personal oversharing, political dissent and tasteless self-promotion, is donning a suit and tie.  —  The little blue bird has been perching in a spartan, open-concept loft in Soho since November …
Discussion: MediaMemo and Pulse2
Wall Street Journal:
RIM, Carriers Fight Over Digital Wallet  —  BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. is locking horns with wireless carriers over control of mobile-payment data, in an example of the battles erupting as smartphones evolve into electronic wallets.  —  The dispute centers on where key data related …
SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:
The Sex Letter That Got Mark Hurd Canned From HP Will Be Made Public!  —  The letter alleging sexual harassment that got Mark Hurd fired from HP will finally become a public document!  —  Unfortunately, it looks like some juicy parts will be redacted.  But we'll take what we can get.
Charles Starrett / iLounge:
Apple plans major MobileMe revamp for April launch; prior version to be phased out in a year  —  Apple is set to announce a new, free version of MobileMe next month, according to a trusted iLounge source.  The source, who works for a major educational institution, claims the school's supplier …
DigiTimes:
Component supply of iPad 2 still about 2-3 weeks; Foxconn to activate backup measures  —  As there are rumors that Apple will soon be out of product supplies because Japan's earthquake has caused shortages of components are circulating in the IT industry, Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) …
RELATED:
Andrew Rassweiler / iSuppli:
Japanese Earthquake Poses Potential Supply Problems for iPad 2
Matt LeMay / bit.ly blog:
bitly's Got a Brand New Mobile Site!  —  Hey look, it's a desk covered in mobile devices!  —  What makes these mobile devices different from all other mobile devices?  They are all running the brand new cross-platform bitly mobile site, which we are extremely stoked to share with you today.
Georgina Prodhan / Reuters:
Elop says work begun on first Windows Nokia phones  —  * Has no current plans to change Nokia management  —  Work has begun on the first Nokia (NOK1V.HE) smartphones based on Microsoft (MSFT.O) software following the partnership announced by the companies last month, Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop told Reuters.
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Zynga buys indie game developer Floodgate Entertainment  —  Zynga announced today that it has added another shiny object to its collection with the acquisition of the team at Floodgate Entertainment, an independent game developer in Waltham, Mass.  —  The deal is Zynga's tenth acquisition in 10 months …
Jack Purcher / Patently Apple:
The EU Grants Apple 24 iOS Icon Design Patents  —  It seems that Europe is getting all of Apple's trademark business these days.  Since January there have been five major filings alone.  It Began with Ping, Apple's branding for their social network for music.
Discussion: Pulse2 and The Next Web
Antti Vilpponen / ArcticStartup Posts:
Rovio Wants To IPO In New York  —  Finnish business magazine Talouselämä has published a story on Rovio, the creators of Angry Birds, where they state that the company is seeking to go public in New York.  Rovio Board Chairman Kaj Hed, father of Mikael Hed, the CEO …
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Q&A: New York Times Digital Czar Martin Nisenholtz on the Paywall, Pricing, Google and Apple  —  A lot of you have done a lot of reading, and a lot of writing, about the New York Times' digital paywall/subscription plans.  And if any of you who care about this stuff haven't read Ken Doctor's dissection …
Sean Hollister / Engadget:
Flash 10.2 hits Android today, Adobe hopes for viewable 720p playback in a matter of weeks  —  Today, Adobe Flash 10.2 will hit the Android Market for devices running Froyo, Gingerbread and Honeycomb, and by now you're probably familiar with what it brings — increased performance …
CNET News:
Criminal probe into iPhone prototype nears end  —  A probe into a prototype iPhone 4 purchased by a gadget blog is nearing its end, with investigators expected to report their findings soon.  —  Stephen Wagstaffe, district attorney for the county of San Mateo, Calif., told CNET today that …
 
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 More Items: 
Patrick Seitz / IBD Click:
Netflix's Deep Integration With Facebook Under Way
Discussion: Hacking NetFlix, Thanks:michaelkrey
mobiputing:
Facebook Places Now Available outside of the US
Discussion: Inside Facebook, All Facebook and WebProNews, Thanks:aczafra
Charles Arthur / Guardian:
Developers express concern over pirated games on Android Market
Gavin Clarke / The Register:
RIM PlayBook to sync with Microsoft Exchange cloud
Discussion: ReadWriteWeb
 Earlier Items: 
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
FriendFinder Revisits Plans To Go Public
Discussion: Pulse2 and PR Newswire
James Slater / SEO Blog by Dave Naylor:
Hidden Services on Google Social Search
Jay Yarow / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:
Exclusive: Yahoo Is About To Sell Delicious For $1-$2 Million
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:
Nielsen: the NFL's two Christmas Day games that streamed on Netflix averaged 24.2M US viewers, peaking at 27M for Beyoncé's Ravens-Texans halftime show

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Richard Parsons, who had a long career as chairman, CEO, and as a board member of media companies including CBS and Time Warner, died at 76 of bone cancer

Reuters:
Palestinian sources say an Israeli airstrike killed five journalists from Al-Quds Today; the Israeli military called the five “operatives posing as journalists”
 
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