Techmeme: Big Acquisitions Are Bad For Shareholders: A Look At The 10 Biggest Tech Mergers Ever (Matt Rosoff/SAI)

11:25 AM ET, March 22, 2011

Top Items:

iPad 2 Arrives in 25 More Countries This Friday — Available in Hong Kong, Korea & Singapore in April — Apple® today announced that iPad® 2, the second-generation of its third post-PC device, will go on sale in 25 additional countries this Friday, March 25. iPad 2 will be available …

Discussion: PC World, 9 to 5 Mac, MacStories, AppleInsider, GigaOM, MacRumors, mocoNews, App Advice, Engadget, Macworld, TiPb, iClarified, Gearlog, TUAW, MacHackPC, Gadget Lab, The Next Web, Apple Bitch, RazorianFly, Pocket-lint, Edge Online, iLounge, WebProNews and Liliputing

Sinead Carew / Reuters:

Verizon Wireless CEO says no interest in Sprint deal — (Reuters) - The chief executive of Verizon Wireless said he has no interest in buying Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N) even as the company stands to lose its top position in the U.S. wireless market because of a merger between AT&T Inc (T.N) and T-Mobile USA.

Discussion: PC World, Digital Trends, Hillicon Valley, Digital Daily, Engadget, DailyTech, Neowin.net, Gearlog, PhoneArena, FierceWireless, SlashGear, Electronista, CNET News and Android Phone Fans

Matt Rosoff / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:

Big Acquisitions Are Bad For Shareholders: A Look At The 10 Biggest Tech Mergers Ever — Huge acquisitions like AT&T's proposed buyout of T-Mobile make headlines, alter the competitive landscape, and make bankers rich. — But they don't do much for shareholders.

Tom Krazit / mocoNews:
Sparks Fly Over AT&T/T-Mobile Deal As Wireless CEOs Trade Jabs

Discussion: Mobilized

Ina Fried / Mobilized:
What AT&T Owes T-Mobile if Deal Doesn't Go Through

Discussion: eWeek, eMoney and Deal Journal

Reuters:
AT&T seen selling assets to get nod for mega deal

Discussion: DSLreports

Tricia Duryee / eMoney:

Now Open: Amazon Appstore Launches With 3,800 Apps for Android — Amazon has officially launched the Android Appstore, a potential iTunes equivalent for Android. — The company-whose roots are in e-commerce and not mobile-aspires to merchandise and sell apps better than Google does on its own platform.

Joshua Benton / Nieman Journalism Lab:

That was quick: Four lines of code is all it takes for The New York Times' paywall to come tumbling down — The New York Times paywall is costing the newspaper $40-$50 million to design and construct, Bloomberg has reported. And it can be defeated through four lines of Javascript.

Discussion: euri.ca and broadstuff, more at Mediagazer »

John Gruber / Daring Fireball:

A Rule of Thumb: Pricing Should Be Simple — One thing many companies — in any industry — can learn from Apple is the importance of simple pricing. If you make it easy for people to understand how much they're paying, and what they're paying for, it is more likely that they'll buy it.

Discussion: SAI, NewsGrange and Mixed Media

Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
NYTimes Paywall Limit To Extend Beyond Google To “All Major Search Engines”

Discussion: Betabeat, MediaMemo, @dannysullivan, Search Engine Land, NBC Bay Area, Switched, MediaNama, @dannysullivan, mediabistro.com and @pkafka, more at Mediagazer »

Bloomberg:

Apple Sues Amazon.com, Seeks Order to Stop Use of ‘App Store’ Trademark — Apple Inc. (AAPL) sued Amazon.com Inc., saying the online retailer is improperly using Apple's “App Store” trademark for a mobile software developer program. — Apple, in a complaint filed March 18 in California …

Bloomberg:

Apple's Jobs Must Answer Questions in ITunes Antitrust Suit — A federal magistrate judge ordered Apple Inc. (AAPL) Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs to answer questions in an antitrust dispute alleging the company operated a music-downloading monopoly. — Lawyers for consumers who filed …

Discussion: MacRumors, 9 to 5 Mac, PR Newswire, PC World, The Register, Edible Apple, AppleInsider, Pulse2, RazorianFly, Inquirer, MacStories, iLounge and ringtonia.com

MG Siegler / TechCrunch:

Drunk On Licensing Fees And Patents, Microsoft Has Become A Joke — Earlier today, it was revealed that Microsoft was suing yet another company for infringing on their patents. The target this time? Barnes & Noble. Yes, Microsoft is suing a book chain. Why?

Discussion: Softpedia News

Horacio Gutierrez / Microsoft:
Microsoft Takes Legal Action Against Barnes & Noble, Foxconn and Inventec for Patent Infringement by Android Devices

Discussion: Inquirer, Android Phone Fans, CrunchGear, Techland, Softpedia News, TechEye, SAI, The Atlantic Online, MobileCrunch and Open Source Blog

Horacio Gutierrez / TechNet Blogs:
Android Patent Infringement: Licensing is the Solution

Discussion: p2pnet, Computerworld, PC Magazine and ITProPortal

Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:

RIM Reveals BlackBerry PlayBook Versions, Pricing (Starts At $499), Retail Partners — In case you were holding out for a BlackBerry PlayBook: good news. Research In Motion this morning announced (expected) plans to make the tablet computer available in more than 20,000 retail outlets in the U.S. and Canada.

Arn / MacRumors Page 2:

iPad 2: Wife Says No, but Apple Says Yes — Apple is paying close attention to all iPad 2 returns during the first few weeks to make sure there are no major production defects. This policy has led to an amusing story that we thought was entertaining enough to share.

Discussion: Macworld UK, Softpedia News, ITworld.com, MacStories, Geek.com, TiPb, Appletell, GottaBeMobile and Business Wire

Chris Dixon / cdixon's posterous:

Dropbox and why you should invest in people — It was reported today that Dropbox will generate $100M in revenue this year. Whether or not those reports are right, it is certainly a great product, beloved by its customers and will almost certainly be wildly successful.

Discussion: @drewhouston

Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry / SAI:
Dropbox Could Generate $100 Million In Revenue This Year

Discussion: Softpedia News, Pulse2 and @anildash

Georgina Prodhan / Reuters:

Nokia's tablet path may exclude Microsoft: source — (Reuters) - Nokia's strategy for entering the tablet computer market may not include Microsoft, its recently announced partner for smartphones, according to a person with knowledge of the company's thinking.

Discussion: TechEye

BBC:

China rejects Google claims of email interference — Google reduced its presence in China last year after complaining of interference — China's foreign ministry has rejected claims by Google that Beijing is disrupting access to its e-mail service in the country.

Discussion: Associated Press, Gearlog, Reuters, The Register and Inquirer

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

Boom! Professional Social Network LinkedIn Passes 100 Million Members — 2011 has proven to be a monumental year so far for professional social network LinkedIn. The company filed its S-1 for a public offering, released a number of data-focused products and unveiled a social news reader for professionals.

Discussion: VatorNews, Mashable!, The LinkedIn Blog, NetworkEffect, The LinkedIn Blog, Softpedia News, WebProNews and SocialTimes.com, Thanks:srikardhanakoti

Kevin C. Tofel / GigaOM:

Here Come the First T-Mobile 42 Mbps Cities, Devices — The latest T-Mobile news may have been focused on the AT&T's plans to purchase the carrier, but that isn't stopping T-Mobile with its network expansion plans for 2011. Today, the company announced the first three cities …

Discussion: DSLreports, Inquirer, LAPTOP Magazine, BGR, T-Mobile Newsroom, Pulse2, Gadgetell, Engadget, Smartphones …, dailywireless.org, ThinkMobile, Mobilized, Technologizer, IntoMobile and LaptopMemo

Simon Sage / IntoMobile:

Hands-On: Verizon's Sony Ericsson Xperia Play at CTIA 2011 — At CTIA Wireless 2011, Verizon started showing off their branded version of the Sony Ericsson Xperia play for the first time. — We've already had some hands-on time with the Sony Xperia Play, but the Verizon version is a bit different.

Discussion: Engadget, BGR and Engadget

Marty Katz / Gadgetwise:

YouTube Offers Free Image Stabilization — Starting today, Google's YouTube video Web site will make the road for video enthusiasts smoother. — YouTube has added a stabilization feature to its adjustment tools, which reduces shakiness in video, whether from walking, riding or unsteady hands.

Discussion: Softpedia News and ThinkMobile

Tim Stevens / Engadget:

Nintendo 3DS review — See that greenish blue thing up there? That might look like this greenish blue thing over here that we reviewed a few weeks back, but actually they're not the same. No, sir. This thing up there is the genuine, guaranteed, red-blooded American version …

Discussion: Guardian, ITworld.com and ThinkMobile

MG Siegler / TechCrunch:

Happy Birthday Twitter. Yes, You're Awesome. Now Back To Work (On Search And Archives) — I woke up this morning and my Twitter stream looked like a Facebook Wall on a teenager's birthday. “Happy birthday, Twitter!” “Twitter, you're the best, happy bday!” “Can't believe you're five Twitter!”

Discussion: Geek.com, Marketing Pilgrim, Twitter Blog and NevilleHobson.com

Mark Hachman / PC Magazine: Humanity's Tweets: Just 20 Terabytes

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