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3:30 PM ET, April 18, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Elsa Wenzel / PC World:
Microsoft Office 365 Beta Opens for Business: What's Inside  —  Now anyone can try Office 365, Microsoft's cloud productivity package for businesses.  The service opened Sunday night for beta testing, coming a step closer to its final launch, which will occur sometime later this year.
RELATED:
Matt Rosoff / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:
Microsoft Tries To Bury Google Apps With Office 365
Discussion: Digital Trends and Network World
Neil Hughes / AppleInsider:
Mass production of Apple's A5-, Qualcomm-powered iPhone 5 rumored for Sept.  —  Apple's iPhone 5 will feature “slight modifications” from its predecessor, including an 8 megapixel rear camera and a Qualcomm baseband for both GSM and CDMA models, and will go into production in September, a new report claims.
JP Mangalindan / Fortune:
Dropbox: 25 million users and counting  —  The popular start-up says it grew more than 500% in 15 months.  How's that for viral effectiveness?  —  FORTUNE — As many in Silicon Valley know, very few start-ups succeed, and even if they do, even fewer stumble upon the kind of growth Dropbox has in such little time.
RELATED:
Federico Viticci / MacStories:
Dropbox 1.4 Brings Tabs Back, Direct Uploads from Other Apps
Discussion: 9 to 5 Mac and TUAW
Larry Fitzgibbon / Demand Media:
Another Statement About Search Engine Algorithm Changes  —  It's hard to imagine a company more focused on the connection between consumers and content than Demand Media.  That point of connection gives us the opportunity to inform, engage and serve the consumer.  And it's where trusted relationships start.
RELATED:
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Real Estate Listings Site Zillow Files For $51.75 Million IPO  —  As expected, real estate listings and search site Zillow has just filed its S-1, which indicates that the company will be pursuing a public offering.  Zillow wants to raise $51.75 million in the offering, according to the SEC filing.
CBS News:
A billionaire bachelor's playground  —  Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen gives “60 Minutes” a tour of his estate, yacht, space rocket, and, yes — his very own submarine What would you do if you suddenly became a billionaire with the means to indulge your every whim, no matter how extreme?
Kim-Mai Cutler / Inside Mobile Apps:
Apple May Have Tweaked App Store Ranking Algorithm, Making Downloads Matter Less  —  It looks like Apple made a number of changes to the app store's ranking system last week, adding in new weights on top of download numbers to determine top apps, according to conversations we've …
Tricia Duryee / eMoney:
Wal-Mart Acquires Kosmix to Move Into Social and Mobile  —  Wal-Mart is buying Kosmix, a Mountain View, Calif.-based company that has built a social media platform that organizes content by topic.  —  The company did not disclose terms of the agreement, but said the acquisition would be instrumental …
James Vicini / Reuters:
Supreme Court hears Microsoft appeal on i4i patent  —  (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to make it easier to challenge some patents as part of its appeal of a record $290 million jury verdict for infringing a small Canadian software firm's patent.
RELATED:
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Microsoft vs. i4i at U.S. Supreme Court: Future of patent law at stake
Discussion: The Business Insider and BBC
Derek Kessler / PreCentral.net:
Veer launch party scheduled for May 2; Update: AT&T confirmed?  —  We've been hearing “spring,” “soon,” and most recently “very soon” with regards to when the minuscule HP Veer smartphone is supposed to launch.  Of course, all this vagueness means little without a concrete date …
Farhad Manjoo / Slate:
What on Earth Happened to BlackBerry?  —  Research in Motion's new tablet is a misguided mess.  —  First, a confession: I haven't used the BlackBerry PlayBook yet.  The seven-inch tablet computer is scheduled to go on sale next week, and I hope to get my hands on one soon.  This, then, is not a product review.
RELATED:
Omar El Akkad / Globe and Mail:
RIM makes a play for its future
Eric Bennett / Bing:
Capture and Share Panoramas Anywhere You Go with the Photosynth App  —  What does a beautiful mountain pass, your favorite coffee shop, and your blossoming backyard garden all have in common?  They're all places you would love to capture and share, but a single photograph just won't do.
Tim Conneally / BetaNews:
Patent that took down Barnes and Noble's Nook revealed  —  Monday, California-based technology company Spring Design announced that it had been granted the patent for multiple-screen technology that resulted in a lawsuit with Barnes and Noble over the Nook e-reader last year.
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
Could Office 15's ‘Moorea’ bring back elements of Microsoft ‘Courier’?  —  New screen shots, allegedly from an internal milestone build of Office 15, show that Microsoft is making good on hints to add a new application to its next version of its Office suite, which is expected to ship around 2013.
Discussion: The Next Web, WinRumors and Neowin.net
Matthew Panzarino / The Next Web:
White iPhone 4 Now available for order on 3 UK, delivers on April 20th  —  The mythical white iPhone 4 is now available for order on the 3 UK store.  The phone is available for the standard subsidized price of £159 for the 32GB version.  —  The white iPhone 4 has been a topic …
Vlad Savov / Engadget:
Samsung promises a dual-core 2GHz smartphone ‘by next year’  —  Are you ready for a scorching-fast future?  Samsung sure is, as today the Maeli Business Newspaper reports “a high-ranking” company official has disclosed Samsung's intention to deliver a dual-core smartphone that runs at 2GHz.
Harry McCracken / Technologizer:
Saying Apple Will Never Do Something: Always Dangerous  —  For years, there's been a persistent, as-yet-unrealized rumor that Apple will start making HDTVs.  Received wisdom, however, has generally argued that it's not going to happen.  TVs are too commoditized; TVs would have to come in too many sizes …
Miguel Helft / Bits:
Winklevoss Twins Ask for New Hearing in Facebook Case  —  Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss are not giving up.  The brothers, who claim that they, not Mark Zuckerberg, came up with the idea for Facebook, are asking a federal appeals court in San Francisco to rehear their request that a 2008 settlement between …
 
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 More Items: 
Ralph Jennings / PC World:
Google Rebuts Anti-competition Claim in South Korea
Discussion: Hillicon Valley and MobileBurn.com
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:
Apple Q2 2011 earnings preview
Discussion: Apple and TUAW, Thanks:philiped
San Francisco Chronicle:
Internet freedom declining as use grows
Matt Brian / The Next Web:
What Happens To Your Email Address If It Is Stolen?
Louis Gray:
Foursquare Day 2011: 3M+ Checkins, The Most Ever
Discussion: @dens and The Next Web
 Earlier Items: 
Daniel Tunkelang / The Noisy Channel:
Identifying Influencers on Twitter
New York Times:
Retailers Retool Sites to Ease Mobile Shopping
Laura Northrup / The Consumerist:
Comcast's Xfinity Extreme 105: Pay More To Reach Download Cap Even Faster
Discussion: PC World
Electronista:
Samsung may sell hard drive business in wake of iPad