Techmeme: Patent that took down Barnes and Noble's Nook revealed (Tim Conneally/BetaNews)

3:15 PM ET, April 18, 2011

Top Items:

Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:

Dropbox Hits 25 Millions Users, 200 Million Files Per Day — Dropbox will announce a number of milestones on Monday morning, we've learned. The file backup and sharing service was founded in 2007 by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi. It was in one of the early Y Combinator classes …

Discussion: SFGate, Between the Lines Blog, Fortune, Social Markets, TUAW, Softpedia News, Digital Trends, Techie Buzz and App Advice

Dan Wheeler / The Dropbox Blog:
Dropbox in your language! (well, if you speak French, Japanese, German or Spanish)

Discussion: mobiputing

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.

Matt Rosoff / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:
Microsoft Tries To Bury Google Apps With Office 365

Discussion: Digital Trends and Network World

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.

Joseph Tartakoff / paidContent:
Demand Media Downplays Impact Of Latest Google Changes

Discussion: Between the Lines Blog, WebProNews, Betabeat, Search Engine Roundtable and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

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.

Discussion: The Register, The Toybox Blog, Digital Daily, PC Magazine, Engadget, MacRumors, Digital Trends, SAI, Apple Bitch, TiPb, Edible Apple, Softpedia News, PhoneArena, MacHackPC, TUAW, I4U News, MacStories, Neowin.net, everythingiCafe and iClarified

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.

Discussion: PR Newswire, Venture Capital Dispatch, SAI, eMoney, TechFlash, Social Markets, @jess and @pkedrosky

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?

Discussion: Bloomberg, MacDailyNews, TechFlash, Engadget, CNET News and dailywireless.org

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 …

Discussion: App Advice, 9 to 5 Mac, Gizmodo, GigaOM, Touch Arcade, TiPb, MarketingVOX and MacStories

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 …

Discussion: paidContent, GeekWire, TechCrunch, Between the Lines Blog, Datawocky, Xconomy, silicontap.com and WebProNews

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.

Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Microsoft vs. i4i at U.S. Supreme Court: Future of patent law at stake

Discussion: The Business Insider and BBC

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.

Discussion: Internet2Go, @carnage4life and Appolicious Advisor

Omar El Akkad / Globe and Mail:
RIM makes a play for its future

Discussion: Michael Geist Blog and Voice on the Web

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 …

Discussion: Technologizer, LAPTOP Magazine, TechCrunch, BGR, Gadgetell, GottaBeMobile, Softpedia News, IntoMobile, Electronista, Gizmodo, Engadget and WebOS Arena

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.

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 …

Discussion: Recombu, Engadget, MacRumors, Digital Trends, 9 to 5 Mac, Ars Technica, SlashGear, Shoutpedia, Electronista, MacHackPC, TUAW, Pocket-lint and MacRumors

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

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.

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.

Discussion: WinRumors, Gizmodo, The Next Web, LiveSide.net and WMPoweruser.com

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 …

Discussion: GigaOM, Fast Company, PC World, Daring Fireball, Stowe Boyd, Neven Mrgan's tumbl, DisplayBlog, parislemon and Marco.org

Federico Viticci / MacStories:

Dropbox 1.4 Brings Tabs Back, Direct Uploads from Other Apps — A major update to the official Dropbox app for iOS was released night in the App Store, and it adds important new functionalities to the uploading aspect of the app. Originally released last May on the iPad …

Discussion: 9 to 5 Mac

Seth Schiesel / New York Times:

Busy Job of Judging Video-Game Content to Be Ceded to Machines — The little E's, T's and M's that appear on the covers of video games get there the old-fashioned way: People working for the Entertainment Software Rating Board look at the games, decide how gory, sexy or potty-mouthed they are …

Discussion: Digital Trends, Fast Company, GoNintendo and Blue's News

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