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8:50 AM ET, May 11, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Quentin Hardy / Forbes:
Google To Announce Chrome Laptops-$20/Month  —  Google tomorrow will announce sales of the new Chrome laptop in a $20 a month “student package” that combines both hardware and online services, according to a senior Google executive.  —  The product is almost certainly a precursor to an enterprise offering.
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Confirmed: Qik will become part of Microsoft, too  —  Hey, for $8.5 billion, you'd expect a little extra as part of a deal, and it turns out that Microsoft's Skype acquisition will include a bonus in the form of Qik, the streaming mobile video company acquired by Skype for $121 million this year.
RELATED:
Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry / SAI:
Skype's Road To $8 Billion  —  Skype is all-but confirmed to be acquired by Microsoft for over $8 billion, including debt.  —  It's a long road for a company founded back in 2003 that went through fundings, acquisitions, divestures, and a postponed IPO.  It started in the small country …
Amy Thomson / Bloomberg:
Microsoft's Skype Deal May Strain Relations With AT&T, Verizon
Discussion: Bloomberg
Bill Rigby / Reuters:
Analysis: Investors slam Microsoft's Skype deal
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
Microsoft buys Skype for $8.5 billion; creates new business division
Matt Burns / CrunchGear:
Hands-On With Android 3.1 On The Motorola Xoom  —  Google announced Android 3.1 earlier today at I/O. More surprising than the OS itself (which was expected, really) was that it was rolling out to Verizon Xooms today.  Google failed to announce when it was hitting other devices beside Google TV …
RELATED:
Hugo Barra / The Official Google Blog:
Android: momentum, mobile and more at Google I/O  —  (Cross-posted on the Google Code Blog)  —  This morning at Google I/O, the Android team shared some updates.  It's hard to believe a little more than two and a half years ago, we were just one device, launching in one country, on one carrier.
Devin Coldewey / CrunchGear:
Android And Chrome: Anywhere And Everywhere
Discussion: Mobilized and Electronista
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Android Chief Rubin Hints At A New Nexus Device In Time For The Holidays
Discussion: MobileCrunch and TmoNews
Zach Epstein / BGR:
Google announces Android @ Home
Matthew Lynley / VentureBeat:
Google's Music Beta first look: it's miserable  —  Google's Music Beta is supposed to provide users with a way to access the music anywhere, anytime as easily as physically possible.  —  But it's just not that easy.  —  I've spent the past few hours trying to navigate my way through Music Beta …
RELATED:
Darren Murph / Engadget:
Google Music Beta walkthrough: what it is and how it works (video)
Discussion: DialToSave and T3.com News
Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:
Google Music vs. Amazon Cloud Drive
Nishant Doshi / Symantec Blog:
Facebook Applications Accidentally Leaking Access to Third Parties  —  Third parties, in particular advertisers, have accidentally had access to Facebook users' accounts including profiles, photographs, chat, and also had the ability to post messages and mine personal information.
RELATED:
Eric Eldon / Inside Facebook:
Following Security Problem, Facebook Moves to OAuth 2.0, HTTPS and SSL Certificates
OUT-LAW News:
Google infringes copyright when its services link to newspaper sites, Belgian court rules  —  A Belgian appeals court has upheld an earlier ruling that Google infringes on newspapers' copyright when its services display and link to content from newspaper websites, according to press reports.
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
Revised 'Net censorship bill requires search engines to block sites, too  —  Surprise!  After months in the oven, the soon-to-be-released new version of a major US Internet censorship bill didn't shrink in scope—it got much broader.  Under the new proposal, search engines, Internet providers …
RELATED:
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Son Of COICA: PROTECT IP Act Will Allow For Broad Censorship Powers, Even Granted To Copyright Holders
Joe Mullin / paidContent:
Apple, Google Privacy Hearing Marked By Confusion, Distractions  —  In a hearing marked by odd points and side-tracks, representatives from Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) told a Senate committee today that their policies do, in fact, do a lot to protect users' privacy.
RELATED:
Curt Hopkins / ReadWriteWeb:
NSA Gathers 4x the Amount of Info than the Library of Congress, Daily  —  The National Security Agency is the geekiest of the spy shops.  The NSA is responsible for gathering and parsing information from around the world, usually electronic data.  At ReadWriteWeb, we're no strangers to big data, in fact we're fans.
Discussion: Popular Science and Gizmodo
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Google takes surprise $500M charge over DOJ ad investigation  —  Google's Form 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, made public this afternoon, contains an unexpected $500 million charge for the first quarter that wasn't reported in the company's quarterly results.
Frederic Lardinois / NewsGrange:
Google and Ford Team Up to Make Your Next Car Smarter  —  At Google's I/O developer conference today, Ford announced a new research project that will use Google's prediction API to help drivers save gas and drive more efficiently.  Ford plans to use Google's service to analyze data …
Neil Hughes / AppleInsider:
Photo shows alleged 7th-gen Apple iPod nano with 1.3MP camera, no clip  —  Yet another piece of evidence shows that the next iPod nano will retain its same small form factor and multi-touch screen, but add a camera to the rear side of the diminutive device and strangely ditch the built-in clip.
Brooke Crothers / CNET News:
Report: Apple to stick with Intel for MacBooks  —  A technical Web site posted an article yesterday asserting that Apple will not replace Intel processors with an alternative design anytime in the next two to three years.  —  This follows a report on a chip rumor site last week that claimed Apple is …
Jenna Wortham / Bits:
Visa Advances Toward a Digital Wallet  —  Visa is taking another big step in its continuing efforts to create a universal digital wallet.  —  On Wednesday, the company announced plans to introduce a one-click payment system that will allow Visa customers to sign up for a set of credentials …
Matt McGee / Search Engine Land:
Google Fails To Sway Indian Government On Web Content Restrictions  —  The Indian government has enacted tough restrictions on Internet content and publishers, ignoring objections detailed by Google in a confidential memo earlier this year.  —  According to the Wall Street Journal …
 
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 More Items: 
Rip Empson / TechCrunch:
Stealth Startup Inporia Raises $1.25 Million From Ron Conway, 500 Startups And More
Anthony Ha / VentureBeat:
“Wallet of the future” Pageonce raises $15M
Discussion: VatorNews and Social Markets
Eric Pfanner / New York Times:
European Court Rejects Bid to Limit News on Celebrities
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Y Combinator Accepts Record 60+ New Startups For Summer 2011
Thanks:bhc3
Mike Melanson / ReadWriteWeb:
Google Opens Places API to the Public
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
PaaS PHP Fog Launches To The Public
Discussion: ReadWriteWeb
 Earlier Items: 
Connie Loizos / PE Hub Blog:
UPDATED: Why a Third Fund for Andreessen Horowitz May Not Be Far Behind
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Google Finally Delivers On Promise Of Admin-Free Chrome Frame Installs For IE
Discussion: InfoWorld and Neowin.net
Royal Pingdom:
WordPress.com about to hit 20 million blogs. Tumblr in hot pursuit.
Discussion: Softpedia News, bijan sabet and Betabeat, Thanks:pingdom
Matthew Panzarino / The Next Web:
Groupon Now is live! Offers local deals at any time, wherever you are.
Jennifer Van Grove / Mashable!:
Airbnb Taps Facebook, Lets You Crash With Friends Of Friends
Discussion: The Airbnb Blog and TechCrunch
Navneet Joneja / Google Enterprise Blog:
Google Storage for Developers open to all, with new features
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Exclusive: Groupon Pushed for IPO Filing This Week (With or Without Bankers' Help!)
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Analyzing Comcast's spinoff of cable networks, purposefully structured with low debt: the move might be a signal to the industry that it's time to consolidate

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
James Harding says the Tortoise-Observer deal could create a profitable media group and there isn't a guaranteed future for the Observer with the Guardian

John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Substack, very deliberately, tries to have it both ways by saying publications on their platform are independent while presenting them all as parts of Substack

 
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