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4:15 PM ET, May 11, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
The Official Google Blog:
A new kind of computer: Chromebook  —  A little less than two years ago we set out to make computers much better.  Today, we're announcing the first Chromebooks from our partners, Samsung and Acer.  These are not typical notebooks.  With a Chromebook you won't wait minutes for your computer to boot and browser to start.
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Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Google Chromebooks Out June 15, $349 For Consumers, $20-$28 Monthly For Educators/Business  —  At long last, the Google Chrome OS operating system is going prime time against Windows and Mac computers.  On June 15, consumers can by them for a flat rate.  Those in education and business have intriguing monthly payment options.
Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:
Google Launches Chromebooks with Samsung and Acer  —  Samsung and Acer are launching two new notebooks running Google's Chrome OS this summer in the U.S. and six European countries.  Acer's Chromebook will start at $349, and Samsung's model will be priced $429 for its WiFi model and $499 for a model with 3G connectivity.
John Paczkowski / Digital Daily:
Google's Chromebooks Debut June 15  —  Evidently Google's Chrome laptop pilot program served its purpose, helping the company to ready the devices for wider distribution.  —  At the company's annual I/O conference this morning, Google announced the Chromebook, a true consumer version …
John Biggs / TechCrunch:
Google Announces 160 Million Chrome Users, Massive Improvements Coming  —  Chrome's user base “more than doubled” in the past year with browser uptake increasing from 70 million to 160 million thanks to Linux, Windows, and OS X versions of the browser finally reaching parity.
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Donald Melanson / Engadget:
Google makes Chrome Web Store available worldwide, adds in-app purchases and flat five percent fee  —  Google has just announced that it's making the Chrome Web Store available to the “entire userbase of Chrome,” and in 41 different languages no less, although those outside the current markets …
John Markoff / New York Times:
Google Lobbies Nevada To Allow Self-Driving Cars  —  Google, a pioneer of self-driving cars, is quietly lobbying for legislation that would make Nevada the first state where they could be legally operated on public roads.  —  And yes, the proposed legislation would include an exemption …
Josh Constine / Inside Facebook:
Facebook Allows Users to Tag Pages in Photos, Could Bring in New Fans  —  Starting today, Facebook users will be able to tag Pages in their photos.  Page tagged photos will adhere to a user's privacy settings, and will only appear on a Page's Photos tab if set to be visible to everyone.
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Edward Wyatt / New York Times:
F.C.C. Commissioner To Join Comcast  —  WASHINGTON - Four months after the Federal Communications Commission approved the merger of Comcast and NBC Universal, one of the commissioners who approved the deal said she would join Comcast to oversee its government affairs office.
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MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Coming This Summer: Fully Offline Gmail, Google Calendar, And Google Docs  —  While it hasn't always been clear just how big of a bet Google was going to make on Chrome OS, after Google I/O today, it seems very clear that they're very serious.  With the launch of Chromebooks …
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Exclusive: BranchOut Raises $18M For Facebook-Focused Professional Network  —  Exclusive: BranchOut, a professional social network for Facebook, has raised $18 million in Series B funding led by Redpoint Ventures with Accel Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, and Floodgate also participating the the round.
Jim Puzzanghera / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Senators grill AT&T and T-Mobile CEOs over their proposed merger  —  Skeptical lawmakers on Wednesday interrogated the chief executives of AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA about their proposed merger, raising concerns that the $39-billion deal would increase prices for wireless consumers by creating a market dominated by two huge players.
Ingrid Lunden / mocoNews:
iFlowReader Latest App To Shut Up Shop, Blames Apple's IAP, Agency Models  —  Remember all those complaints about Apple's new in-app purchasing policy when it first launched?  Those have somewhat died down, but they haven't stopped altogether: The developers of the iPhone …
Hamilton Nolan / Gawker:
How Groupon Royally Screws European Businesses  —  In the oddly satisfying slow-motion backlash against Groupon, one of the chief objections from business owners is that Groupon takes a hefty cut of the proceeds for doing nothing but selling the coupons, leaving the businesses themselves with all the work and all the risk.
Discussion: Wall Street Journal
Thomas Ricker / Engadget:
Android@Home is the best worst thing that could happen to home automation  —  As the resident Engadget home automation nerd, Google's Android@Home announcement rocked my little low-powered RF world yesterday.  Seeing a brand like Google get behind home automation is the stuff I've been dreaming …
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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 …
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 …
Discussion: Boing Boing and Techdirt
Anthony Ha / VentureBeat:
“Wallet of the future” Pageonce raises $15M  —  Pageonce, which helps manage financial accounts and bills through your smartphone, just announced that it has raised $15 million in a new round of funding.  —  It seems like the Palo Alto, Calif. company has become more focused over time.
Federico Viticci / MacStories:
Apple Stops Serving iAds In Apps Targeted To Kids  —  Since its introduction last year, Apple's iAd advertising network has been off to a somehow rough start: touted as the best way for advertisers to build interactive campaigns to deliver effortlessly to iOS users, the service was repeatedly criticized …
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 …
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Android Market Getting A Major Refresh: Better Discovery, A Redesign, And 99 New Countries  —  One of the most important pieces in the Android ecosystem is Android Market — Google's application storefront that comes pre-installed on the vast majority of Android devices.
Olivier Laurent / British Journal of Photography:
TwitPic signs controversial deal with celebrity photo agency  —  TwitPic is claiming a “worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicenseable and transferable license” on all images uploaded to the service, as the firm signs a deal with celebrity photo agency WENN
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 …
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 More Items: 
Josh Ong / AppleInsider:
Apple looking into senate request for DUI checkpoint app removals
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
A Microsoft cheat sheet for Google I/O
Eric Savitz / The Tech Trade:
Yahoo Discloses Jack Ma Takes Control Of Alipay From Alibaba
Adrianne Jeffries / Betabeat:
Tumblr Deletes Its Tweets About Service Problems
Katie Marsal / AppleInsider:
Supply chain data shows Apple sales up 113% in April
Discussion: MacNN, SAI and Tech Trader Daily
Shaun Tandon / Agence France Presse:
US in new push to break China Internet firewall
Discussion: The Next Web
 Earlier Items: 
Rip Empson / TechCrunch:
Stealth Startup Inporia Raises $1.25 Million From Ron Conway, 500 Startups And More
Discussion: GeekWire and Pulse2
Curt Hopkins / ReadWriteWeb:
NSA Gathers 4x the Amount of Info than the Library of Congress, Daily
Discussion: Popular Science and Gizmodo
Brooke Crothers / CNET News:
Report: Apple to stick with Intel for MacBooks
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
Discussion: SAI, Thanks:bhc3
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced she will leave the agency on January 20; she was the first woman to be confirmed to lead the agency

Evan Drellich / New York Times:
The MLB is planning national packages for streaming companies to bid on in 2028, when its national TV deals with ESPN, Fox, and Turner expire

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Tubi launches Scenes, a mobile feature that lets viewers watch 60-to-90-second trailer-style clips from its library to help with content discovery
 
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