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3:55 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.
RELATED:
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 …
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 …
RELATED:
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.
Matthew Panzarino / The Next Web:
Angry Birds comes to the web, courtesy of WebGL and Chrome [Now Live!]  —  Wednesday at Google I/O, Rovio CEO Peter Vesterbacka revealed that Angry Birds is coming to the web.  This is an event that he says would not have been possible a year ago but now, with the improvement in graphics technologies …
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 …
RELATED:
Josh Constine / Inside Facebook:
Facebook Allows Users to Tag Pages in Photos, Helping Them Gain 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.
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 …
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 …
RELATED:
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.
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 …
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 …
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.
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 …
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.
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
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 …
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 …
RELATED:
Josh Ong / AppleInsider:
Apple looking into senate request for DUI checkpoint app removals  —  During a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, Apple Vice President of Software Technology Guy L.  “Bud” Tribble told senators that the company is in the process of “looking into” the legality of apps that broadcast police DUI checkpoints.
Rip Empson / TechCrunch:
Stealth Startup Inporia Raises $1.25 Million From Ron Conway, 500 Startups And More  —  Add another stealth eCommerce startup attracting pre-launch funding from eager investors to your list.  That is, of course, if you have one.  Last month, we covered Decide, a Seattle-based company looking …
Discussion: GeekWire and Pulse2
Electronista:
Acer pins failures in iPad's wake on ex-CEO  —  Acer shot back at its ex-CEO Gianfranco Lanci's claims that their nationalism held the company back with a statement later on Tuesday.  The PC builder rejected the notion that Lanci had been thwarted in countering the iPad by Taiwan executives' refusal to hire more foreign engineers.
 
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 More Items: 
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
A Microsoft cheat sheet for Google I/O
Hamilton Nolan / Gawker:
How Groupon Royally Screws European Businesses
Discussion: Wall Street Journal
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: 
Curt Hopkins / ReadWriteWeb:
NSA Gathers 4x the Amount of Info than the Library of Congress, Daily
Discussion: Popular Science, Gizmodo and MSDN Blogs
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:

Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:
Internal memo: Hearst Magazines president announces layoffs as part of a decision to “reallocate resources” to “continue our focus on digital innovation”

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

Lachlan Cartwright / The Ankler:
Sources: MSNBC renewed Rachel Maddow's contract early this fall, but with a pay cut; MSNBC bosses' plan to shake up daytime and weekend programming
 
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