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5:50 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 …
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.
RELATED:
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 …
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.
Discussion: Company Town
RELATED:
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines Blog:
Cisco third quarter better than expected  —  Cisco delivered better-than-expected third quarter earnings and CEO John Chambers said the company has “a clear game plan” to “transition to the next phase.”  —  As noted previously, it was a busy quarter for Cisco, which exited its Flip camera business and reorganized to improve focus.
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.
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 …
Paul Sawers / The Next Web:
Think Insights: Google's new site for data addicts  —  Some people might say that statistics are like mini-skirts: they give good ideas, but hide the most important thing.  What nonsense though, statistics, data, hard numbers...whatever you want to call it, are what give businesses and marketers …
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.
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 …
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 …
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
A Microsoft cheat sheet for Google I/O  —  Microsoft, never one to shy away from blog posts touting how it is besting Google, has been quiet about the announcements Googlehas been making at the Google I/O developer conference this week.  To fill the void, I thought I'd try my hand at a compare/contrast between the two rivals.
Carolyn Penner / Twitter Blog:
A better app for your mobile browser  —  We want you to be able to access Twitter no matter where you are; regardless of what device you use; or, whether you prefer to access Twitter through a mobile application or the browser.  Today, we're starting to roll out a new version of twitter.com for mobile devices.
Discussion: LaptopMemo
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
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 …
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 …
Nathan Olivarez-Giles / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Facebook reportedly disables account of attorney Mark S. Zuckerberg  —  Mark S. Zuckerberg, an Indianapolis bankruptcy attorney, might not consider Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to be a friend.  —  That's because the world's largest social networking website has shut down the lawyer's personal Facebook account.
Discussion: Reuters, Indianapolis Star and WISH-TV
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.
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.
 
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 More Items: 
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
MySpace Stabilizes Unique Visitors, But All Other Usage Stats Plummet
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Sergey Brin Guesses That Only 20% Of Googlers Still Use Windows Machines
Discussion: Gizmodo, Electronista and Forbes
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: eWeek, SAI, MacNN 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
Brooke Crothers / CNET News:
Report: Apple to stick with Intel for MacBooks
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
Revised 'Net censorship bill requires search engines to block sites, too
Discussion: Boing Boing
 

 
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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