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6:50 AM ET, May 18, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
BBC:
Microsoft's Bill Gates says he advocated Skype takeover  —  Bill Gates says Microsoft's decision to buy Skype will provide better video conferencing opportunities  —  Microsoft's founder, Bill Gates, has said he advocated the company's takeover of Skype, and urged other board members to support the move.
RELATED:
Kfury / fox @ fury:
Is Microsoft trying to end the reign of mobile carriers?  (MSFT+Skype+Nokia)  —  Are Microsoft, Apple and Google quietly preparing for war with mobile carriers?  I think so.  —  With all the advancements made to mobile phones in the past ten years, the part that's been woefully slow to improve is the act of calling.
Discussion: SlashGear and I'm Just Being Manan, Thanks:louisgray
Gavin Clarke / The Register:   Gates defends Ballmer's Skype gamble
DigiTimes:
Apple to launch new MacBook Air in June-July  —  The Taiwan-based supply chain for Apple products will begin shipments of new 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch MacBook Air models featuring Sandy Bridge platform and Thunderbolt interface in late May for launch in June or July, according to makers in the supply chain.
Charles Arthur / Guardian:
More app developers sued over patent claims  —  Fears that smartphones are becoming new hunting ground for so-called ‘patent trolls’ as 10 more app developers sued over infringement claims  —  Another patent-owning company has targeted app developers on both Apple and Android platforms …
Discussion: The Next Web
RELATED:
Arnold Kim / MacRumors:
Apple LTE-enabled iPhone Due in 2012, iPhone 4S Preparations for September 2011  —  Though not a particular surprise, Digitime's sources claim that the LTE-enabled “iPhone 4S” is unlikely to launch until 2012. … LTE is the next generation data transfer technology beyond 3G and is frequently labeled 4G.
RELATED:
Mark Gurman / 9 to 5 Mac:
Apple slows iPhone 4 production ahead of iPhone 4S (with 8MP camera, no LTE) production in August?  —  Right on time... Digitimes reports that Apple has lowered GSM and CDMA iPhone 4 production ahead of the September launch for the fifth-generation iPhone - “iPhone 4S.”
Chris Ziegler / This is my next:
Exclusive: T-Mobile's 2011 roadmap includes HTC ‘G-Infinity,’ LG Optimus II, three new BlackBerrys, and more  —  The Samsung Hercules is far from the only device in T-Mobile's pipeline for the next few months, of course — and we've got some insight into what's coming next.  HTC G-Infinity?
Kyle / iFixit Blog:
Unveiled: Audience powers iPhone 4′s impressive noise cancellation  —  When we analyzed the Nexus One last January, the big news was its Audience voice processor.  The Audience chip takes advantage of two microphones (if you're counting, that's one more than most cell phones) to cancel out ambient noise.
Sarah Rotman Epps / Forrester Blogs:
The “Post-PC” Era: It's Real, But It Doesn't Mean What You Think It Does  —  Computing is changing.  The news last week showed that loud and clear, as Microsoft bet big on Skype's voice and video technology and Google announced partnerships with Samsung and Acer to build laptops running its Chrome operating system.
Bloomberg:
Microsoft to Make a Few Versions of New Windows, Intel Says  —  Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) will make multiple versions of its next Windows operating system, with four that work on ARM Holdings Plc (ARM) technology, according to an Intel Corp. (INTC) executive.  —  The version designed for Intel chips …
RELATED:
Rik Myslewski / The Register:
Intel: Windows on ARM won't run ‘legacy apps’
Discussion: Neowin.net
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
“Hulu For Magazines” Opens Its Android Newsstand  —  Apple has won over some of the big magazine publishers, who have reached deals to sell subscriptions via iTunes.  But it's not an exclusive arrangement: Now the magazine guys are starting to sell on Google's Android, too.
Erik Sherman / Wired In Blog| BNET:
Facebook Gets Broad Patent on Digital Media Tagging  —  Facebook has done well with the Friendster patents and patent applications that it acquired.  Just last week, a patent application for passing personal info between users based on degrees of separation became public.
Discussion: Inside Facebook
Matt Ziegelbaum / Docs Blog:
Summarize your data with pivot tables  —  Starting today, we're rolling out pivot tables in Google spreadsheets.  Pivot tables make it easy to process and summarize large data sets in seconds.  Check out the video below for a look at how pivot tables work in Google spreadsheets:
Miguel Helft / New York Times:
For Buyers of Web Start-Ups, Goal Is Corralling Young Talent  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Sam Lessin sold his Web start-up to Facebook for millions last year, and Facebook promptly shut it down.  All Facebook wanted was Mr. Lessin.  —  That is what it has come to in bubbly Silicon Valley.
Cliff Edwards / Bloomberg:
Sony's Stringer: No Network ‘100% Secure’  —  The hacker attack that crippled Sony Corp. (SNE)'s PlayStation Network and Qriocity entertainment services was “a hiccup” in the company's online strategy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer said.
Quora:
Bitcoin: Is the cryptocurrency Bitcoin a good idea?  —  Answer (1 of 15): No. Bitcoin is a ludicrously bad idea.  It is a scam.  A Scam.  It is not a currency.  The economic assumptions underpinning the Bitcoin ecosystem are laughable, and ignore hundreds of years of accumulated understanding of how currencies work with each other.
Discussion: SAI and @timoreilly
Evan Blass / pocketnow.com:
Nokia N9 Teaser Ad Appears (Video) [Update x2]  —  Less than a week after we saw it unexpectedly pop up in the FCC database, the MeeGo-powered Nokia N9 (N950?) has appeared in a professional-looking teaser commercial (clip embedded below), further suggesting that not only is this handset still destined …
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
All Of July 2009: Tumblr Did 250 Million Pageviews.  May 16, 2011: Tumblr Did... 250 Million Pageviews  —  Two years ago, Tumblr founder David Karp shared some impressive numbers.  In July 2009, Tumblr had 50 million visitors, 255 million pageviews, and 650,000 new posts per day.
Joshua Yaffa / Washington Monthly:
The Information Sage  —  Meet Edward Tufte, the graphics guru to the power elite who is revolutionizing how we see data.  —  Facebook Twitter Digg Reddit StumbleUpon Delicious  —  Illustrated by Merchant for the Brunswick Review  —  One day in the spring of 2009, Edward Tufte …
Royal Pingdom:
Apple staff raking in the cash: $419,528 profit per head  —  Apple earned a massive profit of $419,528 per employee in the past 12 months.  That beats Google, Microsoft, Intel and a bunch of other big tech companies by quite some margin.  —  One reason (of several) that profit per employee …
Discussion: 9 to 5 Mac
Pete Warden / O'Reilly Radar:
Why you can't really anonymize your data  —  One of the joys of the last few years has been the flood of real-world datasets being released by all sorts of organizations.  These usually involve some record of individuals' activities, so to assuage privacy fears, the distributors will claim …
Jack Purcher / Patently Apple:
Apple Files “Noteworthy” Trademark for New iPhone App  —  It appears that Apple may want to drum up a little more mystery and excitement going into this year's WWDC (World Wide Developer Conference) on June 6, 2011.  Today, the European Trademark Office has revealed Apple's latest “Noteworthy” trademark filing.
Pablo Villalba / Teambox Blog:
Why Google's hiring process is broken  —  Some context...  Google is one of today's top companies, thanks to their continued efforts in building the best and fastest algorithms.  —  They have put together a yet-to-be-matched team of engineers, and I enjoy using their search and Google Apps every day.
Universitat Ulm:
The Insecurity of Google's ClientLogin Protocol  —  In a recent blog post Dan Wallach outlined some of the risks of using Android smartphones in open Wifi networks.  He found that some Android applications transmit data in the clear, allowing an attacker to eavesdrop any transmitted information.
Joshua Munoz / Android Central:
AT&T confirms to devs: Sideloading from here on out  —  When we broke the news that AT&T is pushing updates to older Android devices to finally enable sideloading, and with the Infuse 4G being its first phone to sideload out of the box, we naturally assumed AT&T will continue to leave its future phones open.
 
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 More Items: 
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Exclusive: Jobvite Recruits $15 Million In Funding For Social Hiring Applications
Discussion: Xconomy, VatorNews and Mercury News
Marc Lifsher / Los Angeles Times:
Anti-piracy bill: California lawmakers weigh bill to allow warrantless searches of CD and DVD makers
Steven Levy / Wired:
Y Combinator Is Boot Camp for Startups
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Amazon Buys The A.Co, Z.Co, K.Co And Cloud.Co Domains
Discussion: The Domains and Domain Name Wire
Matt McGee / Search Engine Land:
Google Owns 90% Of Search Market In Latin America, comScore Says
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Almost Half Of All Online Orders Now Include Free Shipping
Brian Heater / Engadget:
Google adds Kansas City, MO to list of Kansas Cities covered by ultra high-speed internet (video)
 Earlier Items: 
Scott McMullan / Google Enterprise Blog:
Introducing TRUSTe data privacy certification for Apps Marketplace apps
Adrian Chen / Gawker:
Mini Moguls Fight Over Control of a Twitter Account
Mike Swift / Mercury News:
Google leases new campus across Hwy. 101 in Mountain View
Discussion: SAI
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
US warns: hack us, and we might bomb you
Discussion: Pulse2, Gizmodo and Bloomberg
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Apple Proposes Standard for Smaller SIM Cards to Make Even Thinner iPhones
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Netflix Now The Largest Single Source of Internet Traffic In North America
Jonathan S. Geller / BGR:
NFC payment systems coming to Apple Store locations?
 

 
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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