Techmeme: Google bond deal sets stage for Apple, Amazon (Danielle Robinson/Reuters)

3:10 PM ET, May 20, 2011

Top Items:

Breaking: Foxconn Chengdu Manufacture Plant Explosion (Videos)! — At around 19:00 in China, Foxconn Chengdu manufacture plant got an explosion, we are not sure actually what cause the explosion and how many casualties had resulted. At the scene, there are currently more than 10 fire engines …

James T. Areddy / Wall Street Journal:

Explosion Kills 2 at Foxconn Plant — SHANGHAI—A large explosion ripped through a Foxconn high-tech plant in southwestern China Friday night, killing at least two people, a government official said. — The facility, near Chengdu, has in the past been identified in media as a manufacturing location …

Discussion: Guardian, Mobile Marketing Watch, Shiny Objects, CNET News, mocoNews, BBC, Reuters, Mobilized, The Register, AppleInsider and TiPb

Mikko / F-Secure Antivirus Research Weblog:

Phishing Site Found on a Sony Server — We know you're not supposed to kick somebody when they're already down... but we just found a live phishing site running on one of Sony's servers. — However, this incident has nothing to do with the Sony PSN hack. — This is the official homepage of Sony Thailand:

John Hudson / The Atlantic Wire:

Sony Hit with Two New Cyber Attacks — Sony was hit with two new cyber attacks Friday as it continued to recover from the devastating security breach it endured earlier this month. The first attack was rather minor and involved a breach in the web server that hosts Sony's Thai site.

Discussion: PC World, Wall Street Journal, Ars Technica and Techland, Thanks:john_hudson

Seth Weintraub / 9 to 5 Mac:

Screenshots of Apple's impressive new Daily Download iPad app, more Apple Store 2.0 news — We've gotten our hands on the internal Apple RetailMe iPads and have been rifling through the interesting new features that debuted for Retail employees on Monday. First is obviously the Daily Download …

Discussion: Computerworld, App Advice, MacRumors, TUAW, The Next Web, Fortune, MacStories, TiPb, I4U News, Softpedia News, NBC Bay Area, MacNN, iClarified and MacDailyNews

Henry Blodget / SAI:

LINKEDIN: The Truth About What It's Worth — LinkedIn's blockbuster IPO has triggered a predictable reaction: Howls of outrage that the valuation is obviously “insane” and that we're right back in a tech bubble again. — Leaving aside the broader bubble question (which I've addressed here), is the former assertion right?

Discussion: AllTwitter, Digital Trends, Wall Street Journal, Communications …, @kevinmarks, DealBook, CNNMoney.com, NetworkEffect, Bloomberg and SAI

Gary Rivlin / The Daily Beast:
The Media's Crazy LinkedIn Comparisons

Discussion: VentureBeat and Deal Journal

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
LinkedIn Climbs Past $100 Per Share On Second Day Of Trading

Discussion: SAI, The Conversation, Internet Evolution and Venture Capital Dispatch

Bloomberg:

Apple Is Said to Secure Music Accords With Labels for ITunes Cloud Service — Apple Inc. (AAPL) has reached agreements with three major record labels to let users of its new music service access their song collections from handheld devices via the Internet, people with knowledge of the deals said.

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

Apple Needs Music Publisher Deals Before Launching Cloud Service — Apple has deals with three of the big music labels to license a new cloud music service. And it is in talks to close a deal with holdout Universal Music Group, the world's biggest music company.

Discussion: MacRumors, SAI, mocoNews and MacStories

Elizabeth Woyke / Mobilized:

Nokia To Use ST-Ericsson Chips For Windows Phone 8 Handsets — When Nokia releases its hotly-anticipated smartphones based on Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system, at least some of the devices will be powered by silicon from ST-Ericsson, said Carlo Bozotti, the Chief Executive of European semiconductor maker STMicroelectronics.

Discussion: Engadget, DailyTech, FierceWireless, IntoMobile, Geek.com, Softpedia News, My Nokia Blog, SocialTimes.com, SlashGear, PhoneArena, WinRumors, WPCentral.com, Electronista, WMPoweruser.com, Neowin.net, Smartphones …, Windows 8 Beta and GigaOM

Tarmo Virki / Reuters:
Nokia picks Qualcomm for Windows phone, seeks others

Discussion: Digital Trends, WMPoweruser.com, IntoMobile, WinRumors, Windows Phone Sauce and Electronista

Jonathan S. Geller / BGR:

BlackBerry PlayBook sales miss targets by over 90% at major retailer, ‘much higher’ return rate than XOOM — According to a trusted source from a major big box retailer, sales of RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook have fallen far short of expectations. In addition, we're told that the PlayBook …

Discussion: Hardware 2.0 Blog, Mobilized, SAI, IntoMobile, Electronista, Softpedia News, SlashGear, MacNN, The Loop, Digital Trends and PadGadget

Cecilia Kang / Washington Post:

Tweet about FCC member's new job at Comcast sets off firestorm — Comcast has absorbed a lot of criticism since its decision last week to hire Meredith Attwell Baker, a sitting member of the Federal Communications Commission. — But one critical remark really got under the company's skin.

Discussion: PC Magazine, WebProNews, GMSV, Gizmodo and DSLreports

Derek Kessler / PreCentral.net:

Wal-Mart to carry TouchPad, 32GB set at $599 [exclusive] — HP's distribution advantage over some other tablet manufacturers is hard to deny. They have massive inroads with traditional electronics retailers like Best Buy and Amazon, their own online store, and a good relationship …

Discussion: CNET News, TechSpot, GottaBeMobile, IntoMobile, Softpedia News, The Tech Report, netbooknews.com, PhoneArena, SlashGear, Gadgetell, CrunchGear, Electronista and Engadget

Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:

The End Of Blippy As We Know It — So it turns out that almost nobody wants people to check out their purchases. And also that just adding a social element to a feature isn't enough to make it useful. The lessons of user adoption are sometimes learned the hard way.

Discussion: Venture Capital Dispatch and SAI

Mike Butcher / TechCrunch Europe:

Twitter sued for ‘breaking’ UK super injunction. Oh yes. — We've been watching the British legal system turn itself into knots for the last couple of weeks, largely due to the ability of Twitter users to break just about any legal ‘super injunction’ a ‘celebrity’ (usually footballers) …

Discussion: BBC, paidContent, Guardian, Bloomberg, Guardian, Crave, @joshhalliday, The Next Web and Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Amy Lee / The Huffington Post:

Bing Director Stefan Weitz: ‘Traditional Search Is Failing’ … Most people think about search as a simple series of actions: type in a phrase, cross your fingers it brings up what you need, and then click around a page of blue links till you get what you were looking for.

Discussion: I4U News, Technologizer, WinRumors, @dannysullivan, T3.com News and The Digital Home

Nick Bilton / Bits:

The Sensors Are Coming! — A microscopic view of a gyroscope sensor created by STMicroelectronics. It is as thin as a piece of paper and can detect the movement of a mobile phone. — If you own a smartphone, you probably know just how smart those little gadgets are.

Discussion: MacRumors, Nokia Conversations and iClarified

Michal Lev-Ram / Fortune:

Zuckerberg: Kids under 13 should be allowed on Facebook — Facebook's founder sees the social networking site as a tool with educational potential. That of course means getting kids Facebooking at an early age. — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg — FORTUNE — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg …

Discussion: L.A. Times Tech Blog, All Facebook, Los Angeles Times, GeekSugar and Consumer Reports News

Karen Gullo / Bloomberg:

Apple Denies Amazon's Claim That ‘App Store’ Is Generic Term — Apple Inc., suing Amazon.com Inc. for trademark infringement, denied the retailer's claims that “app store” is a generic term and that the words together stand for a store for application programs.

Discussion: MacRumors, GeekWire, NBC Bay Area, Digital Daily, MobileCrunch, PhoneArena, Mobile Entertainment and MobileBurn.com

Evelyn M. Rusli / DealBook:

Peter Thiel Shuns Hot Idea for Bigger Picture — As investors clamor for shares of social media darlings, Peter Thiel is avoiding the frenzy. — “Is Twitter worth $7 billion?” the venture capitalist said. — “The broader question is, Is it going to help people have a much higher quality of living?

Discussion: SAI

Danielle Robinson / Reuters:

Google bond deal sets stage for Apple, Amazon — by Danielle Robinson — The pressure is on Apple and Amazon to consider the merits of issuing bonds for the first time in their corporate lives, especially now that Google has demonstrated how low investors will go on yield to get a rare slice of large-cap tech company debt.

Business Week:

Apple Alumni Don't Fall Far from the Tree — A wave of star engineers has left to start mobile app companies — After selling mobile ad startup Quattro Wireless to Apple (AAPL) in late 2009, Lars Albright took a job helping the iPhone maker work with its community of mobile app developers.

Reuters:

China Telecom in touch with Apple on CDMA iPhone — (Reuters) - China Telecom Corp Ltd, the smallest of the country's three wireless carriers, has contacted Apple Inc to introduce the popular iPhone based on CDMA (code division multiple access) technology, Chairman Wang Xiaochu said on Friday.

Discussion: MacRumors, 9 to 5 Mac, Appolicious Advisor, Electronista, MacStories and iLounge

Graham Spencer / MacStories:

Intel: Apple Transferring Thunderbolt Trademark To Us — In recent days there has been confusion over who exactly owns the trademark to the Thunderbolt brand - it had been revealed that Apple had sent trademark requests for the Thunderbolt name despite Intel developing most of the I/O technology.

Discussion: Electronista, Bright Side Of News*, 9 to 5 Mac, Cult of Mac, AppleInsider, TUAW, MacRumors, Softpedia News, iClarified and TechEye

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