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11:50 PM ET, May 23, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Jim Dalrymple / The Loop:
Apple says developers are licensed for Lodsys patents  —  In a letter sent to Lodsys on Monday, Apple asked that the company withdraw letters sent to app developers demanding they license the technology.  “Apple is undisputedly licensed to these patents and the App Makers are protected by that license …
RELATED:
Mark Small / Macworld:
Full text: Apple Legal's letter to Lodsys  —  Dear Mr. Small: I write to you on behalf of Apple Inc. ("Apple") regarding your recent notice letters to application developers ("App Makers") alleging infringement of certain patents through the App Makers' use of Apple products and services for the marketing …
Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:
Analysis of Apple's letter to Lodsys  —  The first app devs to have received Lodsys's letter were only a few days away from a deadline to respond, and under that circumstance I already felt forced to recommend to app developers to be cooperative and ask Lodsys to provide its license agreement for review …
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
Microsoft's Ballmer says next-gen Windows systems due in 2012  —  During remarks at a developers conference in Japan on May 23, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer referred to the next version of Windows as “Windows 8.”  He also said the next generation of Windows systems will be out next year.
RELATED:
Matt Rosoff / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:
Windows 8 Could Make Its Public Debut Next Week  —  Windows chief Steven Sinofsky has just been confirmed to appear at the ninth D: AllThingsDigital conference next week, and the smart odds are that he'll use the high-profile event to give the public its first view of Windows 8, the next version of Microsoft's operating system.
Surur / WMPoweruser.com:
Over 500 new features coming in Windows Phone 7.5
Laurie Segall / CNN Money:
Twitter acquires TweetDeck  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Twitter has acquired TweetDeck, an application for organizing the display of tweets, for more than $40 million in a mix of cash and stock, according to sources close to the deal.  —  TweetDeck has been the subject of speculation about deals for months.
RELATED:
Joel Falconer / The Next Web:
Deal Done: Twitter acquires TweetDeck for over $40m  —  Twitter has now closed the deal acquired TweetDeck for over $40 million in cash and stock, our sources report.  —  CNNMoney has also confirmed the deal.  —  TweetDeck is a Twitter client that brings more advanced management …
Discussion: Electronista
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Square's Disruptive New iPad Payments Service Will Replace Cash Registers  —  Mobile payments startup Square is announcing big numbers today—500,000 Square card readers shipped, 1 million Square transactions in May, and the startup is now processing $3 million in mobile payments per day.
RELATED:
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
Exclusive: France Telecom CEO on Apple, Android and How You Can Kiss Your Unlimited Plan Goodbye  —  Stephane Richard knows a thing or two about the iPhone.  —  In addition to carrying one of Apple's iconic smartphones, Richard is also the CEO of France Telecom, whose networks carry traffic …
Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
Amazon Almost Giving Away Lady Gaga's New Album  —  It's not free, but it's close: Amazon is selling digital downloads of “Born This Way,” Lady Gaga's newest album, for 99 cents.  —  That gets you 14 songs and a digital booklet.  The same album goes for $11.99 at Apple's iTunes …
RELATED:
Adam Satariano / Bloomberg:
Apple Risks IPad Production Loss of 500,000 After Blast  —  Apple Inc. may face a production loss of 500,000 iPad 2 tablets after the explosion at Foxconn Technology Group's plant in Chengdu, China, according to research firm IHS ISuppli.  —  The drop in manufacturing will depend on how long …
Dennis Crouch / Patent Law Blog:
Apple Buys 200+ Patents from Freescale Semiconductor  —  Apple Inc. recently recorded the receipt of 200 patents and pending patent applications from the electronics company Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. Although not recorded until May 18, 2011, the assignment is dated April 11, 2011.
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Google Buys Sparkbuy: Comparison Shopping Site Now Closes, Team Remains  —  Google has acquired Sparkbuy, a comparison shopping site that has focused on laptops.  The site closed today as part of the purchase; the three person team will continue on with Google.  —  Was this a talent acquisition, then?
Sean Hollister / Engadget:
Dell XPS 15z review  —  For years, Dell's been teasing supermodel-thin laptops, each one flawed out of the gate: too pricey, too underpowered, and with underwhelming battery life.  This time, Dell told us we'd get something different — a laptop without compromise.
Discussion: Crave, Crave and BGR
Jeff Atwood / Coding Horror:
The Infinite Version  —  One of the things I like most about Google's Chrome web browser is how often it is updated.  But now that Chrome has rocketed through eleven versions in two and a half years, the thrill of seeing that version number increment has largely worn off.
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Introducing Omar Hamoui's First Project From Churn Labs: Gnonstop Gnomes  —  When Omar Hamoui left Google a few months after selling AdMob to the search giant for $750 million, he set up shop with mobile engineer Mike Rowehl as Churn Labs.  Today at Disrupt NYC, we get to see the first product churned out by the labs: Gnonstop Gnomes.
Discussion: GigaOM
Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
Do@ Gets $7 Million to Try to Disrupt Mobile Search  —  Search is a market many assume is over as far as startups are concerned.  After all, how could anyone compete with Google and Microsoft?  A new service called Do@ thinks there is still room to change the way we search, however …
John Cook / GeekWire:
Zillow.com selects “Z” for ticker symbol, trims Q1 net loss  —  Zillow.com plans to trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the one letter ticker symbol Z when it expects to debut later this year.  That's slightly unusual, since most of the tickers on the exchange such as Microsoft (MSFT) …
Discussion: Pulse2
Stuart Elliott / Media Decoder:
YouTube Extends Plans for Ads Before Videos  —  In the early days of online video, commercials that appeared before viewers could watch clips, known as preroll, got “thumbs down” from most computer users.  That attitude seems to have softened more recently, a change of heart that Web giants have noticed.
Discussion: The Next Web, Thanks:beet_tv
Abe Murray / Google Book Search Blog:
Google eBooks: By the Numbers, Then and Now  —  It's been about six months since we launched Google eBooks.  Now, we're happy to report there are more than three million free Google eBooks available in the U.S. for your enjoyment and enlightenment (as compared to more than two million at launch).
Ari Levy / Bloomberg:
Fusion-Io to Be Worth Up to $1.17 Billion in Initial Share Sale  —  Fusion-io Inc., a maker of flash- memory technology for companies including Facebook Inc., plans to sell shares in its initial public offering for $13 to $15 apiece, valuing the company at as much as $1.17 billion.
Discussion: AllThingsD
Wall Street Journal:
Liberty Says Nook Inspired B&N Bid  —  Liberty Media Corp. executives laid out their rationale for their surprise bid for Barnes & Noble Inc., touting the potential of the bookseller's Nook e-reader and the vast network of retail stores it can use to promote it.
Discussion: Electronista
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Ashton Kutcher Teams With UberMedia To Launch A.plus, His Own Custom Twitter App  —  Ashton Kutcher fans who can't get enough of the star on Twitter are about to get some very good news.  And the rest of you — even if you aren't necessarily huge Ashton fans — will want to pay attention too.
Federico Viticci / MacStories:
iPad 2 Head Tracking + Glasses-free 3D App Now Available  —  Back in April, you might remember we posted a video showing a software experiment by Jeremie Francone and Laurence Nigay from the Laboratory of Informatics of Grenoble at the EHCI Research Group aimed at bringing glasses-free 3D to the iPad's screen.
 
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 More Items: 
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
Cheezburger CEO Planning WordPress-Style News 2.0 Software
Discussion: benhuh!
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
BillGuard Will Track Hidden Fees And Billing Errors On Credit Card Bills
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Sonar Finds You The Most Relevant People In The Room
Discussion: App Advice and Gizmodo
Colleen Taylor / GigaOM:
Updated: Cisco Shuts Down Eos Social Platform
Jack Neff / AdAge:
Google Grabs P&G Exec to Head Sales for YouTube
Discussion: paidContent
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget:
T-Mobile lauches new individual and family plans right on schedule
 Earlier Items: 
Kunur Patel / AdAge:
One Year Later, AdMob Making Its Mark on Google
Discussion: Inside Mobile Apps
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Jive Buys Microsoft Office Collaboration Plugin OffiSync For Up To $30 Million
Mike Swift / Mercury News:
Facebook to assemble global team of ‘diplomats’
Discussion: All Facebook and techPresident
Ty Burr / Boston Globe:
A movie lover's plea: Let there be light
Discussion: Digital Trends, Movieline and Geek.com
Matt Warman / Telegraph:
HP: ‘Touchpad will be better than number one’ tablet