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4:15 AM ET, May 24, 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 …
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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 …
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.
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Joel Falconer / The Next Web:
Deal Done: Twitter acquires TweetDeck for over $40m
Discussion: Electronista
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.
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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.
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:
Ed Oswald / Technologizer:
The Truth About Square  —  There's lots of talk today …
Discussion: MacStories
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 …
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
Hurt Locker Makers Target Record Breaking 24,583 BitTorrent Users  —  March last year the law firm Dunlap, Grubb and Weaver imported the mass litigation “pay up or else” anti-piracy scheme to the United States.  —  The initial customers of the lawyers - who are also known as the U.S. Copyright Group …
Discussion: Guardian, TechSpot and Neowin.net
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 …
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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.
Jonathan S. Geller / BGR:
T-Mobile doubles 4G network speed to 42Mbps in 55 markets, launches Rocket 3.0 data stick  —  T-Mobile has just announced that the carrier is doubling the 4G network speed to a whopping 42Mbps in 55 markets.  In addition to bumping the network's speed, T-Mobile is also launching a new product, the Rocket 3.0 USB data stick.
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
Revamped Yahoo Mail Peels Off Beta Stamp  —  Yahoo announced late on Monday that it is ready with a final version of its updated mail software in an effort to regain momentum in the free Webmail arena, where it competes with Google and Microsoft.  —  In addition to offering speed improvements …
Adam Satariano / Bloomberg:
Apple Output May Drop 500,000 IPads  —  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 the plant …
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?
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: VentureBeat and GigaOM
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
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
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: AllThingsD and Pulse2
JR Raphael / Computerworld:
Motorola confirms Gingerbread for Droid X, Droid Pro, Droid 2, and Droid 2 Global  —  Well, gang, it's official: Motorola has just confirmed that Android 2.3, aka Gingerbread, will reach the Droid X, Droid Pro, Droid 2, and Droid 2 Global phones.  —  The news comes by way of Motorola's owner support forum.
Discussion: LAPTOP Magazine and IntoMobile
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
Cheezburger CEO Planning WordPress-Style News 2.0 Software  —  Once you've built an empire of funny cat pictures and other user-generated comedy ephemera, what do you do next?  Ben Huh, CEO of the sprawling Cheezburger network of comedy websites, has begun discussing a side-project he's working on called The Moby Dick Project.
Electronista:
Toshiba backing out on Chromebooks and Windows 7 tablets  —  Toshiba has reportedly scrapped plans to support Chromebooks and Windows 7 tablets based on PC business leaks.  The company's roadmap has supposedly eliminated the two altogether and has left just the Android 3.0-based Thrive tablet on its immediate schedule.
Ryan Lawler / GigaOM:
80% of Mobile Video Views Happen on Apple Devices  —  Mobile video is still a small part of overall online viewing, but it's a part that Apple dominates, according to a new report by video monetization startup FreeWheel.  In its Q1 2011 Video Monetization Report, FreeWheel said the vast majority …
Discussion: Electronista, TUAW, MacStories and Beet.TV
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
Audrey Watters / ReadWriteWeb:
Twitter Adds A New Feature, Another Blindside for Third Party Developers?  —  Twitter has just announced that it will begin sending email notifications to users when they're retweeted by someone they follow or when someone favorites one of their tweets.  —  Until now Twitter has given users …
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 More Items: 
Sarah Lyall / New York Times:
British Lawmakers Join Fray as Twitter Tests Law
Jeff Atwood / Coding Horror:
The Infinite Version
Wall Street Journal:
Liberty Says Nook Inspired B&N Bid
Discussion: Electronista
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Sonar Finds You The Most Relevant People In The Room
Discussion: VentureBeat, App Advice, Gizmodo and Gawker
Colleen Taylor / GigaOM:
Updated: Cisco Shuts Down Eos Social Platform
 Earlier Items: 
Jack Neff / AdAge:
Google Grabs P&G Exec to Head Sales for YouTube
Discussion: paidContent
Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
Do@ Gets $7 Million to Try to Disrupt Mobile Search
Kunur Patel / AdAge:
One Year Later, AdMob Making Its Mark on Google
Discussion: Inside Mobile Apps
Mike Swift / Mercury News:
Facebook to assemble global team of ‘diplomats’
Abe Murray / Google Book Search Blog:
Google eBooks: By the Numbers, Then and Now
 

 
From Mediagazer:

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

Evan Drellich / New York Times:
The MLB is planning national packages for streaming companies to bid on in 2028, when its national TV deals with ESPN, Fox, and Turner expire

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Tubi launches Scenes, a mobile feature that lets viewers watch 60-to-90-second trailer-style clips from its library to help with content discovery
 
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