Techmeme: Acer's AC700 Chromebook coming to the US this month for $350, 3G model arriving later this summer (Dana Wollman/Engadget)

11:55 PM ET, June 27, 2011

Top Items:

Jonathan S. Geller / BGR:

Google's first Ice Cream Sandwich phone to be manufactured by Samsung, possibly dubbed ‘Nexus Prime’ — We exclusively reported details of Google's first Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone — either a Nexus device, or a “pure Google” flagship handset from one of Google's key partners …

Tom Krazit / mocoNews: Google May Choose Several Android Launch Partners For Ice Cream Sandwich

Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:

Report: Apple is building two (!) iPhones for September release — An analyst expects Apple to launch both an iPhone 5 and a mid-range iPhone 4S — Click to enlarge. Source: Deutsche Bank — For much of the spring, the reporters who cover Apple (AAPL) have been arguing among themselves …

MG Siegler / TechCrunch:

A Tale Of Two iPhones — A new iPhone is approaching — this, everyone knows. While WWDC came and went without an announcement, this was expected. Instead, this year it will be all about the fall — with new hardware hitting just in time for the formal launch of iOS 5. But what exactly will the new hardware be?

Discussion: Digital Trends and Daring Fireball

Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:

The HP TouchPad Will Come With Its Own Facebook Tablet App (Leaked Pics) — The world has been waiting for an official Facebook tablet app, and waiting, and waiting. But that app may not appear on the iPad first (although Facebook is working on an iPad app for sure).

Discussion: App Advice, CNET News, Gizmodo, @joshconstine, webOSroundup, PreCentral.net and Electronista

Kristen Purcell / Pew Internet:

E-reader ownership doubles in six months — e-Reader ownership surges since last November; tablet ownership grows more slowly — The share of adults in the United States who own an e-book reader doubled to 12% in May, 2011 from 6% in November 2010. E-readers, such as a Kindle or Nook …

Chris Foresman / Ars Technica:

Apple to move ARM SoC production away from Samsung in 2012 — Apple's increasingly tenuous relationship with Samsung as a component supplier for its mobile devices could end next year, according to numerous sources inside the semiconductor industry. The company will likely tap contract fab …

Ross Miller / This is my next:
Apple to give 'A6′ ARM SoC production to TSMC over Samsung?

Discussion: The Register, AppleInsider and I4U News

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

Will the NY Times Give David Pogue Another Pass on Ethics? — David Pogue has weathered one mini-scandal after another in his years as the star technology columnist for The New York Times. Lately, however, the infractions have been piling up, and the very most recent may be too clear-cut for the paper to gloss over.

Discussion: The Wire and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Ryan Tate / Gawker:

MySpace Layoffs Rumored for This Week — We hear MySpace's Southern California offices are thick with rumors that the social network is planning some serious bloodletting this week. Scary as that sounds, some employees are apparently looking forward to the layoffs.

Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch: Myspace Expected To Lay Off At Least 150 Employees On Wednesday

Sascha Segan / PC Magazine:

The Fastest Mobile Networks 2011 — PCMag hit the road to test eight 3G and 4G networks in 21 U.S. cities. Before you buy your next phone or tablet, find out which wireless carrier has the fastest data network where you live. — With smartphone innovation moving at a breakneck pace …

Discussion: Engadget, pocketnow.com, TmoNews, Android Phone Fans, 9 to 5 Mac, PhoneArena, techblog.dallasnews.com and SlashGear

Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:

(Not so) Crazy Microsoft Rumors: Windows 8 to RTM in April 2012 — It's been a while since I blogged about another of my (not so) crazy Microsoft rumors. It's also been a while since I've heard any kind of an update on Windows 8 timing. In that spirit — here's the latest …

Discussion: Tech Trader Daily, Digitizor, Windows 8 Beta, Windows 8 News, Rumors & Tips, The Tech Trade, The Next Web, WinRumors, Redmond Pie, TechSpot, Electronista, Windows 8 Center, Neowin.net, Softpedia News and Gizmodo

Brad Molen / Engadget:

Windows Phone 7.5 Mango in-depth preview (video) — Make no mistake, Microsoft isn't playing coy in the smartphone market any longer. The folks in Redmond are making a significant jump forward in the mobile arena, announcing that the upcoming version of Windows Phone, codenamed “Mango,” …

Discussion: Pocket-lint

Kari Wilson / Google Webmaster Central Blog:

+1 around the world — A few months ago we released the +1 button on English search results on google.com. More recently, we've made the +1 button available to sites across the web, making it easy for the people who love your content to recommend it on Google search.

Discussion: 9to5 Google

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Hulu Buyers Would Get Exclusive Content, With Strings Attached — A few days after the news first broke that Hulu is for sale, we know a bit more about what, exactly, that means. Here's where things stand right now. — Hulu's owner/partners — Disney's ABC and News Corp.'s Fox …

Discussion: Betabeat and Electronista, more at Mediagazer »

Faith Merino / VatorNews:

Artist launches album exclusively on Groupon — In another first for Groupon, it is exclusively debuting David Gray's live album “Lost and Found” — In an interesting first for Groupon, the company is not only offering a discount on British musical artist David Gray's newest album …

Discussion: Business Wire, Prefix and SiliconFilter

Ina Fried / AllThingsD:

France Telecom Debuts the Data Plan of the Future — While carriers in the United States have talked about having one data plan that can be shared among a number of digital devices, one international telecom company is already putting the plan into action. — For a couple of months now …

Discussion: MacNN, MacRumors, Consumer Reports News, App Advice and iLounge

Tom / fring:

NEW! Fun Group Video Chat for iPad: Full Size! — fring is launching the world's 1st Group Video chat App for the iPad — 4 friends video chat at the same time. That's at least 4 times more fun than regular 1 to 1 video chat (But fring lets you do that too...) — Its FREE

Discussion: VentureBeat, MacStories, Lifehacker, Computerworld, The Business Insider, Gizmodo, App Advice, SlashGear, Pocket-lint, Fast Company, GottaBeMobile, Redmond Pie, MacNN, TUAW, ZDNet, IntoMobile, AppScout and iFans

Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:

iOS 5 beta hobbles OS downgrades, untethered jailbreaks — Those who screw up their iPhones with an unsupported jailbreak—or who have bad luck with their iOS upgrades and want to roll back to an older version—are usually able to make everything right again by downgrading their phone's OS back to the previous version.

Discussion: Cult of Mac, VentureBeat, Mashable!, Gizmodo, 9 to 5 Mac, MacNN, Ubergizmo, CNET News, iPhone, PC Magazine, It's All Tech, MobileCrunch, Dev-Team Blog, The Business Insider, RazorianFly, Redmond Pie and The Next Web

Agence France Presse:

Guns, grenades and iPads for Singapore soldiers — SINGAPORE (AFP) - New recruits to Singapore's military, air force and navy are to get a new standard-issue item of equipment besides their rifle — the iPad. — The defence ministry said Monday it will be issuing “about 8,000” of the sleek …

Discussion: CNET News, Examiner, AppleInsider, Engadget, TUAW, iClarified, MacDailyNews, 9 to 5 Mac, The Next Web and Electronista

Jay Yarow / The Business Insider:

RUMOR: Google's Chinese Search Rival, Baidu, Using Android To Build Its Own Mobile Operating System — Interesting rumor coming out of China: Baidu is using Android as a base to build its own mobile operating system code named Qiushi, TechNode reports. — Baidu somewhat dismissed the rumor …

Discussion: TechNodeTechNode, The Next Web, 9to5 Google, Android Phone Fans and Redmond Pie

Mark Gurman / 9 to 5 Mac:

Apple Stores now capable of unlocking full-price AT&T iPhones at checkout — As early as last week, my sources in the Apple food chain were hinting at some sort of way for Apple Stores to unlock AT&T iPhone 4s - different than the unlocked models that Apple Stores started selling on June 13th.

Discussion: Examiner, Computerworld, Geek.com, IntoMobile, MacRumors, GottaBeMobile and The Business Insider, Thanks:ipuffa

Derrick Harris / GigaOM:

Exclusive: Yahoo launching Hadoop spinoff this week — Yahoo will be spinning off a separate company focused on the development and commercialization of Apache Hadoop, called HortonWorks. The official announcement likely will come tomorrow or Wednesday to coincide with Yahoo's annual Hadoop Summit …

Discussion: ReadWriteWeb

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Justices Reject Ban on Violent Video Games for Children — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday struck down on First Amendment grounds a California law that barred the sale of violent video games to children. The 7-to-2 decision was the latest in a series of rulings protecting free speech …

Discussion: VentureBeat, Kotaku and MarketWatch

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Supreme Court strikes down video game violence law on free speech grounds

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