Check out Mini-Techmeme for simple mobiles or Techmeme Mobile for modern smartphones.
1:50 AM ET, July 6, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Ben Parr / Mashable!:
EXCLUSIVE: Google to Retire Blogger & Picasa Brands in Google+ Push  —  Say goodbye to the Picasa and Blogger names: Google intends to retire several non-Google name brands and rename them as Google products, Mashable has learned.  —  The move is part of a larger effort to unify its brand …
RELATED:
Tom Cheredar / VentureBeat:
Google retiring Blogger and Picasa brands for public launch of Google+
FierceWireless:
Verizon confirms it will ditch unlimited smartphone data plans starting July 7  —  Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) will switch to a new, usage-based pricing model for smartphone data starting July 7, a company spokeswoman confirmed.  —  Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney told FierceWireless …
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
On The Eve Of One Facebook Event, The Spartans Prepare For Another  —  Tomorrow morning at their headquarters in Palo Alto, Facebook is holding an event to show off an “awesome” new product.  Our sources tell us that product with be the long-rumored Skype integration within Facebook for full …
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:
Steve Jobs' bio gets a new title  —  “iSteve: The Book of Jobs” was the publisher's idea.  The author had second thoughts.  —  Amazon still doesn't have the title quite right  —  The first biography of Apple's (AAPL) CEO to get Steve Jobs' blessing — and cooperation — hasn't yet been published.
Lauren Indvik / Mashable!:
Twitter Testing Facebook-Like Message Wall [PIC]  —  Twitter is testing a Facebook-like message wall on profile pages, prompting users to send public tweets (a.k.a @ replies, or mentions) to specific users directly from their profile pages.  —  Twitter is testing the feature with a small percentage of users.
Discussion: Redmond Pie and @dannysullivan
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
If Google Buzz Is A Black Hole For Sharing Traffic, Google+ Is The Big Bang  —  Back in March of last year, we noted that Google Buzz, Google's shiny new social network at the time, was getting smoked in terms of referral traffic sent our way, by a dead man, FriendFeed.
Wall Street Journal:
New Financing Values Twitter as High as $7 Billion  —  Even as Internet companies such as Zynga Inc. and Groupon Inc. file to go public, Twitter Inc. is taking a different route: It is continuing to tap private investors.  —  The fast-growing Internet messaging service is currently …
Jim Finkle / Reuters:
South Korean web attacks might have been war drill  —  (Reuters) - Attacks that crippled South Korean government websites in July 2009 and again in March 2011 might have been cyber war drills conducted on behalf of North Korea, according to security software maker McAfee Inc.
Discussion: The Next Web
BackType:
BackType Has Been Acquired by Twitter  —  We're thrilled to announce that BackType has been acquired by Twitter!  We'll be bringing our team and technology to Twitter's platform team, where our focus will be developing tools for Twitter's publisher partners.
Matthew Panzarino / The Next Web:
As of July 31st, all Google profiles will be public  —  Google will no longer allow users to have private Google profiles after July 31st, reports Search Engine Land.  The company had previously allowed users to create and maintain profiles on its service without publicly disclosing their existence.
Lauren Etter / Vanity Fair:
Groupon Therapy  —  Starting with a two-for-one pizza deal just three years ago, Groupon has snowballed, becoming a multi-national business with an I.P.O. on the horizon that could value the company at an estimated $20 billion.  But is the Web site's idiosyncratic C.E.O., Andrew Mason …
Discussion: AllThingsD and AllThingsD
Jon Brodkin / Network World:
Microsoft patent division taking cash from at least 5 Android vendors  —  Microsoft has revealed four Android patent deals since last week  —  One of Microsoft's hottest new profit centers is a smartphone platform you've definitely heard of: Android.  —  Google's Linux-based mobile operating system …
Electronista:
Another iPad leak source pleads guilty  —  Shimoon pleads guilty to slipping iPad info  —  One-time Flextronics development head Walter Shimoon on Tuesday pled guilty to leaking iPad trade secrets and others.  In return for a lighter penalty, the former executive admitted to passing along information …
Discussion: AppleInsider and DealBook, Thanks:getwired
Monica Chen / DigiTimes:
Pegatron receives orders for 15 million iPhone 5s from Apple  —  Taiwan-based notebook maker Pegatron Technology is estimated to have landed orders for 15 million iPhone 5s (iPhone 4S) from Apple and is set to start shipping in September of 2011, according to sources from upstream component makers.
Todd Haselton / BGR:
Android market share jumps as BlackBerry slides; smartphones now owned by 1 in 3 Americans  —  According to a new report from comScore, 1 in 3 Americans now own a smartphone.  Google's Android OS is ahead of the pack with a 38.1% share of the market during the 3-month period ending in May — up 5.1% from the last report in February.
Ed Oswald / BetaNews:
Microsoft pays University of Nebraska $250,000 to use Office365  —  If you really are in need of some high profile clients, you can always pay them.  That's exactly what Microsoft has done with the University of Nebraska.  Microsoft has paid the university $250,000 to migrate its e-mail …
Zack Whittaker / ZDNet:
EU demands answers over Microsoft's Patriot Act admission  —  Members of European parliamentary states have demanded changes to the way data is sent to the United States from Europe, amid conflicts between the European data laws and the USA PATRIOT Act.  —  Last week in London …
Discussion: Computerworld
Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:
Lodsys sues The New York Times Company and five other companies who previously sued Lodsys  —  Lodsys filed a patent infringement lawsuit today in East Texas against the very six companies who previously filed declaratory judgment actions against Lodsys in other jurisdictions.
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Google Rumored To Launch ITA-Powered Travel Search Product Soon  —  We're hearing that Google is planning to launch an ITA integrated-flight search product as soon as a few weeks from now, according to a well-placed industry source.  In April, the DOJ finally approved Google's $700 million acquisition …
Matt Brian / The Next Web:
Microsoft begins moving Xbox 360 profiles and saved games to the Cloud  —  Microsoft has begun issuing updates to Xbox 360 consoles that will start moving saved games and profiles away from local storage and moving them into the cloud, Eurogamer reports.  —  The new update will make it possible …
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Law Professors Come Out Against PROTECT IP  —  Another day, another constituency speaking out against PROTECT IP and the damage that it will do.  This time, it's a large group of law professors (over 90 have signed on so far), including some big names.  The professors' full letter is embedded below …
Susan Decker / Bloomberg:
Google Searching for Patents After Nortel Loss  —  Google Inc. (GOOG)'s loss in bidding for the $4.5 billion portfolio of Nortel Networks Corp. patents last week means the Internet-search company will be looking to buy other inventions to build a bulwark against lawsuits targeting its Android system, patent brokers said.
Tarmo Virki / Reuters:
Ailing Nokia cuts smartphone prices to halt slump  —  (Reuters) - Struggling Nokia has cut the prices of its smartphones in Europe, two industry sources told Reuters on Tuesday, raising the possibility of a more intensive price war in the mobile phone market.
Liz Gannes / AllThingsD:
Apparently Undeterred by Apple Crackdown, Tapjoy Investors Pour In $30M More  —  Tapjoy, which has seen its app marketing business significantly affected by Apple's changed stance on in-app promotions, is still charging ahead.  The company last week raised $30 million in a round led …
Brian Womack / Bloomberg:
Facebook Ad Rates Hold as Inventory Rises, Easing Price Concerns  —  Facebook Inc., the biggest social network, said advertising rates have held up even after it added new ways for marketers to promote products, allaying concern that prices would decline as inventory surged.
Om Malik / GigaOM:
For Foursquare, Brazil is the next big check-in  —  Foursquare is no longer a U.S. phenomenon.  The New York City-based company is beginning to see some rapid growth in highly mobile societies.  The newest one to join the party is Brazil, which has started to take off in the past few weeks …
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of Techmeme at 1:50 AM ET, July 6, 2011.

View the current page or another snapshot:


 
 Techmeme Sponsor Posts: 
Meta:
Open Source AI: Available to all, not just the few  —  Meta's open source AI enables small businesses, start-ups, students, researchers and more to download and build with our models at no cost.
Tribe AI:
Build AI products that matter  —  Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact.  We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Zoho:
CIO challenge 5: Can we find an effective solution that also minimizes operational costs?  —  Welcome to the next and final installment of our CIO series!  After what feels like a thousand cups of coffee …
Hamming:
Make AI Voice Agents trustworthy  —  Hamming AI automatically tests AI voice agents and continuously monitors them in production.
Sponsor Techmeme
 
 See Also: 
Techmeme: site main
Techmeme River: reverse chronological Techmeme
Techmeme Mobile: for phones
Techmeme Leaderboard: Techmeme's top sources
 
 Subscribe: 
Techmeme RSS feed
Techmeme on X
Techmeme on Mastodon
 
 
 More Items: 
Colleen Taylor / GigaOM:
UK startup defends Huddle name against Google — again
Elinor Mills / CNET News:
Report: Morgan Stanley warns 34,000 clients of data breach
Discussion: Credit.com
Rip Empson / TechCrunch:
Educated Buy? Providence Equity Partners To Acquire Blackboard For $1.64 Billion In Cash
Rachel King / Between the Lines Blog:
Samsung garners 60 percent of U.S. 3D TV market share
Discussion: Samsung USA Newsroom
Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:
August 5 hearing on preliminary injunction against Samsung too early, judge tells Apple
Discussion: The Next Web and MobileCrunch, Thanks:curtwfallesq
David Kravets / Threat Level:
‘Massive Infringement’ Case Against CNET Dropped
Discussion: paidContent:UK and TorrentFreak
Gregg Keizer / Computerworld:
Microsoft to retire Office XP, Vista SP1 next week
 Earlier Items: 
Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:
Dancing Queen: After Meeting With Microsoft Last Week, Yahoo Is Next on Hulu's Sales Card
Discussion: Android Phone Fans
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Microsoft Bing innovates on iPad with ‘Lasso’ quick search
Bobbie Johnson / GigaOM:
Nokia's $200m secret shows the rot goes way, way back
Discussion: SlashGear, Thanks:bobbiejohnson
Krishna Panicker / The Big Blog:
New Skype 5.2 Update for Mac Brings Group Screen Sharing and Improved Multi-tasking
Anne Tergesen / Wall Street Journal:
When Guests Check In, Their iPhones Check Out
 

 
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

 
Sister Sites:

Mediagazer
 Top news and commentary for media professionals from all around the web
memeorandum
 What US political commentators are discussing online right now
WeSmirch
 The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page