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2:25 PM ET, August 17, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Arik Hesseldahl / AllThingsD:
OuchPad: Best Buy Sitting on a Pile of Unsold HP Tablets  —  There have been plenty of hints that Hewlett-Packard's TouchPad isn't selling well.  First there was a $50 discount.  Then there were spot discounts of $100 at outlets like Costco.  Then the $100 discount became permanent.
RELATED:
Roger Cheng / CNET News:
It's iPad or nothing, survey says  —  The tablet market continues to be summed up like this: the iPad and everything else.  And everything else doesn't amount to much.  —  That's according to a recent survey conducted by Robert W. Baird.  The study found that out of more than 1,100 potential …
Discussion: ZDNet, The Loop, The Loop and Digital Trends
Kelly Hodgkins / Gizmodo:
Best Buy Has 200K Unsold TouchPads, Wants HP To Take Them Back
Discussion: eWeek and Between the Lines Blog
Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:
Exclusive: Apple's Mobile Ad Head Andy Miller Departs for Highland Capital  —  Andy Miller (pictured here), the high-profile VP of mobile advertising at Apple, is planning on leaving the company, according to sources close to the situation.  —  Sources said Miller — who sold Quattro Wireless …
Amar Toor / Engadget:
Motorola's new Droid HD makes cameo alongside Droid Bionic  —  We've just received a fascinating set of photos from a sharp-eyed tipster, who sent along images of what appear to be Motorola's Droid Bionic and, most alluringly, that rumored handset known as the Droid HD (pictured above).
Frank X. Shaw / The Official Microsoft Blog:
The Future of the Living Room  —  Summer is a transition time for many people: the break between school years; a vacation before tackling another year of work; and for network television that's been a guest in our living rooms for so long, summer is a time of transition between seasons.
Discussion: WinRumors, @dannysullivan, Bing and Neowin.net, Thanks:rajupp
Shadi Mahassel / The Big Blog:
Skype WiFi - now available on iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch  —  Skype WiFi (formerly known as Skype Access) is coming to iOS.  We've just launched a new iOS application that's free to download from Apple's App store.  —  With the new Skype WiFi app, you can go online on your iPhone …
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Photovine Grows Ready For Public Use; Easily Google's Most Ambitious Photo-Sharing App Yet  —  Google's Slide team has been busy.  In the past few months, they've unleashed a range of social apps meant to fulfill different needs.  But the strange thing is that Google hasn't done a thing to promote any of them.
Reuters:
Apple, Qualcomm, others eye InterDigital: sources  —  (Reuters) - Apple Inc, Nokia and Qualcomm Inc are among several technology companies pondering bids for InterDigital Inc, sources familiar with the situation said.  —  The auction of the wireless telecoms specialist …
Discussion: The Next Web and Electronista
RELATED:
Chris Smith / AppleInsider:
Apple predicted to ‘strike back’ at Google with its own patent purchase
Discussion: Guardian
JP Mangalindan / Fortune:
Facebook: Google+ has no users  —  Facebook executives have choice words for Google's efforts to bring casual games to its fledgling social network.  —  FORTUNE — A little less than two months after Google launched its fledgling social network, Google+, Silicon Valley's latest rivalry is heating up.
RELATED:
Josh Lowensohn / CNET News:
Google, Facebook spar over Google+ invite issue
Miyoung Kim / Reuters:
Samsung's Lee eyes deals to boost software prowess: report  —  (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee has asked the firm's top management to seek measures including acquisitions to enhance its software prowess, local media reports said on Wednesday.
Farhad Manjoo / Slate Magazine:
Android Isn't Free  —  How Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility will make it more like Apple.  —  Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has a knack for making completely boneheaded predictions about his competitors' products, so when he took to blasting Google's Android strategy last year, many observers—myself included—dismissed him.
RELATED:
Anders Bylund / Ars Technica:   What Google lost—and gained—by not buying Motorola in 2010
Colleen Taylor / GigaOM:
StumbleUpon's new Explore Box lets you stumble with purpose  —  Since its inception, StumbleUpon has worked pretty much as the name advertised: It allows you to stumble upon cool things on the web, rather than through explicit web searches.  But a new beta feature is set to expand StumbleUpon's offering …
Jun Yang / Bloomberg:
Apple Sued by South Korean IPhone Users Over Location Data  —  A group of South Korean users of Apple Inc. (AAPL)'s iPhone sued the company in a local court, claiming it invaded their privacy by allowing the smartphone to collect location data without their consent.
Scientific American:
How Did BART Kill Cellphone Service?  —  The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system initially claimed a phone service shut-down was performed by telecoms, but that's not the latest story  —  The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART) shut down subterranean cellular phone service …
Discussion: Hillicon Valley
RELATED:
David Kravets / Threat Level:   San Francisco Subway Spokesman Says Cellphone Shutdown Was His Idea
New York Post:
City to test parking meters that can be paid by phone  —  Drivers may soon be able to phone the meter instead of feeding it in person.  —  New York City plans to test new “pay by phone” parking meters that warn motorists as the time winds down and invites them to buy extra minutes without returning to their cars.
LAUNCH:
Exclusive: Uber CEO Lays out Road Map—Helicopters, Motorcycles and Food Delivery  —  Uber, the on-demand private car service, has the framework in place to eventually start providing food delivery and offering helicopter and motorcycle rides, said CEO Travis Kalanick on “This Week In Startups” [ full episode here ].
Discussion: The Business Insider
Faith Merino / VatorNews:
Amazon is retail king, reaching 1 in 5 Web users  —  ComScore releases data that finds Amazon reached 20% of the global Internet population in June  —  I don't know if anyone has noticed, but while Borders is scrambling to shed its dead weight of inventory by September, its clearance prices are still higher than Amazon's.
Bloomberg:
Kodak Worth More in Breakup With $3B Patents  —  Eastman Kodak Co. (EK) may hold patents worth five times more than the business itself, making the 131- year-old camera company a target in the billion-dollar hunt for inventions used in mobile phones.  —  Kodak, which once had a market value …
Discussion: PetaPixel, ITProPortal and AppleInsider
Adrian Glick Kudler / Curbed LA:
Someone Wants to Build a Glass-Roofed Apple Store on the Third Street Promenade  —  A tipster points us to this item scheduled for consideration by the Santa Monica Planning Commission tomorrow night—an unnamed retailer wants to tear down the old three story Borders space on the Third Street Promenade …
Steve Lohr / New York Times:
A Bull Market in Tech Patents  —  Google was willing on Monday to pay $12.5 billion for Motorola Mobility in no small part because of its stockpile of 17,000 patents.  The patent portfolio, some analysts estimate, could represent more than half of the value of the deal, or more than $400,000 a patent.
Emil Protalinski / Friending Facebook Blog:
Exclusive: Paul Ceglia says Facebook is doing the forgery  —  Summary: Following Facebook's accusations of forgery, courtroom adversary Paul Ceglia fires back as he looks to open source his lawsuit through a wiki.  —  Paul Ceglia, a man in a heated lawsuit with Facebook, wants his side heard.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
MileWise Launches Search Engine for Frequent Fliers  —  MileWise is a new search engine designed for frequent fliers that helps you find flights you can pay for using cash, airline miles or hotel and credit card points.  The startup lets users track their air miles and rewards programs points …
 
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 More Items: 
Zach Epstein / BGR:
Most expensive BlackBerry Bold 9900 yet hits T-Mobile on August 31st for $300
Ellen McGirttue / Fast Company:
Chris Hughes's Jumo And GOOD Join Forces
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Glam Media Takes On Apple's iAd With New Brand-Focused Mobile Ad Platform
Lee Spears / Bloomberg:
Tudou to Raise $174 Million in U.S. IPO
Ian Austen / DealBook:
BlackBerry Maker RIM Again Subject of Takeover Talk
Chris Davies / SlashGear:
Nintendo Wii makeover: Streamlined style but no GameCube support
 Earlier Items: 
Tim Stiffler-Dean / PreCentral.net:
SIM-free Pre3 now available via Palm Europe for £299.00 [UPDATE x2: Statement from HP]
Soo Ai Peng / Reuters:
China's Baidu may face tougher rules after state media criticism
Discussion: DigiCha
Rip Empson / TechCrunch:
Ooyala Now Powering ESPN's Billion-Plus Video Streams
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Jeremy, Call Your Mother — She's Worried Sick
Michael Gorman / Engadget:
Fusion Garage Grid 10 tablet and Grid 4 smartphone hands-on
Discussion: MozillaWiki and Web 2.0 Asia Blog
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Apple currently plans to start pre-orders for next iPhone on Sept. 30, launch Oct. 7
 

 
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

 
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