Techmeme: Cloud storage provider Box.net spurns $500M offer (exclusive) (Matthew Lynley/VentureBeat)

12:10 AM ET, September 16, 2011

Top Items:

Todd Haselton / BGR:

iPhone 5 to have radical new design according to Case-Mate images — The iPhone 5 hasn't been announced yet, but that has not stopped accessory makers from posting upcoming cases for the highly anticipated handset. Case-Mate has published a page on its website with six different case designs …

Nick Bilton / Bits:

Plenty of Chatter About a New iPhone — We're just weeks away from the announcement of the new Apple iPhone 5, according to an Apple employee who asked not to be named because he was not allowed to speak publicly for the company. — As the excitement for Apple's latest product revs up …

Discussion: Digital Trends, AppleInsider, Business Insider, App Advice, TiPb, MacStories, Pocket-lint, iDownloadBlog.com, The Next Web and Electronista

Arnold Kim / MacRumors:

iPhone 5 Screen Protectors Show Elongated Home Button Area — Ukwire.hk offers the first look at a screen protector that has been designed for the iPhone 5. The screen protector shows off the elongated home button seen in the leaked design document: — A second shot shows how much bigger …

Discussion: Computerworld, Ars Technica, Digital Trends, iDownloadBlog.com, Cult of Mac, Redmond Pie, BGR, WebProNews, Techland, I4U News, Macgasm, Electronista, PhoneArena, everythingiCafe, TiPb, Softpedia News, iPhone, Business Insider, 9to5Mac, Cult of Mac and App Advice

Steven Sinofsky / MSDN Blogs:

Metro style browsing and plug-in free HTML5 … For the web to move forward and for consumers to get the most out of touch-first browsing, the Metro style browser in Windows 8 is as HTML5-only as possible, and plug-in free. The experience that plug-ins provide today is not a good match …

Tom Warren / WinRumors:

iPad iOS 5 vs Windows 8 Slate [video] — Microsoft unveiled its Windows 8 developer preview earlier this week, but how does it compare to iOS? — Microsoft has done some impressive work with Windows 8 to make it truly slate friendly. Hardware specifications and specifics are still …

Discussion: App Advice, Redmond Pie, BGR, SlashGear, GottaBeMobile, Cult of Mac, PhoneArena, 9to5Mac and Lifehacker, Thanks:marylin_ad

Mat Honan / Gizmodo:

If You Already Hate Windows 8 Then You Hate Technology — I hate the term fanboy. It's a pejorative meant to denigrate someone's opinion. A conversation-ender. After applying it to someone, really there's nothing left to say. But seeing the reaction to Windows 8, I get why people use it.

Thanks:joemfbrown

Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
First Look: Xbox Live on Windows 8 (Video)

Discussion: WinRumors, Engadget, The Windows Blog, This is my next, The Microsoft Blog, All about Microsoft Blog, The Next Web and Redmond Pie

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

It's Called Google Propeller and It's Aimed at Flipboard (and Facebook Too, Natch) — Please see this disclosure related to me and Google. — Earlier today, well-known digerati dude Robert Scoble posted on his social feed on Google+ that the search giant was working on a social and news reader.

Discussion: Electronista, Mashable! and The Next Web, more at Mediagazer »

Jay Yarow / Business Insider:
Google Working On A “Mind-Blowing” Flipboard Copycat

Discussion: Robert Scoble

Ina Fried / AllThingsD:

Research In Motion Earnings At Low End of Forecast as Cash Drops by Half — BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion said on Thursday reported sales and earnings at the low end of its forecast and below what many analysts had been expecting. — The smartphone and tablet maker said that revenue …

Steve Kovach / Business Insider:
OUCH! RIM Shipped Just 200,000 PlayBooks Last Quarter

Discussion: Reuters, paidContent, CrackBerry.com blogs, The Loop, @johnprice167, Liliputing and SplatF

Phil Goldstein / FierceWireless:

AT&T to launch LTE Sunday, Sept. 18 — AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) will launch its first five LTE markets this Sunday Sept. 18, AT&T CFO John Stephens said during an appearance at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Entertainment & Communications conference.

Jessica E. Vascellaro / Digits:

Arrington Talks New Blog (and How He ALMOST Stayed at AOL) — Michael Arrington is returning to the blogosphere. — The blogger, who is leaving AOL and TechCrunch over a fight over his new venture capital fund, said in an interview that he plans to start a personal blog in the coming days.

Discussion: Business Insider

Jemima Kiss / Guardian:

More TechCrunch drama as Arrington-backed startup wins blog's contest — Despite claiming transparency, TechCrunch readers are not convinced that a ‘Habbo Hotel for Facebook’ was a deserving winner of a coveted award — If you were wondering what that rumbling, thunderous sound is …

Discussion: CenterNetworks, Betabeat, VentureBeat, scribbal.com, Epicenter, Prism Skylabs, New World Notes, TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2011, @paulcarr, bizjournals, Scobleizer and Daring Fireball

Rick Webb / rickwebb's tumblrmajig: Disrupt, Disruption, and the Nobility of the Tech Scene

Farhad Manjoo / Slate Magazine:

Great Social Networks Steal — In praise of Facebook's thievery. — Last fall, I spoke to Mark Zuckerberg about a common Facebook dilemma: We're not equally friendly with all our online “friends.” Some of your Facebook pals are very dear to you, while others are merely acquaintances …

Krishna Panicker / The Big Blog:

New Facebook Integration with Skype 5.4 for Mac OS X Beta — You may have noticed that we now release updates for Skype for Mac quicker than ever before. We've released a number of updates in 2011 which included, amongst other features, a brand new interface, video call control bar and HD-quality video calling.

Discussion: 9to5Mac, Neowin.net, PC Magazine, Mashable!, ReadWriteWeb, VentureBeat, TUAW, Electronista, CNET News, Front Side Bus, GigaOM, MacRumors, MacStories, The Next Web, Engadget, Macgasm, SlashGear and Gizmodo

Chris Brandrick / PC World:

Windows 8 Gets Sad New Blue Screen of Death — Microsoft's next release of their flagship operating system, Windows 8, will sport an updated error screen, most commonly referred to as the ‘Blue Screen of Death’ (BSoD). For those fortunate enough to not run into the infamous error message over the years …

Discussion: SFGate

Nicholas Carlson / Business Insider:

Google Is Secretly Spending Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars Turning YouTube Into A Cable Alternative — Now we know what Google's “big ass ideas” for YouTube, Web TV, and (maybe) Hulu are: build an alternative to cable. — Last spring, news broke that Google would spend $100 million loading YouTube up with original content.

Discussion: Felix Salmon and Electronista

Adrianne Jeffries / Betabeat:

When Kickstarter Goes Wrong: Were 419 Backers Almost Taken for a $27,637 Ride? — About a month ago, there was a $2,000 Kickstarter project called the Tech Sync Power System, a system for controlling home lights from mobile devices over a wifi connection. The project creator …

Matthew Lynley / VentureBeat:

Cloud storage provider Box.net spurns $500M offer (exclusive) — Cloud storage provider Box.net was a presenter at Dreamforce this year. — Cloud storage provider Box.net rejected a $500 million offer to purchase the company, multiple sources have confirmed to VentureBeat.

Discussion: PE Hub Blog and bizjournals, Thanks:jolieodell

Edwin Chan / Reuters:

HP execs misled investors before August stock crash: lawsuit — (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co and top executives misled investors for months before unveiling a series of major decisions, such as the demise of the TouchPad, that hammered its shares, a shareholder alleged in a proposed class-action lawsuit filed this week.

Discussion: The Next Web

Stuart Miles / Pocket-lint:

Qualcomm details next-gen 2.5GHz Snapdragon processors — Your phone is only going to get faster and better in the future, according to Qualcomm, as it's outlined the next step for its Snapdragon processor at its Innovation Qualcomm event in Istanbul. — The company's processors …

Discussion: PhoneArena, TechSpot, Liliputing, IntoMobile, Electronista, Engadget and Front Side Bus

Ben Popper / Betabeat:

Exclusive: Andy Weissman Leaves betaworks For Union Square Ventures — Betaworks co-founder Andy Weissman has made a major and unexpected move. After four years at the innovation lab, Mr. Weissman is leaving to join New York's most prestigious venture fund, Union Square Ventures …

Discussion: AllThingsD and Wall Street Journal

Diane Bartz / Reuters:

Fifteen lawmakers ask Obama to OK AT&T merger — (Reuters) - Fifteen Democratic lawmakers asked the Obama administration on Thursday to approve AT&T Inc's proposed purchase of T-Mobile USA. — Representative Heath Shuler and 14 other Democrats sent a letter to President Barack Obama arguing that the deal …

Discussion: Heath Shuler, GeekWire, PC Magazine, L.A. Times Tech Blog, TechFlash, TechCrunch and MediaFile

LAUNCH:

Former MySpace CEO Mike Jones Launching Incubator in L.A. — [ Mike Jones still has a MySpace page. ] — According to our sources, former MySpace CEO Mike Jones is starting a Los Angeles-based incubator. We've reached out to Jones for comment. — Jones sold his company Userplane to Aol in August 2006.

Adam Wiggins / Heroku:

Facebook and Heroku — We're delighted to announce that Facebook and Heroku have teamed up to bring you the fastest and easiest way to get your own Facebook app up and running in the cloud. — Facebook apps have long been a major segment on the Heroku platform.

Discussion: SiliconANGLE, VentureBeat, GigaOM, InfoQ, Inside Facebook, SitePoint, Friending Facebook Blog and Facebook Developers

Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:

Apple's brand value rises to No. 2 in the world, after Google — The Apple logo is now worth $39.3 billion according to Brand Finance — 30 Top U.S. Brands. Click to enlarge. Source: Brand Finance — Microsoft (MSFT) is down 9% to $39 billion. Google (GOOG) is up 9% to nearly $48.3 billion.

Discussion: PhoneArena, Mashable!, 9to5Google, 9to5Mac and Electronista

MG Siegler / TechCrunch:

Google+ Opens First APIs: Read-Only And No Circle Access For Now — A week ago, we noted the talk amongst developers that a Google+ API could be months away. The next day, we learned that Google was reaching out to “trusted” developers — among them, Google Ventures-backed startups — to try out their early stab at the API.

Eric Franklin / CNET News:

Archos G9 tablets offer high storage at low prices — Each G9 tablet includes 250GB of storage. The 10.1-inch 101 G9 is pictured here. — Last month we briefly covered Archos' two new tablets, and now the company has seen fit to provide us with more details. Some of them are quite juicy.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Engadget, Ars Technica, Gizmodo and Liliputing

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