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12:15 PM ET, September 28, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Bloomberg:
Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet  —  Amazon.com Inc., the world's largest online retailer, unveiled its Kindle Fire tablet computer, taking aim at Apple Inc.'s bestselling iPad with a device that's smaller and less than half the price.  —  The Kindle Fire will have a 7-inch display and sell for $199 …
RELATED:
Amazon.com:
Introducing the All-New Kindle Family: Four New Kindles, Four Amazing Price Points  —  New latest generation Kindle - world's bestselling e-reader now lighter, faster, and more affordable than ever - only $79  —  New “Kindle Touch” with easy-to-use touch screen - only $99
Discussion: 9to5Google, eWeek and This is my next
Christian Zibreg / 9to5Google:
Amazon's $199 iPad-killer is a 7-inch Fire tablet with no cameras, mic or 3G access and Nov. 15th release date  —  Note: This is a mockup, not the actual Kindle Fire  —  Just as Amazon's media event begins in New York, serving as a launchpad for their inaugural tablet …
Todd Haselton / BGR:
Amazon unveils $200 Kindle Fire tablet; $99 Kindle touch eReader, $79 Kindle  —  During a press event in New York City on Wednesday, Amazon announced took the wraps off of its $200 Kindle Fire tablet.  The Kindle Fire is equipped with a 7-inch display and will have access …
Chris Ziegler / This is my next:
Amazon Kindle Fire vs. iPad 2 vs. Nook Color: by the numbers  —  Clearly, Amazon's just-announced Kindle Fire isn't designed to compete head-to-head with the iPad 2 on specs alone, but that doesn't mean consumers won't be cross-shopping the two this holiday season — and that means a comparison is in order.
Amazon.com:
Introducing “Amazon Silk”: Amazon's Revolutionary Cloud-Accelerated Web Browser, Available Exclusively on Kindle Fire  —  Amazon's cloud computing infrastructure and eight years of cloud computing expertise come together in new web browser for Kindle Fire—Amazon's new Kindle for movies …
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
Microsoft Signs Mega-Patent Deal With Samsung, Will Get Royalties on Every Android Device It Sells  —  Microsoft is announcing today the biggest Android-related patent deal to date, signing a broad cross-licensing deal with Samsung.  —  With the deal, Microsoft will get royalty revenue …
RELATED:
Jeffrey Meisner / TechNet Blogs:
Our Licensing Deal with Samsung: How IP Drives Innovation and Collaboration  —  General Counsel & Deputy General Counsel, Microsoft  —  Today, Microsoft announced a patent cross-licensing agreement with Samsung that will provide coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio for Samsung's mobile phones and tablets.
Microsoft:
Microsoft and Samsung Broaden Smartphone Partnership  —  Agreements mark new initiatives to promote Windows Phone and share intellectual property.  —  Microsoft announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., to cross-license the patent portfolios …
Victor Agreda, Jr / TUAW:
Apple may discontinue the iPod shuffle and classic  —  We've been sitting on a tip for a while until things came into greater focus, but now that the speculation meter has exploded (see this CNet story), it's a good time to tell you all what we've heard.  It seems that the “product transition” …
RELATED:
Donald Bell / CNET News:
Will Apple kill the iPod?
Thomas Ricker / This is my next:
MeeGo is dead: Meet Tizen, another new open source OS based on Linux  —  First there was Maemo and Moblin, combined to form MeeGo under the stewardship of Nokia and Intel.  The OS has been floundering after the defection of Nokia to Windows Phone, with plenty of rumors suggesting Intel's been looking for a buyer.
RELATED:
Dan Frommer / SplatF:
“Tizen” is Intel and Samsung's answer to Android
Claire Cain Miller / Bits:
Google's Biggest Threat Is Google  —  Google faces antitrust inquiries and competition from all corners.  But its biggest threat is Google itself, Larry Page, its chief executive and co-founder, said Tuesday.  —  “There are basically no companies that have good slow decisions,” …
RELATED:
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:   Larry Page And Eric Schmidt Hold Court At Google Zeitgeist [Video]
Dan Gillmor / Google+:
What a crappy and hypocritical move by the Wall Street Journal, which has been running an overwrought but still useful series of articles in recent months re online privacy.  The WSJ is changing its own privacy policy in a way that mocks everything it's been complaining about — giving itself the right …
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Groupon Closes The Redemption Loop With Loyalty Rewards  —  Groupon may be struggling to get its IPO out the door, but that is not stopping it from introducing new products.  Up until now, Groupon has built a billion-dollar business by getting local merchants to offer great one-time deals to consumers.
Kashmir Hill / The Not-So Private Parts:
Facebook Keeps A History Of Everyone Who Has Ever Poked You, Along With A Lot Of Other Data  —  Your Facebook report might be 100s of pages long  —  Across the pond, European law grants citizens a “right to access,” meaning that companies have to provide a person with all of the personal data they have on them if they request it.
Discussion: Geek.com, Thanks:forbestech
Matt Mastracci / grack.com:
Google+ upcoming feature discoveries: Google Experts, the Facebook wall and more  —  I was snooping around the Google+ source code, trying to get early access to the new circle sharing feature when I came across some interesting features that haven't been discovered yet.
Ryan Lawler / GigaOM:
Get ready for the great cable unbundling  —  The cable industry is pulling an about-face on the issue of a la carte programming, due to increasingly expensive content rights and a weakening economy making bundles of network programming less affordable for the average consumer.
Dhanya Skariachan / Reuters:
Best Buy cuts holiday hiring by half  —  (Reuters) - Best Buy Co, the world's largest consumer electronics chain, will cut its hiring of temporary workers in the United States this holiday season by almost half compared with 2010.  —  The decision is further bad news for the U.S. economy and for the unemployed in particular.
Bloomberg:
Alibaba.com Said to Plan $200 Million IPO of Website Unit  —  Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) — Alibaba.com Ltd., operator of China's biggest online commerce site, plans to raise as much as $200 million from the listing of its website-designing unit in the U.S., two people with knowledge of the matter said.
Dana Mattioli / Wall Street Journal:
Tablets: Ultimate Buying Machines  —  Retailers have found an interesting characteristic of consumers who browse their websites using tablets: They're much more likely to pull the trigger on purchases than other online shoppers.  —  That discovery is making retailers focus on tablets ahead …
Joanna Stern / This is my next:
Toshiba Thrive 7-inch coming in early December for less than $400 (hands-on)  —  Release a 10.1-inch Android Honeycomb tablet.  Shrink it.  Shave a few dollars off the price and release it.  That seems to be the checklist on the desk of every major Android tablet manufacturer …
 
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 More Items: 
Todd Haselton / BGR:
Sprint's CDMA push-to-talk network to launch October 2nd
Rip Empson / TechCrunch:
Citi Analysts: Facebook Ads Are Taking Spending Away From Display, Not Search
Zack Whittaker / Between the Lines Blog:
Google asks to protect Android plans in AT&T, T-Mobile antitrust trial
Discussion: Associated Press
Boonsri Dickinson / CNET News:
Startup helps find cheapest prescription drugs
Colleen Taylor / GigaOM:
Seed funded startups ripe for shakeout, VCs say
 Earlier Items: 
Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider:
Fortune releases new Kindle-exclusive eBook on the rise of Steve Jobs
Discussion: CNET News, Electronista, Fortune and TUAW
Marguerite Reardon / CNET News:
Wireless spectrum shortage? What spectrum shortage?
Discussion: Inquirer and ITProPortal
Owen Billcliffe / my glass eye:
Instagram 2.0 review: Insta-grumble
Discussion: Gadget Lab and Daring Fireball
Grant Gross / Computerworld:
Lawmakers want investigation of supercookies
Discussion: The Register and Ars Technica
Elinor Mills / CNET News:
Hackers leak data of Goldman Sachs CEO
Discussion: NYConvergence.com and GMSV
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
James Harding says the Tortoise-Observer deal could create a profitable media group and there isn't a guaranteed future for the Observer with the Guardian

Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Analyzing Comcast's spinoff of cable networks, purposefully structured with low debt: the move might be a signal to the industry that it's time to consolidate

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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