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The Planets Are Aligned: Facebook's Spartan And iPad Projects Set To Launch Early Next Week — Earlier tonight, Alexia found and posted some screenshots of something that sure looked a lot like the mythical “Project Spartan”. Shortly thereafter, Facebook took down the page in question.
Discussion:
IntoMobile, App Advice, iDownloadBlog.com, PadGadget, Business Insider, Fast Company, 9to5Mac, I4U News, Electronista, MacPost and SlashGear, more at Mediagazer »
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This Is Facebook's Project Spartan [Screenshots] — This Facebook mobile developers page is pretty interesting, first of all because it starts with a statistic, “350 million users access Facebook from a mobile device every month,” which was just released and then because it describes Facebook …
Discussion:
Digital Trends, everythingiCafe, VisionMobile, PhoneArena and MacStories


Goldman: Microsoft Is Getting $444 Million Annually From Android Patent Licenses — Microsoft is will generate $444 million in revenue from Android patent deals for fiscal year 2012 (started in July 1, 2011, ends June 30, 2012), according to a note from Goldman Sachs's tech analyst team.
Discussion:
GeekWire, 9to5Google, eWeek, paidContent, AllThingsD, GottaBeMobile, Techie Buzz, WMPoweruser, WPCentral.com, Neowin.net, Gizmodo, Android Phone Fans, MobileSyrup.com, WinRumors and PhoneArena
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Samsung: We can't rely on Google, so we addressed Android IP issues on our own
Discussion:
GigaOM, The Korea Times, Softpedia News and SlashGear


Amazon Kindle Fire's Silk browser sounds privacy alarm bells — Amazon announced the newest addition to their Kindle line today named Fire. The Fire is a tablet based on the Android software stack with a customized Amazon interface layered over the top. — The focus appears …
Discussion:
Inquirer, Hardware 2.0 Blog, mike.mainguy, Communications …, Computerworld, Digiday, The Register, Guardian, VoIP & Gadgets Blog, Neowin.net, Hack Education and Daring Fireball, Thanks:sophoslabs
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Analyst: Amazon is likely losing $50 per Kindle Fire
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eWeek, Hardware 2.0 Blog, Fast Company, Mark Ramsey Media LLC, paidContent, PhoneArena, AllThingsD and This is my next

Amazon Kindle Fire: Tablet Product Strategy Done Right
Discussion:
FierceDeveloper, Trends in the Living Networks, cdespinosa's posterous and Computerworld


Ice Cream Sandwich gets a two-minute tour, courtesy of a lucky eBay shopper (video) — The one Android update to rule them all — better known as Ice Cream Sandwich — is penciled in for an official launch sometime in the next two months, so it's only natural for some shots to leak out.
Discussion:
PC Magazine, Digital Trends, CNET News, Gizmodo, BGR, VentureBeat, GottaBeMobile, Redmond Pie, Techie Buzz, eWeek, I4U News, Fortune, Geeky-Gadgets, Sammy Hub, Newlaunches.com, Pocket-lint, PhoneDog.com, Tech Shout!, Techland, Google Watch, PhoneArena, IntoMobile, Electronista and Know Your Cell
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Google And Samsung Announce October 11 Event: Nexus Prime Imminent
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Electronista, Gizmodo, Neowin.net, I4U News, Techie Buzz, MozillaWiki, Know Your Cell, AllThingsD, AppleInsider and GottaBeMobile

HP Said to Have Been Concerned Over Oracle When Switching CEOs — Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) — Hewlett-Packard Co. directors were concerned that plummeting shares would make the company vulnerable to a bid from Oracle Corp. when they replaced Leo Apotheker with Meg Whitman, two people close to the board said.
Discussion:
CNET News, GMSV, Wall Street Journal and TechEye
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Last year, Steve Jobs tried (and failed) to defuse Samsung patent row — The legal fight between Apple and Samsung over claims the Korean smartphone vendor had copied smartphone and tablet designs entered new territory on Thursday after it was revealed that Apple founder …
Discussion:
MacRumors, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, iPhone and MacDailyNews
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Apple fears Samsung tablet will ‘seduce’ customers, court told — Asher Moses — Apple fears the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 will launch on to the market “with the velocity of a fire hose” and “take away iPad 2 sales so quickly” that customers may be permanently “seduced” away from Apple's iOS platform …
Discussion:
mocoNews, Dow Jones Newswires, Korea Real Time, iTnews.com.au, GigaOM, Delimiter, Electronista, SlashGear, MarketWatch, ZDNet Australia, TechEye and ZDNet Australia


Fake iPhone ring busted in China: report — (Reuters) - Chinese police in Shanghai have arrested five people for making and selling fake versions of Apple Inc's iPhone, a local newspaper reported on Thursday. — Police said those arrested were part of an organized gang that bought components …
Discussion:
CNET News, ShanghaiDaily.com, AppleInsider, Neowin.net, TUAW, everythingiCafe, TiPb, Inquirer, MacPost, PhoneArena, Redmond Pie, 9to5Mac and The Next Web


Ex-NASA Man Squeezes Cloud Onto USB Stick — Yes, you can fit a cloud on a USB stick. — Founded by several of the brains who conceived OpenStack - the open source software platform for building Amazon-like “infrastructure clouds” - San Francisco startup Piston Cloud Computing has squeezed …

An update on our Motorola acquisition — Since we announced our plans to acquire Motorola Mobility, we've been excited about the positive reaction to the proposed deal — particularly from our partners who have told us that they're enthusiastic about our defense of the Android ecosystem.
Discussion:
Hillicon Valley, 9to5Google, Network World, Between the Lines Blog, Softpedia News, Inquirer, MobileBurn.com and TG Daily
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Microsoft Said to Add Comcast, Verizon Pay TV to Xbox Live — Microsoft Corp. plans to offer online pay television service from Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) and Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) through Xbox Live, in an bid to channel more entertainment to its video-game console, people with knowledge of the situation said.
Discussion:
Between the Lines Blog, Engadget, Computerworld, WinRumors, Deadline.com, Microsoft News, Kotaku, WPCentral.com, MarketBeat, Neowin.net and TG Daily


Apple is working a new Hybrid Drive System of their Own — On September 29, 2011, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals a next generation Hybrid Drive that includes both a hard drive and Flash. Intel will be pushing their Smart Response hybrid drive systems …
Discussion:
GigaOM


BlackBerry PlayBook on sale at Best Buy for $299 — That was fast. Best Buy in the U.S. knocked the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet down to $299, apparently in response to the market-upending price of the Amazon's Kindle Fire. — Is RIM feeling the Amazon Kindle Fire heat?
Discussion:
AllThingsD, Tech Trader Daily, AllThingsD, Ars Technica, PC World, TechCrunch, EE Times, Business Insider, GottaBeMobile, Mashable!, I4U News, PhoneArena and PopHerald.com


Hipmunk comes to Android with a surprisingly slick app — Hipmunk has finally brought its travel search application to the Android operating system, with a brand new mobile app that will hit the Android marketplace Thursday. — Hipmunk for Android, which for now only facilitates flight searches …
Discussion:
VentureBeat, MobileBurn.com, TechCrunch, Mashable! and Lifehacker


Microsoft to introduce $9.99 Zune Music Pass on October 3 for U.S. & Canada — Microsoft is planning to introduce a lower priced version of its Zune Music Pass on October 3. — The software maker is planning to roll out its Zune Music Marketplace and Zune Music Pass to Canadian markets on October 3.
Discussion:
Smartphones …, Zune Insider, LiveSide.net, Gizmodo, The Windows Blog, Liliputing, The Next Web, Anything But iPod, WPCentral.com, WPCentral.com and WMPoweruser


Chinese carrier says Apple's iPhone 5 will support 4G-like HSPA+ — Apple's fifth-generation iPhone will feature support for fast HSPA+ 21Mbps network speeds, sometimes advertised as “4G,” carrier China Unicom has revealed. — The carrier revealed the information in a presentation given at this week's Macworld Asia.
Discussion:
MacRumors, BGR, ReadWriteWeb, LAPTOP Magazine, BGR, Gizmodo, MacPost, 9to5Mac, GigaOM, IntoMobile, IntoMobile, Apple Bitch, Softpedia News, Electronista, MobileBurn.com and Edible Apple


Barnes & Noble: $25 Off the Nook Color if You Leave Our Stock Price Alone! — The looming November launch of Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet means bad tidings for Barnes & Noble this holiday season. That seems to be the market's sentiment, anyway. — Fearing competitive pressure …
Discussion:
CNET News, TeleRead and Slate Magazine


HTC: Windows Phone to outpace competitors — SINGAPORE—Microsoft today released Windows Phone 7.5 operating system (OS), codenamed Mango, which focuses on making devices more socially connected and better catering to users' needs such as multitasking. This addressing of the platform's …
Discussion:
9to5Google, Neowin.net, Techie Buzz, Windows 8 Beta and WMPoweruser


VentureBeat Needs To Put On Their Big Boy Pants If They Want To Fight With TechCrunch — VentureBeat leveled quite an accusation at TechCrunch this evening, claiming that they had evidence that suggested TechCrunch was trading stories for ad buys. The evidence?
Discussion:
Business Insider, TechCrunch, @mmarshall, @venturebeat, VentureBeat, @robinwauters, @deantak, @dylan20, @marshallk, @tolles and dylan tweney, more at Mediagazer »