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3:05 PM ET, October 20, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Alan Green / Official Google Reader Blog:
Upcoming changes to Reader: a new look, new Google+ features, and some clean-up  —  In the next week, we'll be making some highly requested changes to Google Reader.  First, we're going to introduce a brand new design (like many of Google's other products) that we hope you love.
RELATED:
Frederic Lardinois / SiliconFilter:
Google Reader: It's Still Alive and Getting a Facelift, But Will Lose its Social Features  —  Google Reader, the company's popular feed reader, long looked like the forgotten stepchild of Google+ and other more recent products at Google.  As the company continued to update the look and feel …
Tim Culpan / Bloomberg:
Microsoft to Help Halve Phone Costs Next Year in ‘Volume’ Drive  —  Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) — Microsoft Corp. expects production costs of handsets using Windows Phone 7 software next year to drop by more than half from when the platform was introduced.  —  Cooperation with parts makers including Qualcomm Inc …
RELATED:
Darren Murph / Engadget:
Microsoft's Andy Lees: Nokia will announce ‘its Windows Phones’ at Nokia World  —  No surprise here, but you can officially mark Nokia World 2011 down as must-watch TV.  Andy Lees just confirmed here on stage at AsiaD that the London-based event, which kicks off on October 26th, will be the launchpad for Nokia's Windows Phones.
Ben Rudolph / The Windows Blog:
First Look: AT&T's new HTC TITAN, Samsung Focus S and Samsung Focus Flash
Dieter Bohn / This is my next:
Andy Lees: Windows Phone to get NFC and ‘wider hardware choice’ next year
AT&T:
AT&T Activates One Million iPhone 4S'  —  Activations Surpass All Previous Launches; Customers Prefer AT&T Speed Advantage  —  AT&T today announced it activated more than 1 million iPhone 4S' as of Tuesday, making it the most successful iPhone launch in the company's history.
RELATED:
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines Blog:
AT&T third quarter on target: iPhone, Android split improves
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
Android Chief Says Your Phone Should Not Be Your Assistant  —  Andy Rubin thinks there is a lot of potential for phones to be more useful companions, but says he is not interested in turning Android devices into personal assistants.  —  “I don't believe that your phone should be an assistant …
RELATED:
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Let's Take This One With a Grain of Salt  —  Ina Fried, covering some conference in Asia on some website: … What do you expect him to say about Siri, though?  “Well, Apple really pulled ahead of us there.”  ? Not going to happen.  The truth is, Google has been working on voice-driven stuff for mobile devices for years.
Discussion: Computerworld
Feross Aboukhadijeh / Feross.org:
HOW TO: Spy on the Webcams of Your Website Visitors  —  Update (10/19): CNET says that Adobe is working on a fix and it could be ready by end of week.  —  Update (10/19): Adobe emailed me and said “our product team is wrapping up their investigation and is now working on a fix, which should not require a Flash Player update”.
RELATED:
Elinor Mills / CNET News:
Adobe to plug Flash-related Webcam spying hole  —  A video demonstrates how the attack could be accomplished.  In this screenshot, a series of blue buttons are clicked on as part of a game and the webcam is turned on.  —  Adobe Systems is working on a fix for a Flash-related vulnerability …
Andrew Rassweiler / iSuppli®:
iPhone 4S Carries BOM of $188, IHS iSuppli Teardown Analysis Reveals  —  On the outside, the iPhone 4S may have disappointed some with its perceived lack of new features.  But on the inside, the latest member of the iPhone line includes a wealth of innovation, including a new wireless module …
RELATED:
Yun-Hee Kim / Wall Street Journal:
Samsung Beats Apple in Smartphone Shipments  —  HONG KONG—Samsung Electronics Co. shipped more than 20 million smartphones in the quarter ended Sept. 30, a person familiar with the situation said Thursday, beating market leader Apple Inc. as well as Nokia Corp., the world's biggest cellphone maker by volume.
Alex Chitu / Google Operating System:
A New Look for Gmail  —  A video from Google's YouTube channel (update: the video is now private, but there's a mirror here) introduces a new Gmail interface.  It's based on the Preview theme that's already available in Gmail, but there are many other changes: an action bar that uses icons instead …
Darren Murph / Engadget:
ASUS' Jonney Shih unveils Transformer Prime Android tablet: 10-inch, 8.3mm, quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3  —  Whoa, Nelly!  ASUS head honcho Jonney Shih just revealed the “next-generation Transformer tablet” here at AsiaD!  It's the same one that we saw teased just yesterday …
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
Google+ Guru Bradley Horowitz On Products, Platforms and that Pesky Memo  —  While Google has struggled mightily in its early efforts to “get the social thing,” it has managed to get more than a few people to try out its latest effort, Google+.  —  But the question of just how compelling …
Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land:
Not Just Google: Siri Searches Bing And Yahoo Too  —  Earlier tonight Danny Sullivan discovered that Siri will also search Bing and Yahoo, though it searches Google by default.  If you say, “Search the web for . . .” or you ask Siri a question it can't answer it will search Google (the iPhone's default search engine).
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
Yahoo's Jerry Yang: There Are Plenty of Options Beyond Sale  —  Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang said on Thursday that the company's board continues its strategic review process, but that there are a number of options beyond just selling the company.  —  “The intent going in is not to put ourselves for sale,” Yang said, speaking at AsiaD.
Jack Purcher / Patently Apple:
Apple Working on a Thinner MacBook Pro Design  —  While Intel is obsessed with pushing their Ultrabooks into the market to attack Apple's MacBook Air, Apple is working on producing a thinner MacBook Pro for road warriors who need the convenience of an optical drive.
Matt Rosoff / Business Insider:
This Is The Google Music “Twist”: You Can Share Songs After Buying Them  —  Yesterday, Google mobile head Andy Rubin said that the company's long-awaited music store will have some kind of twist.  —  Now we know what it is.  —  A person in the recording industry who has been briefed …
Discussion: VentureBeat
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Visual.ly Raises $2 Million To Make Even More Infographics  —  Visual.ly, the team built from the infographics team behind Mint's spectacular infographics, has raised $2 million in seed funding, led by Crosslink Capital, SoftTech and 500 Startups as well as angels Kapor Capital, Giza Ventures …
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Apple taking iOS 5 on a world tour for developers November through January  —  In past years, Apple has held “Tech Talk World Tours” for developers, covering their latest version of iOS.  Now that iOS 5 has been released into the wild, Apple has announced that the iOS 5 Tech Talk World Tour …
Mark Kleinman / Kleinman:
Exclusive: Kingdom Eyes Twitter Stake  —  The ultra-wealthy Saudi investor who owns stakes in Citigroup and News Corporation is examining a swoop on the internet industry that would involve acquiring hundreds of millions of dollars-worth of shares in Twitter, I have learned.
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates: Exclusive bio excerpt in Fortune Monday  —  They were the best of frenemies for nearly 30 years.  Walter Isaacson has the inside story.  —  Click to enlarge.  Image: Time Inc.  —  The first excerpt from the year's most eagerly awaited — and carefully guarded …
Discussion: 9to5Mac and TUAW, Thanks:philiped
Tricia Duryee / AllThingsD:
Coupon Craze Continues With CouponCabin Raising $54 Million  —  Investors are seeing a smart shopping opportunity in the age-old practice of saving and redeeming coupons.  —  CouponCabin.com of Whiting, Ind., is the latest online coupon company to raise capital.  The company has raised $54 million in its first round of funding.
Jim Puzzanghera / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Facebook partners with Labor Department to help job-seekers  —  The Labor Department is hoping a popular new friend can help unemployed workers find jobs.  —  Labor Secretary Hilda Solis on Thursday announced a partnership with Facebook designed to connect the jobless with companies that are hiring.
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
The Multitasking Jack Dorsey on the Inspiration of Steve Jobs  —  Jack Dorsey says he takes a lot of inspiration for what he does from late Apple founder Steve Jobs.  —  When he designs products, whether at Twitter or Square, Dorsey said he aims to create products that disappear so you are just using them.
Discussion: L.A. Times Tech Blog
 
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 More Items: 
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
CrowdStar takes a stab at a global gaming audience
Amar Toor / Engadget:
Sony Music Unlimited arrives for Android tablets, bearing gifts of unlimited music
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
On the scene: Microsoft opens its first Seattle store
Discussion: WinRumors
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Foursquare's Crowley Reveals The Strategy Behind Radar, Siri, And Mobile's New Push Interface
comScore, Inc.:
Social Networking On-The-Go: U.S. Mobile Social Media Audience Grows 37 Percent in the Past Year
Michael Arrington / Uncrunched:
Venture Capitalists, Secondary Markets And How Everyone Is A Facebook “Investor”
 Earlier Items: 
Rip Empson / TechCrunch:
Khan Academy Triples Unique Users To 3.5 Million
Laura Kusisto / Wall Street Journal:
Google Hits Space Bars
Discussion: @amir_efrati
Bloomberg:
Nokia Reports Smaller Loss as Sales Beat Estimates
Alyson Shontell / Business Insider:
Why Do We All Praise Startups When They Receive Funding?
Jon Orlin / TechCrunch:
TechCrunch TV Launches On Your TV
Danielle Sacks / Fast Company:
Bill Nguyen: The Boy In The Bubble
 

 
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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