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3:30 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 …
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
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
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 …
Discussion: Threat Level
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 and GottaBeMobile
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 …
CBS News:
Biographer: Jobs refused early and potentially life-saving surgery  —  Apple CEO Steve Jobs refused to allow surgeons to perform what could have been life-saving surgery on his pancreatic cancer, says his biographer Walter Isaacson.  In one of his deepest discussions with him …
Discussion: CNET News
RELATED:
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates: Exclusive bio excerpt in Fortune Monday
Discussion: L.A. Times Tech Blog, 9to5Mac and TUAW, Thanks:philiped
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.
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 …
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 …
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:
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 …
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 …
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
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.
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
On the scene: Microsoft opens its first Seattle store  —  Microsoft opened a new store at University Village in Seattle this morning — the 12th in its fledgling retail chain and the first inside the Seattle city limits, directly across a small parking lot from the shopping center's longtime Apple Store.
Discussion: WinRumors
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.
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.
 
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 More Items: 
Rip Empson / TechCrunch:
BlueStacks Raises $6.4 Million To Give You One-Click Access To Android Apps On Windows Devices
Discussion: GeekWire, SlashGear, VatorNews and GigaOM
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
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Foursquare's Crowley Reveals The Strategy Behind Radar, Siri, And Mobile's New Push Interface
Ryan Lawler / GigaOM:
Cisco buying BNI Video for $99M in cash
comScore, Inc.:
Social Networking On-The-Go: U.S. Mobile Social Media Audience Grows 37 Percent in the Past Year
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
The Multitasking Jack Dorsey on the Inspiration of Steve Jobs
Discussion: L.A. Times Tech Blog
 Earlier Items: 
Michael Arrington / Uncrunched:
Venture Capitalists, Secondary Markets And How Everyone Is A Facebook “Investor”
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
 

 
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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