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2:40 PM ET, October 31, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Imtiyaz Delawala / ABC News:
Bill Gates Dismisses Criticism in Steve Jobs Biography  —  Microsoft co-founder and chairman Bill Gates dismissed criticisms of him by long-time competitor Steve Jobs in the new biography released after Jobs' death, saying “none of that bothers me at all,” while praising the impact the Apple executive had on the world.
RELATED:
Preston Gralla / Computerworld:
Bill Gates — I helped Steve Jobs create the Mac  —  Steve Jobs had some very harsh things to say about Bill Gates in the just-published biography of him.  In an interview yesterday, Gates responded quite kindly to that criticism, but also took credit for helping Steve Jobs invent the Mac.
Discussion: Gizmodo and Seattle Times
Mona Simpson / New York Times:
A Sister's Eulogy for Steve Jobs  —  I grew up as an only child, with a single mother.  Because we were poor and because I knew my father had emigrated from Syria, I imagined he looked like Omar Sharif.  I hoped he would be rich and kind and would come into our lives (and our not yet furnished apartment) and help us.
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Apple Retail Stores to Allow Self-Checkout via iOS App for Accessory Purchases  —  MacRumors has learned that Apple is planning to launch an update to its retail store iOS app that will allow consumers to utilize self-checkout for purchases of accessories and other shelf-stocked items at the company's retail stores.
Olga Kharif / Bloomberg:
Job Cuts to Cost Motorola Mobility $31 Million  —  Disposing of 800 positions will cost Motorola Mobility $27 million in severance and $4 million for facility closures as it prepares to be acquired by Google  —  (Bloomberg) — Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., the mobile-phone maker that agreed …
Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:
Amazon Builds Up Kindle Fire Content With Disney-ABC Deal  —  In last week's earnings call, Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) said it will continue to push hard into streaming video.  Now, in a new licensing deal with Disney-ABC (NYSE: DIS) Television Group, Amazon Prime members can stream shows like Grey's Anatomy, Lost and Spider-Man for free.
RELATED:
Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:
Netflix renews ABC contract
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Apple looking to bring AirPlay Mirroring, iMessage application to Mac OS X  —  AirPlay Mirroring shown with an iPad 2 and an Apple TV  —  Sources familiar with the future of Mac OS X say that AirPlay Mirroring and an iMessage application are currently in development.
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Apple airs impressive new iPhone 4S iCloud, Siri, and Camera TV ads  —  Following up on the first iPhone 4S Siri TV advertisement from last week, Apple has just released three new advertisements surrounding the iPhone 4S.  The iCloud iPhone 4S advertisement shown above shows the out of the box iCloud integration for the iPhone 4S.
Mitch Kapor / Mitch's posterous:
Beyond Arrington and CNN, Let's Look at the Real Issues  —  On November 13 CNN will be airing Black in America 4 — The New Promised Land: Silicon Valley, a documentary focusing on eight African-American entrepreneurs and their quest for success in Silicon Valley.
Discussion: Pulp Tech Blog
RELATED:
Soledad O'Brien / CNNMoney.com:
Michael Arrington is right (about one thing)
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
The Entire $1.65B Acquisition Of YouTube Took A Week, Was Negotiated At Denny's  —  In an interview at TechCrunch Disrupt Beijing today, YouTube co-founder Steven Chen reminisced about selling his company to Google.  “Was there any way you could not have sold?”  Sarah Lacy asked?
Discussion: Softpedia News
Sui-Lee Wee / Reuters:
China denies it is behind hacking of U.S. satellites  —  (Reuters) - Beijing on Monday denied a U.S. commission's claim that China may have been responsible for hacking incidents on U.S. environment-monitoring satellites, saying that the committee had “ulterior motives” in writing such a draft report.
Discussion: Guardian
Suzanne Kapner / Wall Street Journal:
Hackers Press the ‘Schmooze’ Button  —  Chris Patten called a large investment-management firm to report that he was going through a divorce and was worried that his wife had set up an account under a false name.  —  And with that story—entirely plausible but in this case a lie …
Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
Something New From Nook, Coming in a Week  —  Barnes & Noble will be announcing ... something at a New York City press conference in a week.  —  About what?  The oblique invitation I just got in my inbox doesn't say a word, other than promising that it will be a “very special announcement.”
Monica Chen / DigiTimes:
Acer, Asustek initial ultrabook sales not up to expectations, say sources  —  Shipments of ultrabook by Acer and Asustek Computer are expected to reach 100,000 units each by the end of 2011, falling short of their targets of 200,000-300,000 units, due to relatively high prices, according to sources at channels.
James Temple / San Francisco Chronicle:
Microsoft attorney outlines Android patent tactics  —  It takes flowcharts to keep track of all the mobile patent lawsuits under way.  —  Apple sued HTC, while Kodak sued Apple, Samsung and Sony.  RIM filed suit against Kodak and Motorola.  And what are called nonpracticing entities …
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Apple completes testing of 15-inch LCD for ultra-thin MacBook Pro?  —  According to Macotakara.jp, Apple has finished work on test units of a 15-inch LCD for an upcoming ultra-thin laptop from Apple.  The report calls the new machine a 15-inch MacBook Air, but in all likelihood it's a thinner 15-inch MacBook Pro.
Rip Empson / TechCrunch:
500 Startups Peels Back The Curtain On Its Third And Largest Batch Yet  —  It's Halloween, so it's the perfect day to unveil the newest group of 500 Startups' “little monsters”.  Yes, this is the name that founder Dave McClure and his partner in crime Christine Tsai give to all the rock star entrepreneurs …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Test Page For GDrive Appearing In Google Search Results  —  In case there was still any doubt about the long-rumored “GDrive's” existence, a page now appearing on Google's search results offers a pretty clear indication that something is going on.  On Writely.com - the online word processing …
Discussion: News On Droid and Gizmodo UK
Amar Toor / Engadget:
HTC releases Q3 earnings report: profit up 68 percent, shipments soar 93 percent  —  It's been another stellar quarter for the folks over at HTC.  According to the company's Q3 earnings report, released today, net income rose to NT$18.68 billion (about $624.6 million) this quarter …
Tomio Geron / Social Markets:
Marc Andreessen: Building Startups Is Like Baking A Cake In 3 Minutes  —  At age 22, Marc Andreessen cofounded Netscape, the browser company that turned the Internet into a mainstream phenomenon.  —  But what happens when your company takes off that fast?  Andreessen talked …
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
Korea's Pantech to Use Kinect-Like Gesture Recognition in Android Phones  —  Korean phone maker Pantech, best known in the U.S. for low-end Android and messaging phones, hopes to make a name for itself by adding gesture recognition a la Microsoft's Kinect.  —  The technology …
 
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 More Items: 
Matt McLernon / YouTube Blog:
Life in a Day now available on YouTube
Erica Ogg / GigaOM:
Apple spending big next year on retail and cloud
Matt Burns / TechCrunch:
Google TV Update Rolls Out Today, Already Hitting Select Sony Internet TV Devices
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
Commercial version of Kinect for Windows development kit due in early 2012
Todd Haselton / BGR:
Samsung Galaxy S II LTE Skyrocket landing on AT&T November 6th for $250
Ari Levy / Bloomberg:
Groupon IPO a Must as Cash Needs Climb With Investor Tally: Tech
Discussion: Betabeat
 Earlier Items: 
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Kai-Fu Lee On Why China Isn't Ready For The Next Mark Zuckerberg
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
New MobiUs Browser For iOS Makes Mobile Web Apps Act More Like Native Apps
Discussion: App Advice and ReadWriteWeb
BBC:
SeeSaw video-on-demand television website is shut down
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
It's Time For Google To Let Google Voice Live Up To Its Promise
Jack Neff / AdAge:
Why More of Your Facebook Fans are Seeing Fewer of Your Messages
Ben Zimmer / New York Times:
Twitterology: A New Science?
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols / Open Source Blog:
Ubuntu Linux heads to smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs.
 

 
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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