Top Items:
Jeff Roberts / paidContent:
Samsung And HTC Hit By Wiretapping Lawsuit Over Tracking Software — The swirling controversy over a company that reportedly installed tracking software on users' mobile phones has already produced its first two lawsuits. On Thursday, plaintiffs sued the company, Carrier IQ …
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David Sarno / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Carrier IQ disputes spying accusations; security researchers agree — Carrier IQ, the beleagured online metrics company that has been accused of installing spy software on millions of smartphones, has broken its silence to say the critics have it wrong. — “While a few individuals …
Discussion:
CNNMoney.com, CNET News, CNN, Computerworld, WebProNews, 9to5Mac, Mashable!, Washington Post, Internet Evolution, Inquirer, Appolicious Advisor and 9to5Google
Karin Matussek / Bloomberg:
Apple Questioned by German Data Regulator Over Carrier IQ Software Privacy
Discussion:
Computerworld, AllThingsD, Gizmodo, AppleInsider, IntoMobile and iDownloadBlog.com
Peter Pachal / Mashable!:
Carrier IQ and Your Phone: Everything You Need to Know
Discussion:
Computerworld, SlashGear, Tech Cocktail, Engadget, GottaBeMobile, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Fortune and PhoneArena
Rhoda Alexander / iSuppli®:
Red-Hot Kindle Fire Blazes its Way to Second Place in Media Tablet Market — Just two weeks after its introduction, Amazon's Kindle Fire already is shaking up the market, with the device expected to surpass all other iPad rivals to take second place in the global media tablet business in the fourth quarter.
Discussion:
Forbes, AllThingsD, MediaPost, 9to5Google, PC Magazine, Android and Me, parislemon, Electronista, Softpedia News, CNET News, BetaNews, Mercury News, Tech Trader Daily and GigaOM
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Nicole Scott / netbooknews.com:
3-4M Amazon Kindle's Shipped, 5M Expected by 2012 — We knew that the Amazon Kindle was a popular tablet but just how popular is slowly becoming clear. Water cooler talk in Taipei points to Amazon shipping between 3-4M Kindle Fire's and they are continuing to increase orders for the popular Android tablet.
Discussion:
Washington Post, brian s hall, DigiTimes, WebProNews, GottaBeMobile, Good E-Reader, Between the Lines Blog, GigaOM and Electronista
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
Microsoft to drop Desktop App from Windows 8 ARM tablets? — Summary: Microsoft may have done an about-face and decided against offering the Desktop App and thus non-Metro-style apps, on Windows 8 ARM tablets. — Back in September, there was controversy as to whether Microsoft planned to allow …
Discussion:
CNET News, Electronista, Digital Trends, The Next Web, Daring Fireball, OSNews, PhoneArena, The Verge, TechPinions, Engadget, Softpedia News and Gizmodo UK
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Alex Wilhelm / The Next Web:
The public Windows 8 beta will be released in late February
Discussion:
LAPTOP Magazine, Computerworld, Gizmodo, The Verge, WinRumors, CNET News, lalawag, TechSpot, Pulse2, Windows 8 Beta, Techland and Fonehome
Jia Lynn Yang / Washington Post:
Justice Dept. approves Google's AdMeld acquisition — The Justice Department on Friday gave the green light to Google's $400 million acquisition of AdMeld, a major display advertising company. — The agency said the deal can proceed without any major conditions, because a detailed analysis …
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Kevin Fitchard / GigaOM:
Verizon building a spectrum empire with cable deal — Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks are selling off the spectrum remnants of their stillborn wireless venture, SpectrumCo, to Verizon Wireless for $3.6 billion. The deal would allow Verizon to double-up on its LTE network …
Discussion:
Welcome To Verizon Wireless, DailyTech, Pulse2, Telecompetitor, Phone Scoop, I4U News, The Tech Trade, TechSpot, SlashGear, Android Phone Fans, PhoneArena and IntoMobile
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Matt Brian / The Next Web:
Verizon buys 122 wireless spectrum licenses from Comcast, Time Warner Cable for $3.6 Billion
Discussion:
Comcast Voices, AllThingsD, Geek.com, Reuters, Inquirer, Bloomberg, Media Decoder, SplatF, Susan Crawford blog, Tech Trader Daily, DealBook and ZDNet, more at Mediagazer »
TorrentFreak:
Swiss Govt: Downloading Movies and Music Will Stay Legal — In Switzerland, just as in dozens of other countries, the entertainment industries have been complaining about dramatic losses in revenue due to online piracy. — In a response, the Swiss government has been conducting a study …
Discussion:
PC Magazine, Business Insider, Softpedia News and WebProNews
Tricia Duryee / AllThingsD:
Zynga Ups the Ante on IPO to Raise as Much as $1.15 Billion — Zynga is officially on its way to IPO-Ville. — The company has filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission to raise between $850 million to $1.15 billion. At the high-end that would be roughly $15 million more than it had previously indicated it would raise.
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Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Video: Zynga CEO Mark Pincus Pitches IPO To Investors
Discussion:
Business Insider
Steve Souders / High Performance Web Sites:
Silk, iPad, Galaxy comparison — In my previous blog post I announced Loadtimer - a mobile test harness for measuring page load times. I was motivated to create Loadtimer because recent reviews of the Kindle Fire lacked the quantified data and reliable test procedures needed to compare browser performance.
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb and Zatz Not Funny!
Chip Cummins / Wall Street Journal:
RIM to Take $485 Million Charge Related to Tablet — TORONTO—Research in Motion Ltd. on Friday said it would take a $485 million, mostly noncash charge in its fiscal third quarter after marking down the value of its large inventory of PlayBook tablets. The company also revised its revenue guidance downward.
Discussion:
Research in Motion, The Atlantic Wire, AllThingsD, CNET News, Pulse2, Between the Lines Blog, Reuters, BGR, The Verge, Bloomberg, mocoNews, Gizmodo, TG Daily, MobileSyrup.com, Globe and Mail, The Loop, CNNMoney.com and SlashGear
Roger Cheng / CNET News:
Verizon Wireless prepping two 4G Droid tablets for this month — The 8-inch Droid Xyboard (left) and its 10-inch brother. — Verizon Wireless will launch two more tablets, both carrying the premium Droid brand, before the end of the year, CNET has learned.
Discussion:
9to5Google, SlashGear, Androinica, IntoMobile, LAPTOP Magazine, FierceWireless, GottaBeMobile, BGR, AndroidGuys, Android Community, Gizmodo and PhoneArena
Lee Rainie / Pew Internet:
The internet as a diversion and destination — Americans are increasingly going online just for fun and to pass the time. On any given day, 53% of all the young adults ages 18-29 go online for no particular reason except to have fun or to pass the time. Many of them go online in purposeful ways, as well.
Discussion:
Marketing Land, GamePolitics blogs, MediaPost, Telecom Trends and Joho the Blog
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Why Siri Can't Find Abortion Clinics & How It's Not An Apple Conspiracy — “I'm standing in front of a Planned Parenthood,” the CNN reporter says, “And Siri can't find it when I search for abortion clinic.” No, it can't. It's not because Apple is pro-life. It's because Planned Parenthood doesn't call itself an abortion clinic.
Discussion:
Gizmodo and LAPTOP Magazine
Kim-Mai Cutler / Inside Social Games:
Confirmed: EA Acquires KlickNation, Source Says Price is Roughly $35M — Electronic Arts said it acquired KlickNation to beef up its RPG games on social networks after we broke the news about the deal yesterday. The Sacramento, Calif.-based company will become part of BioWare's social gaming team.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, VentureBeat, AllThingsD and Business Wire
Matt Brian / The Next Web:
Welcome to Androidland: Australia's (and the world's) first Android store — If you're an Android fan and happen to be local to the Australian city of Melbourne then you'll be pleased to know that the world's first dedicated Android store has opened, and it's called Androidland.
Discussion:
Android Central, PC World, IntoMobile, Gadget Lab, TechCrunch, GottaBeMobile, Android Community, Appolicious Advisor and Electronista
Facebook:
Facebook to Open Engineering Office in New York City in 2012 — To keep up with its rapid growth, Facebook today announced plans to establish an engineering presence in New York City and tap into the remarkable technical talent that the region has to offer.
Discussion:
Inside Facebook, The Next Web, Mashable!, All Facebook, PC World, @mikebloomberg, VentureBeat, Business Insider, TechCrunch, Betabeat, NYConvergence.com, @manan, @betabeat and @johnolilly
Neil Hughes / AppleInsider:
2TB hard drive shortage hits Apple's BTO iMacs with 5-7 week wait — Build-to-order iMacs with 2-terabyte hard drives now have an estimated shipping time of 5 to 7 weeks, in what is potentially the first sign of Apple being hit by a lingering global hard drive shortage.
