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 …
Discussion:
Gizmodo, Digital Trends, Business Insider, Computerworld, Android Phone Fans and The Verge
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John Paczkowski / AllThingsD:
Carrier IQ Speaks: Our Software Ignores Your Personal Info — Carrier IQ, maker of a network diagnostic tool installed on millions of smartphones, has a simple rebuttal to accusations that its software logs keystrokes on the devices on which it is installed: — It doesn't.
Karin Matussek / Bloomberg:
Apple Questioned by German Data Regulator About Carrier IQ — A German data regulator asked Apple Inc. (AAPL) to answer questions about privacy issues regarding the usage-tracking software Carrier IQ on mobile phones. — The Bavarian State Authority for Data Protection sent a letter …
Discussion:
AppleInsider, 9to5Google, GigaOM, 9to5Mac and Electronista
John Paczkowski / AllThingsD:
Apple: We Stopped Supporting Carrier IQ With iOS 5 — Apple has finally weighed in on the Carrier IQ debacle. In a statement issued moments ago, the company said while it has used Carrier IQ's network diagnostic software in the past, it recently stopped supporting it and plans to remove …
Discussion:
Digital Trends, Technologizer, CyanogenMod, Help Net Security, The Toybox Blog, The Register, ReadWriteWeb, SlashGear, Dice Blog Network, TechSpot, Engadget, CNET News, Between the Lines Blog, Threat Level, TechCrunch, The Verge, MacGazette.net, Daring Fireball, The Mac Security Blog, thinq_, OS X Daily and Gizmodo UK
Jaikumar Vijayan / Computerworld:
AT&T, Sprint confirm use of Carrier IQ software on handsets
Discussion:
InfoWorld, Network World, Gizmodo, The Official Lookout Blog, Reuters, paidContent, Reuters, Washington Post, GigaOM, Examiner, Delimiter, PhoneArena, Electronista and OSNews
Peter Pachal / Mashable!:
Carrier IQ and Your Phone: Everything You Need to Know
Discussion:
AllThingsD, Fortune, DSLreports, SlashGear, InfoWorld, TechCrunch, CNET News, Engadget, Gizmodo, The Next Web, Marketing Pilgrim, PhoneArena and Business Insider
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Google confirms: we have no ‘affiliation with Carrier IQ’
Discussion:
SlashGear, WinRumors, PreCentral.net and 9to5Google
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, AllThingsD and VentureBeat
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:
BGR, Gizmodo, SlashGear, Business Insider, AndroidGuys, Electronista, PhoneArena, Neowin.net, Engadget, Android Community, Android Phone Fans, GottaBeMobile and Know Your Cell
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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:
AllThingsD, Research in Motion, CNET News, Between the Lines Blog, CNNMoney.com, AppleInsider, Gizmodo, mocoNews, Bloomberg, BGR, The Verge, Engadget, Reuters, SlashGear, The Loop, MobileSyrup.com and Globe and Mail
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:
GigaOM, GigaOM, Between the Lines Blog, 9to5Google, DigiTimes, CNET News, WebProNews, Techland, TechEye and Good E-Reader
Wikileaks:
The Spyfiles — Mass interception of entire populations is not only a reality, it is a secret new industry spanning 25 countries It sounds like something out of Hollywood, but as of today, mass interception systems, built by Western intelligence contractors, including for ‘political opponents’ are a reality.
Discussion:
Computerworld, Engadget, WebProNews, TechEye, Fudzilla, Gizmodo UK, Ars Technica and PC Magazine
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Zack Whittaker / London Calling Blog:
New Wikileaks files expose iPhone, BlackBerry phone and Gmail hacking technology
Discussion:
Computerworld, Gizmodo and Guardian
Alex Wilhelm / The Next Web:
The public Windows 8 beta will be released in late February — Sources close to Microsoft have informed TNW that the public Windows 8 beta will be released in late February of 2012. — The timing of the public beta launch has been the subject of much debate in the technology community.
Discussion:
CNET News, WinRumors, Fonehome, O'Grady's PowerPage, Pocket-lint, The Verge, Windows 8 Beta, Neowin.net, Softpedia News, SlashGear, Electricpig.co.uk and Electronista
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:
DSLreports, Softpedia News and Michael Geist 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:
Gadget Lab, Data Mining, TidBITS, Blog for Choice, Amadi Talks, App Advice and TUAW
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:
Gizmodo, TWiT.TV, Engadget, Softpedia News, MacNN, parislemon, TechPinions, The Verge, SlashGear and Neowin.net
Eric Eldon / TechCrunch:
YouTube's New Homepage Goes Social With Algorithmic Feed, Emphasis On Google+ And Facebook — YouTube is launching what the company calls the biggest redesign in its history today, including sweeping changes to its homepage and channel pages. The goal is better personalized video discovery and viewing …
Discussion:
CNN, The Official Google Blog, Inquirer, Fast Company, PC Magazine, ReelSEO Online Video …, The Daily Beast, GeekSugar, Business Insider, Softpedia News, Digits, Lost Remote, Bits and T3 News
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Tricia Duryee / AllThingsD:
Electronic Arts Acquires Another Social Game Company as Zynga's IPO Nears — Electronic Arts has acquired a small social games company, KlickNation, in its ongoing quest to challenge Zynga as the dominant game maker on Facebook. — KlickNation, which has been developing free role-playing games …
Discussion:
Tech and China, Business Wire, Computerworld, Neowin.net and Social Games Observer
Evelina Kurgonaite / Financial Times:
The EC to slam Google with 400+ page SO — This article is provided to FT.com readers by dealReporter—a news service focused on providing insightful intelligence on event driven situations to investors. www.dealreporter.com — Story The European Commission (EC) is expected to issue …
Discussion:
Search Engine Land, The Register, Washington Post, CNET News and Business Insider
Bloomberg:
Google's AdMeld Deal Said to Win U.S. Antitrust Recommendation — Google Inc. (GOOG)'s $400 million acquisition of AdMeld Inc. has been recommended for antitrust approval by U.S. Justice Department staff attorneys, two people familiar with the matter said. — The staff urged approval …
Sean Gallagher / Ars Technica:
Researchers find big leaks in pre-installed Android apps — Researchers at North Carolina State University have uncovered a variety of vulnerabilities in the standard configurations of popular Android smartphones from Motorola, HTC, and Samsung, finding that they don't properly protect privileged permissions …
Discussion:
Gizmodo, The Verge, Android Phone Fans and IntoMobile
