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:
TechCrunch, Digital Trends, Gizmodo, Business Insider, Business Wire, TmoNews, Android Community, Android and Me, Android Phone Fans, Computerworld and mocoNews
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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 and 9to5Mac
Peter Pachal / Mashable!:
Carrier IQ and Your Phone: Everything You Need to Know — There's a storm of controversy flaring up over Carrier IQ, cellphone software that logs user activity and relays at least some of that information to wireless carriers. The carriers say they'll use that data to improve their networks.
Discussion:
Inquirer, Fortune, DSLreports, AllThingsD, SlashGear, L.A. Times Tech Blog, CNET News, Engadget, AllThingsD, The Next Web, Gizmodo, Marketing Pilgrim, PhoneArena and Business Insider
Jaikumar Vijayan / Computerworld:
AT&T, Sprint confirm use of Carrier IQ rootkit software on handsets
Discussion:
Computerworld, InfoWorld, Network World, WebProNews, Gizmodo, Reuters and The Verge
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
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:
VentureBeat, GigaOM, GigaOM, Between the Lines Blog, 9to5Google, DigiTimes, CNET News, GottaBeMobile, Electronista, WebProNews, Techland, Softpedia News, Good E-Reader and TechEye
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.
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
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, Techland, WinRumors, Fonehome, The Verge, Windows 8 Beta, Neowin.net, O'Grady's PowerPage, Softpedia News, Electricpig.co.uk, Pocket-lint and SlashGear
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, Amadi Talks and TidBITS
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:
LAPTOP Magazine, Gizmodo, Business Insider, SlashGear, BGR, AndroidGuys, Electronista, PhoneArena, Engadget and Neowin.net
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, TWiT.TV, Gizmodo, Softpedia News, Engadget, MacNN, parislemon, TechPinions, The Verge, SlashGear and WinRumors
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:
GottaBeMobile
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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:
Inquirer, SplatF, AllThingsD, PC World, DSLreports, ZDNet, The Tech Trade, Tech Trader Daily, Mashable!, PhoneArena, Bloomberg, DealBook, Android Community, IntoMobile, Reuters, Associated Press, SlashGear and StreetInsider.com
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:
Engadget, Computerworld, Electronista, WebProNews, Fudzilla, TechEye and Gizmodo UK
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Zack Whittaker / London Calling Blog:
New Wikileaks files expose iPhone, BlackBerry phone and Gmail hacking technology
Discussion:
Guardian, Computerworld and Gizmodo
Greg Kumparak / TechCrunch:
AT&T's 4G/LTE Network Already Live In Parts Of NYC — Early in November, AT&T exec Larry Solomon mentioned that their 4G/LTE network would be extending its reach to New York City sometime “soon.” — Turns out, “soon” means “sometime around December 1st” — as of this evening …
Discussion:
BGR, Business Insider, Engadget, Engadget and PhoneArena
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, Softpedia News, The Register, WebProNews, CNET News, Washington Post and Business Insider
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 …
Discussion:
The Official Google Blog, Bits, Mercury News, Reuters and WebProNews
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:
Android Phone Fans, Gizmodo, The Orange View and The Verge
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, Neowin.net, Social Games Observer and Computerworld
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 …
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Mike Isaac / Epicenter:
YouTube Revamp Foreshadows Google's Vision of Media
Discussion:
Bits, more at Mediagazer », Thanks:tcarmody
Reuters:
Western Digital partly resumes Thai output — (Reuters) - Western Digital Corp, the worst hit hard drive manufacturer by Thai floods, said on Friday it has partly resumed production this week after months of suspension and warned of tighter global supply until early next year.
Discussion:
Inquirer, The Tech Trade, Bloomberg and Electronista
Melanie Lee / Reuters:
Alibaba Group testing a new social networking product — (Reuters) - Alibaba Group, China's largest e-commerce company, said on Friday it is beta-testing a new social-networking-product, as the firm expands outside e-commerce to seek other revenue streams. — An Alibaba Group spokeswoman confirmed …
Discussion:
MarketWatch, Ubergizmo and Tech in Asia
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:
Official Google Australia Blog, 9to5Google, Android Central, PhoneArena, Android Phone Fans and Gizmodo UK
