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4:00 PM ET, December 14, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Richard MacManus / ReadWriteWeb:
ReadWriteWeb Acquired by SAY Media  —  I'm thrilled to announce that ReadWriteWeb has been acquired by SAY Media, a digital publishing company headquartered in San Francisco.  ReadWriteWeb will anchor SAY Media's growing Technology channel, which reaches more than 75 million global consumers each month.
RELATED:
Anthony Ha / Adweek:
SAY Media Acquires Tech Blog ReadWriteWeb Dan Frommer joins as editor-at-large  —  SAY Media has acquired popular tech blog ReadWriteWeb.  —  Founded in 2003 by Richard MacManus, ReadWriteWeb became one of the most-respected news sites in the tech world, establishing a voice that's often more serious and in-depth than its competitors.
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
The Price For ReadWriteWeb Was Around $5 Million  —  Tech blog ReadWriteWeb was acquired today by SAY Media, as was previously reported.  I've found out a few more details.  The price SAY paid out was under $5 million, after the assumption of ReadWriteWeb's liabilities, according to a source privy to the details.
Discussion: VentureBeat and Poynter
Ben Parr / Ben Parr's Entrepreneurial Musings:   Seismic Shifts Have Radically Altered the Tech News and Blogging World
Taylor Wimberly / Android and Me:
Google's response to Siri is codenamed Majel, could be released by end of year  —  I wrote about Google's response to Apple's Siri voice assistant several months ago and over the last couple weeks I received further details about the secret project.  For starters it is codenamed Majel …
DigiTimes:
Apple may launch new MacBook Pro with 2880 by 1800 display resolution, say sources  —  Apple is likely to launch its new MacBook Pro lineup with a display resolution of 2880 by 1800 in the second quarter of 2012, setting a new round of competition for panel specifications in the notebook industry …
Vic Gundotra / The Official Google Blog:
Google+ Hangouts: going beyond the status update  —  All too often, physical distance and frantic schedules get in the way of spending time together, especially during the holidays.  But you know what?  They don't have to.  —  With Google+ Hangouts, you can go beyond “status updates,” …
RELATED:
Matthew Panzarino / The Next Web:
Google+ Hangouts gets On Air broadcast and record, dial-in voice and ‘live’ notifications  —  Google has today anounced the ability to begin a Hangout video chat from any conversation on Google+.  In addition, it has announced that users can have members dial-in to a hangout even without a webcam.
Discussion: Robert Scoble
Geoff Brigham / Wikimedia blog:
How SOPA will hurt the free web and Wikipedia  —  For the past several days, Wikipedia editors have been discussing whether to stage a protest against the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).  I've been asked to give some comments on the bill and explain what effect the proposed legislation might …
RELATED:
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:   RIAA Boss Tries To Defend SOPA & PIPA To The NY Times
Rob Siltanen / Forbes:
The Real Story Behind Apple's ‘Think Different’ Campaign  —  This post was written by Rob Siltanen, chairman and chief creative officer at Siltanen & Partners.  —  Apple's remarkable rise, coupled with Steve Jobs' recent death, has prompted quite a few people to reflect on the historical impact of the …
Discussion: MacRumors, Macgasm, Webomatica and Mobile
Shayndi Raice / Digits:
Tagged Acquires Facebook Competitor Hi5  —  Hi5, once one of the top three global social networks, was acquired by San Francisco-based Tagged on Wednesday, as some of the remnants of the social network space clear out in the wake of Facebook's overwhelming dominance.
John Cook / GeekWire:
Tech CEO report card: Approval ratings drop for Ballmer, Bezos and others  —  Microsoft's Steve Ballmer and Skype's Tony Bates announce the deal in May.  —  Glassdoor.com is rolling out its annual “Naughty and Nice” list for technology CEOs.  And, as it turns out, it looks …
RELATED:
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Facebook, Google, Apple And Rackspace Rated Best Places To Work in 2012
Discussion: CNET News and All Facebook
Sari Horwitz / Washington Post:
Feds probing Carrier IQ  —  Federal investigators are probing allegations that Carrier IQ software found on about 150 million cellphones tracked user activity and sent the information to the cellphone companies without informing consumers, according to government officials.
Asher Moses / Sydney Morning Herald:
Apple made Galaxy Tab a ‘household name’: Samsung  —  Asher Moses  —  Samsung Australia's mobile chief says that far from killing its Galaxy Tab 10.1, Apple's court case was almost a blessing in disguise that made the product a “household name”.  —  Samsung's tablet will arrive in stores …
Jordan Kahn / 9to5Mac:
Google rolls out updated Gmail iOS app with custom signatures, vacation responders, Scribbles, more  —  Google has just started rolling out an update to the Gmail app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with a few new welcomed features.  First off, users now have the ability to set a custom signature …
Robert Andrews / paidContent:
Flipboard's Phone Flips Beating iPad 2:1  —  Flipboard's iPhone application has clocked up a million downloads in the week since it went live, the company tells paidContent.  —  Interestingly, while Flipboard's iPad app was previously seeing around 650 million “page” flips per month …
Discussion: TechCrunch and ReadWriteWeb
Vlad Savov / The Verge:
HP's proposed brand redesign project detailed in pictures and video  —  Since 2008, HP has been on a mission to rediscover its identity and express it better through a redesign of its logo and visual assets.  The company hired Moving Brands, a specialist in this area, to come up with one vision …
Michael Gorman / Engadget:
TeleNav launches browser-based turn-by-turn GPS navigation using HTML 5  —  TeleNav's been bringing the turn-by-turn goods to both Android and iOS for quite a while now, and has added plenty of nifty features to its GPS platform along the way — from personalized routes to offline access.
Mike Blumenthal / Understanding Google Maps …:
Google Places Check-in Offers Now Live  —  The ability to provide a Google check-in offer is now live.  The feature has been added to the Offer coupon creation option in the Google Places dashboard and a detailed help file has been added to Places for Business Help area.  Google describes the process as follows:
Nicholas Carlson / Business Insider:
RUMOR: Google's Top Salesman Is A Leading Candidate To Be Yahoo CEO  —  A source close to Yahoo says the “buzz is deafening” that Google's chief business officer, Nikesh Arora, is on “the very short list” of candidates to become CEO of Yahoo.  —  A second source, friendly with Yahoo board members …
Discussion: VentureBeat and NBC Bay Area
Brooke Crothers / CNET News:
Apple has big lead over Intel in mobile chips, analyst says  —  Steve Jobs introducing the A5.  —  A chip analyst has written a sobering assessment of Intel's chip prowess vis-a-vis Apple in the mobile device race, an odd underdog position for the largest chipmaker.
Discussion: TechEye, GigaOM and MacDailyNews
Chris Ziegler / The Verge:
T-Mobile's Nokia Lumia 710 is official, $49.99 on January 11th  —  Ahead of an event taking place later today in New York City, Nokia's press site has released a full data sheet and images for T-Mobile's upcoming Lumia 710.  The device is largely stock — seeing how it's Windows Phone …
Sebastian Anthony / ExtremeTech:
Caltech sets 186Gbps internet speed record  —  A delicious combination of high-energy physicists, engineers, and computer scientists from Caltech and the University of Victoria have broken the world record for sustained, computer-to-computer transfer over a network.
Bloomberg:
Hollywood Said to Court Amazon for Online Sales  —  Hollywood studios, working to spur purchases of films and TV shows, are in talks to bring Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) back into their online system called UltraViolet, people with knowledge of the situation said.
Discussion: Deadline.com
Matt Marshall / VentureBeat:
Groupon co-founders invest $1M-plus into an anti-Groupon: Belly  —  Belly, a loyalty and customer rewards program for small and medium sized businesses, launched today in Chicago, announcing it has received more than $1 in seed capital from Lightbank, the firm owned by the co-founders of Groupon.
Dare Obasanjo / The Windows Blog:
Anyone can build a Messenger client—with open standards access via XMPP  —  We've previously talked about the principles that guide us as we strive to continue delivering the most convenient ways to chat with the people who matter the most to you.  Today we're taking another step …
Discussion: LiveSide.net, Thanks:carnage4life
Shmulik Shelach / Globes Online:
Apple to set up Israel development center  —  Aharon Aharon will head Apple's first ever development center outside of its California headquarters.  —  Sources inform “Globes” that Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) has decided to open a development center in Israel focusing on semiconductors.
Discussion: ZDNet and MacRumors
 
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 More Items: 
Claire Davenport / Globe and Mail:
Never mind the Euro crisis, 100 million EU citizens have never surfed the Web
Evelyn M. Rusli / DealBook:
SurveyMonkey Valued at $1 Billion as TPG Joins as Investor
Ryan Kim / GigaOM:
Intel gets serious about NFC, signs deal for chip technology
Discussion: Digits, Inquirer and TechEye
Matt McGee / Search Engine Land:
Google Tests Its Hotel Finder As A New Comparison Ad Atop Search Results
Discussion: 9to5Google
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Microsoft confirms Windows Phone SMS flaw, working on a fix
Paul Sawers / The Next Web:
Tweet justice: Journalists can now live-tweet in UK courts without asking permission
Dan Frommer / SplatF:
Tweetbot rides the NewNewTwitter wave
 Earlier Items: 
Simla Ceyhan / The LinkedIn Blog:
Buzzwords 2011: Who's been ‘creative’ and ‘effective’ this year?
Greg Kumparak / TechCrunch:
Battle Of The Browsers: iOS 5′s Browser Is Still (Slightly) Better Than Android's
Discussion: PC World, ReadWriteWeb and Sencha Blog
Jenna Wortham / New York Times:
As Facebook Aims at Millions of Users, Some Are Content to Sit Out
Discussion: The Verge and Bits
Matthew Panzarino / The Next Web:
Louis CK declares $5 standup special a success, sells 110k copies for $200k profit in 3 days
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Bill Donahue / Billboard:
Drake launches legal action against UMG and Spotify for allegedly using bots, payola, and more to inflate Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us, a track attacking Drake

Mark Kleinman / Sky News:
Sources: CVC Capital Partners and a major European broadcaster, thought to be France's Groupe TF1, are among those considering a takeover of the UK's ITV

Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: NBC's new deal with Macy's to keep the Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC and Peacock has an average annual fee of $60M+, up from ~$20M in the current deal

 
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