Top Items:
Nick Bilton / Bits:
Wearing Your Computer on Your Sleeve — Technology often has a way of fixing the problems it creates. Here's one that needs solving. — The invention of the smartphone has created a world where millions of people stroll through life constantly staring into a mobile device, like Narcissus at the edge of a pond.
Discussion:
9to5Google, GigaOM, The Verge, LAPTOP Magazine, SlashGear, parislemon, PadGadget, MacStories, 9to5Mac, Appolicious Advisor, Redmond Pie, I4U News, Neowin.net, NBC Bay Area, VentureBeat, Shiny Objects, CNET News, BGR India, iDownloadBlog.com, TUAW, PhoneArena, MacRumors, O'Grady's PowerPage, Softpedia News, GottaBeMobile, Webomatica and Ars Technica
AT&T:
AT&T Ends Bid To Add Network Capacity Through T-Mobile USA Purchase — AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) said today that after a thorough review of options it has agreed with Deutsche Telekom AG to end its bid to acquire T-Mobile USA, which began in March of this year. The actions by the Federal …
Discussion:
Deal Journal, 9to5Mac, VentureBeat, ReadWriteWeb, LAPTOP Magazine, The Verge, Ars Technica, The Tech Trade, paidContent, TechCrunch, GigaOM, DealBook, Tech Trader Daily, The Next Web, AllThingsD, ZDNet, Gizmodo, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, BGR, RazorianFly, NationalJournal.com, blog.chron.com, MacTrast, Electronista and MiamiHerald.com
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Dan Frommer / SplatF:
AT&T-Mobile deal is dead: Now what? — AT&T's $39 billion bid for T-Mobile is finished: Thanks to the U.S. government's efforts to block the deal, AT&T is pulling out. So, now what? — AT&T will have to pay T-Mobile a $3 billion breakup fee, plus a large amount of wireless spectrum …
Discussion:
Sramana Mitra and Pocketables
Shaji Mathew / Bloomberg:
Prince Alwaleed Invests $300M in Twitter — Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the largest individual investor in Citigroup Inc. (C), and his Kingdom Holding Co. (KINGDOM) invested $300 million to buy a “strategic stake” in microblogging service Twitter Inc. — “The investment was the result …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, GigaOM, Guardian, The Register, BBC, Forbes, AllThingsD, Reuters, GigaOM, MarketWatch, 4-traders.com, Deal Journal, paidContent, CNET News, DealBook, AllTwitter, Social Media, Pulse2, Softpedia News, TechEye, VatorNews, PC Magazine, MediaPost, Internet Evolution, @kashhill, Business Insider, Digital Trends, Fast Company and The Next Web, more at Mediagazer »
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Dan Primack / Fortune:
Twitter doesn't really raise money from Saudi prince — Prince Alwaleed's deal for Twitter isn't a traditional investment. deal for Twitter isn't a traditional investment. — Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal today announced that he has invested $300 million in Twitter, via his Kingdom Holding investment group.
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb and VentureBeat, more at Mediagazer »
Bradley Horowitz / The Official Google Blog:
Google+: A few big improvements before the New Year — Today we're pleased to announce a goodie basket full of Google+ features and functionality for you to unpack and enjoy over the holidays. Some of these were on nearly everyone's wishlist... and some we hope will be welcome surprises.
Discussion:
Googling Google Blog, Washington Post, TechCrunch, Technologizer, GigaOM, msnbc.com, NBC Bay Area, Adotas, Computerworld, CNET News, Gadget Lab, Geekosystem, ReadWriteWeb, ZDNet, MarketingVox News & Trends, ClickZ, Softpedia News, Feld Thoughts, VentureBeat, The Next Web, The Register, Marketing Land, PC Magazine, SiliconFilter, Pulse2, Techie Buzz, Mashable!, Gizmodo, SocialTimes.com, Pocket-lint, WebProNews, Digital Trends, Lifehacker, 9to5Google, VatorNews, SlashGear and Marketing Pilgrim
John Tenanes / Facebook:
Our New Menlo Park Home — This morning, the final wave of employees walked through the doors of the new Facebook Menlo Park campus, and my team greeted them with coffee, snacks, and maps to help them find their new desks. For years, we've been moving from one building to the next …
Discussion:
Friending Facebook Blog, All Facebook, VentureBeat and WebProNews
Matt Brian / The Next Web:
Google gives out customised Galaxy Nexus handsets to employees for Christmas — It appears that Google employees are going to enjoy the latest and greatest Android smartphone that the search giant and Samsung have to offer after it emerged the company is giving its staff customised handsets as a Christmas thank you.
Discussion:
Edu Pereda, TechCrunch, Android Life, The Verge, Pulse2, SlashGear, 9to5Google, MobileSyrup.com, Sammy Hub, WebProNews, Android Phone Fans, PhoneArena and Softpedia News, Thanks:martinsfp
Clay Johnson / Information Diet:
Dear Internet: It's No Longer OK to Not Know How Congress Works — This weekend I read a post titled “Dear Congress: It Is No Longer OK To Not Know How the Internet Works.” The author, Joshua Kopstein, is right: it's not ok to not know about something before legislating or regulating it.
Discussion:
@tedr
Stanford Law Review:
Don't Break the Internet — Mark Lemley is the William H. Neukom Professor at Stanford Law School — David Levine is an Assistant Professor at Elon University School of Law — David Post is a Professor at Beasley School of Law, Temple University — Two bills now pending in Congress …
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Jeffrey ErnstFriedman / MapLight:
Sponsors of SOPA Act Pulled in 4 Times as Much in Contributions from Hollywood than Silicon Valley
Discussion:
VentureBeat, ZDNet and The Next Web
Jon Russell / The Next Web:
Facebook introduces private messages between business pages and fans — Facebook has begun introducing a new feature which allows business pages to receive private messages from their fans on the social network. — The new communications option, which has appeared for Asia-based admins only so far …
Discussion:
PC World, Marketing Pilgrim and Pulse2
brian s hall:
Blackberry ($RIMM) is worth less than the Apple App Store. Just the App Store. Not iPhone. Not iPad. Not Mac. Not iTunes. — I wrote earlier today that, at it's current price of $13.44, that $RIMM is worth a mere $7.04 billion. — Apple ($AAPL), by contrast, is worth $354 billion.
Discussion:
iDownloadBlog.com, The Next Web, Electronista and GigaOM
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Reuters:
Could RIM's survival mean abandoning the BlackBerry?
Discussion:
Daring Fireball and asymco
Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:
Apple wins ITC ruling of narrow technical scope against HTC: a limited victory but just the beginning — After twice postponing its final ruling on Apple's first complaint against HTC, the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) has finally announced its decision.
Discussion:
The Next Web, AllThingsD and The Verge
Nielsen Wire:
Friends & Frenemies: Why We Add and Remove Facebook Friends — To friend or to de-friend, that is the question. New research from NM Incite, a Nielsen McKinsey company, reveals that there are innumerable factors that help Facebook users decide to add a friend or cull someone from the fold …
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb, PC Magazine and Business Insider
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Vistaprint Buys DIY Site Builder Webs.com For $117.5 Million — Digital marketing company Vistaprint is acquiring Webs, a popular DIY website creation service, for $117.5 million in cash and stock ($100 million in cash and $17.5 million in stock). — Webs, which has raised $12 million …
Discussion:
VatorNews, All Facebook, Business Wire, internetretailer.com, BostInno, Pulse2 and The Tech Trade
Chris Ziegler / The Verge:
‘So, what phone should I buy?’ and other unanswerable questions — It's the question we all dread. — Maybe you're your family's designated tech expert, maybe you're a writer who deals almost exclusively with mobile technology, maybe you're the CEO of a national wireless carrier.
Paul Sloan / CNET News:
Marc Andreessen: Predictions for 2012 (and beyond) — Marc Andreessen's view of the world boils down to software. — From where he stands, as the guy who co-founded Netscape Communications and now co-runs the powerful Silicon Valley venture firm Andreessen-Horowitz, no industry is safe from software.
Discussion:
Business Insider
Frederic Lardinois / SiliconFilter:
Skype to Offer Free Wifi in Over 50 U.S. Airports This Holiday Season — A few years ago, Google teamed up with a number of airports in the U.S. to provide travelers with free WiFi during the holidays. This year, it's Skype's turn to make a similar offer.
Discussion:
MediaPost, VentureBeat, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, GeekWire, The Verge, msnbc.com and NBC Bay Area
Kim Zetter / Threat Level:
Forensic Examiner Found No Match of Cables on Manning's Laptop to WikiLeaks' — Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is escorted from a security vehicle to a courthouse in Fort Meade, Maryland, on Monday, Dec. 19, 2011. Photo: Patrick Semansky/AP — FT. MEADE, Maryland — A day after a government …
Discussion:
Electronista
Nathan Olivarez-Giles / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
IBM ‘5 in 5’ predicts no more passwords, mind-reading smartphones — IBM is predicting that in the next five years we'll no longer need passwords for email or even ATMs, we'll be able to control smartphones and laptops with our minds, and we may even live in a world without junk email.
Discussion:
The Verge, AllThingsD, IBM, eWeek, CNET News, PC Magazine, A Smarter Planet Blog, Electronista, A Smarter Planet Blog, Internet Evolution, GigaOM, dailywireless.org and Datamation.com
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Quora Expands Beyond Q&A, Launches ‘Boards’ — A Way To Personally Curate Information — Quora is taking a step beyond Q&A this morning with its latest product launch, boards. Users can now set up their own personal-themed bookmarking boards, sort of like a Pinterest for text-based information.
Discussion:
Business Insider, Marketing Land, VentureBeat and WebProNews
Chris Dixon:
An internet of people — Over the past few years, a bunch of web-based marketplaces have gotten popular - Etsy, Kickstarter, AirBnb, to name a few. Many of these business ideas had been tried before but are succeeding only now. — When a trend like this emerges, it's always interesting to ask “why now?”
Svea Herbst-Bayliss / Reuters:
MIT to offer labs, certificates to virtual students — (Reuters) - The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is developing technology that will allow students taking courses online to use simulated labs, interact with professors and other students, and earn certificates.
