Techmeme: You knew the old Mozilla, meet the new Mozilla (DAVID ASCHER)

7:55 AM ET, December 21, 2011

Top Items:

Nadia Damouni / Reuters:

Exclusive: Amazon weighed buying RIM but interest cooled — (Reuters) - Research In Motion Ltd has turned down takeover overtures from Amazon.com Inc and other potential buyers because the BlackBerry maker prefers to fix its problems on its own, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

Wall Street Journal:

Microsoft, Nokia Flirted With RIM — Microsoft Corp. and Nokia Corp. in recent months flirted with the idea of making a joint bid for Research In Motion Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter. — The status of the talks remains unclear. But the fact that the discussions took place …

The Mozilla Blog:

Mozilla and Google Sign New Agreement for Default Search in Firefox — We're pleased to announce that we have negotiated a significant and mutually beneficial revenue agreement with Google. This new agreement extends our long term search relationship with Google for at least three additional years.

Christian Zibreg / 9to5Google:
It's official: Google remains default search engine in Firefox for 3 more years

Discussion: OS X Daily, CNET News, Geek.com, PC World and Techie Buzz

Chris Foresman / Ars Technica:

Half a billion dollars: why Apple's acquisition of Anobit matters — Apple reportedly acquired the Israeli flash memory design firm Anobit in a deal that cost the company $500 million dollars. Anobit management told its staff of the acquisition this week, according to Israeli newspaper Calcalist …

Discussion: paidContent, Reuters, X-bit labs, AnandTech, Engadget, Neowin.net and MacStories

DAVID ASCHER:

You knew the old Mozilla, meet the new Mozilla — One of the notable things about working at Mozilla over the last few years right now is that our aims have gotten much more ambitious, but perception moves slower than reality, even among people who spend every working hour working on the project.

Amar Toor / Engadget:

PSA: Verizon users reporting data outages across the US — If you're having trouble getting a data connection on your Verizon-branded handset this morning, you're not alone. We've been receiving a bevy of tips from disgruntled Verizon customers, due to an apparently widespread outage across the carrier's mobile data network.

Discussion: The Verge, AllThingsD, Business Insider, Gizmodo, Android Phone Fans, The Next Web, Softpedia News and Gadgetell

Matt Burns / TechCrunch:

Amazon Finally Releases OTA Kindle Fire Update To Address Performance And Touchscreen Issues — Great news, Kindle Fire owners. Amazon just announced the long overdue Kindle Fire update that's said to resolve many of the issues with the budget tablet. Most of the common complaints are addressed …

Discussion: GeekWire, Gadget Lab, Softpedia News, IntoMobile, CNET News and AllThingsD

Ina Fried / AllThingsD:

ITC Initial Ruling: Motorola Infringes Single Microsoft Patent, but Not Six Others — Microsoft won a partial victory in its patent dispute with Motorola, as the International Trade Commission issued an initial ruling that certain Motorola products infringe on one of the software maker's patents.

Discussion: Inquirer, Techie Buzz, All about Microsoft Blog, Guardian, Engadget, PC Magazine, Ars Technica, Neowin.net, mocoNews, GigaOM, PC World, WinRumors, SlashGear, Electronista, GeekWire, FOSS Patents, WMPoweruser and The Verge

Kevin C. Tofel / GigaOM:

Archos fights Kindle Fire with $199 Honeycomb tablet — Archos, one of the earliest media tablet makers, continues to mature its product lineup. The company announced on Tuesday an updated 7-inch slate, called the Archos 70b (PDF); a Google Android Honeycomb tablet with a suggested price of $199.

Discussion: PC World, ExtremeTech, The Verge and VatorNews

Seth Weintraub / 9to5Google:

Andy Rubin announces: 700,000 Android devices activated every day — He made the announcement via Google Plus and notes: ...and for those wondering, we count each device only once (ie, we don't count re-sold devices), and “activations” means you go into a store, buy a device, put it on the network by subscribing to a wireless service.

Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:

Vevo by the numbers: 3.7B views, $100M royalties — Vevo clocked 3.6 billion video views globally in October and is expected to have reached 3.7 billion views worldwide in November, the major label-owned music video platform announced today. In December 2009, that number was at 341 million views.

Discussion: Pop & Hiss

Ben Sisario / Media Decoder:
Vevo, a Music Video Web Site, Wants to Get Into Television

Discussion: SlashGear, more at Mediagazer »

Electronista:

Google halts Nexus S Android 4.0 updates, Galaxy Nexus hit — Google Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus hit by battery bug — Google's Android 4.0 update for the Nexus S stalled out Tuesday. The company posted on its forums that it was holding the update to “monitor feedback” after users reported unusually high battery drain.

Discussion: Clove Technology's Blog, Softpedia News, Pocket-lint, SlashGear and Android Community

Charles Arthur / Guardian:

Nokia and Microsoft fingered over comments on adverse Lumia review — An Indian site's ‘reviewing’ of the Nokia Lumia 800 phone purely on its specifications was a strange thing to do - but anonymous commenting apparently from Nokia and Microsoft staff didn't help matters

Discussion: CNET News, Computerworld and Hardware 2.0 Blog

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Facebook Sponsored Story Ads To Appear In The Web News Feed In 2012 — Starting in January 2012, Facebook will gradually begin showing Sponsored Stories social ads in the main news feed of the web version of the site, a representative of the company tells us.

Discussion: Inside Facebook, MediaPost, Gizmodo, ReadWriteWeb, Neowin.net, WebProNews, All Facebook, SlashGear and Mashable!, Thanks:joshconstine

Tim Culpan / Bloomberg:

HTC Completed Workaround to Skirt a U.S. Apple Patent Ruling — HTC Corp. (2498) has already completed a technical workaround to skirt a U.S. agency ruling that found a user interface in some handsets infringed an Apple Inc. (AAPL) patent. — “It's actually quite rarely used,” …

Discussion: mediacenter.motorola.com, FOSS Patents, Reuters, CNET News, Gizmodo, Fudzilla, AppleInsider, Bloomberg, The Next Web and SlashGear

Donald Melanson / Engadget:

Apple fixes App Store bug on iOS 3.1.3 devices, you can hold off on that upgrade — Well, it looks like Apple hasn't completely left behind older iPhones and iPod touches stuck on iOS 3.1.3 just yet. After a few days of not being able to download or buy apps directly on the device due …

Discussion: discussions.apple.com, Business Insider, SlashGear, iDownloadBlog.com, Ubergizmo, IntoMobile, CNET News, MacRumors and Softpedia News

Seth Rosenblatt / CNET Download.com:

New RockMelt socializes Chrome's Omnibox, new tabs — The Omnibox has been beefed up in RockMelt beta 5 with deep hooks directly into Facebook. — While the big browser conflagration between Chrome and, oh, just about everybody else tends to suck the oxygen from a room …

Discussion: Xconomy

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Yahoo Intensifies Search for CEO (With Hulu's Kilar as One Dream Unicorn Candidate) — Whatever you want to call him or her — a silver bullet, the cure or, as I like to say, the last unicorn — Yahoo's ever-seeking and never-deciding board has now renewed its focus on finding a new CEO.

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Distimo's Year-End Report Shows Why Developers Love iOS: iPhone 4x Android Revenue, iPad 2x — There are now over a million mobile applications available across the top seven major app stores, according to mobile analytics firm Distimo in its year-end report for 2011.

Discussion: Distimo, Inside Mobile Apps and Gamasutra

Thomas Ricker / The Verge:

Kickstarted: How one company is revolutionizing product development — Kickstarter is funding an era of product development uncompromised by focus groups and committees — The million dollar idea. We've all had it at one time or another, with very few luxuries to show for our sudden fits of brilliance.

Discussion: Gizmodo

Jamie Keene / The Verge:

Lovefilm grabs streaming rights to Sony Pictures titles in the UK — Ahead of the launch of Netflix in the UK, Amazon's Lovefilm DVD rental and streaming service is gearing up for a fight on the streaming front. The company has announced a deal with Sony Pictures Television granting …

Discussion: The Register, Guardian, PR Newswire, SlashGear, SPOnG.com and Fast Company

Chris Welch / The Verge:

SMS and social media banned in Congo, deaf residents lose critical means of contact — The latest country to prohibit social media and the use of SMS messaging within its borders is the Democratic Republic of Congo. The ban affects a population of nearly 72 million citizens and comes …

Discussion: Engadget

Tom Simonite / Technology Review:

Intel Shows Off Its Smart Phone and Tablet for 2012 — Prototype devices show Intel chips running devices that could challenge the iPhone and iPad early next year. — The era of the personal computer dawned thanks in no small part to the chip maker Intel.

Discussion: Digital Trends, Gizmodo, The Verge, Android Community, PhoneArena, SlashGear, Ubergizmo and Softpedia News

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Startups Return To Reality TV: Producer Of Bloomberg's TechStars Readies New Show — Startup founders are the new reality TV stars. No, really! Today, the producer of the TechStars TV show on Bloomberg TV, Cameron Casey, is announcing his plans to film a second startup-focused reality show.

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

Intuit GoPayment Now Allows Merchants To Receive Money On A Prepaid Visa Card — Intuit has made an interesting move today with its mobile credit card reader GoPayment reader. Intuit is allowing merchants to keep and receive funds on a prepaid credit card as opposed to depositing the amount in a bank account.

Discussion: Business Wire, VentureBeat, Payments News and Mobile Marketing Watch

Brandon Griggs / CNN:

Social networking booming in Egypt, Russia, survey finds — (CNN) — People in poorer countries send text messages more often than those in wealthier countries. Men in Spain and Germany access the Internet on their phones twice as much as women do. — And use of online social networks …

Discussion: Tech Europe, Pew Global Attitudes Project, textually.org and msnbc.com

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