Top Items:
Nick Bilton / Bits:
Tests Cast Doubt on F.C.C. Restrictions on Kindle and iPad — The Federal Aviation Administration has its reasons for preventing passengers from reading from their Kindles and iPads during takeoff and landing. But they just don't add up. — Since I wrote a column last month asking why these rules exist …
Discussion:
Electronista, Boing Boing, blog.chron.com, @antderosa, @sacca, O'Grady's PowerPage and Stowe Boyd
AppleInsider:
Apple's 12 Days of Christmas giveaway kicks off in Europe and Canada — Apple has once again launched its 12 Days of Christmas app to mark the start of its annual holiday promotion that offers free songs, music videos, apps and books to residents of Canada and parts of Europe.
Discussion:
BGR, VatorNews, Pocket-lint, Engadget, iPodNN and O'Grady's PowerPage
Erica Ogg / GigaOM:
The year in mobile apps: Where we've been, where we're going — Smartphone and tablet purchases have been on the rise for several years, but 2011 was a turning point: This was the first year that these mobile devices outsold desktop and laptop PCs. The effect — and perhaps some of the cause of this …
Ben Farmer / Telegraph:
Congress calls on Twitter to block Taliban — American congressmen are calling on Twitter to block Taliban propagandists from the micro-blogging site. — Aides for Joe Lieberman, chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said the move was part of a wider attempt …
Discussion:
VatorNews, Business Insider, Pulse2 and Techi.com, more at Mediagazer »
Thomas Ricker / The Verge:
Samsung buys Sony's stake in LCD joint venture for $939 million — Sony and Samsung have ended their LCD joint venture established in 2004. The split comes after rumors of the dissolution were first reported in October and follows Sony's November announcement of a $2.2 billion annual loss …
Discussion:
Sony Global, AllThingsD, BGR, Business Insider, New York Times, DailyTech, TechCrunch, Techie Buzz, Reuters, Macworld, Wall Street Journal, Electronista, Engadget, Bloomberg and SlashGear
Casey Newton / San Francisco Chronicle:
Foursquare's Dennis Crowley talks of check-ins — This summer, location-based social network Foursquare moved its San Francisco office from a small space it shared with The Chronicle to a big new office in SoMa. — In May, the service reported 7.5 million users. Today, it has more than 15 million.
Randall Stross / New York Times:
Publishers vs. Libraries: An E-Book Tug of War — LAST year, Christmas was the biggest single day for e-book sales by HarperCollins. And indications are that this year's Christmas Day total will be even higher, given the extremely strong sales of e-readers like the Kindle and the Nook.
Discussion:
Slashdot
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget:
Google Books for Chrome gets offline support, one less excuse for not reading the ‘classics’ — So, you can read all those tomes you've picked up through Google Books offline on your smartphone and tablet, but what about on your laptop? Well, if for some reason you've got the desire …
Discussion:
Beyond Search and The Verge
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
Dutch Parliament: Downloading Movies and Music Will Stay Legal — As in many other countries around the world, downloading music and movies is hugely popular in the Netherlands. A massive 30% of the population is said to do so. — Presently, the Dutch see downloading movies and music for personal use as …
Discussion:
Examiner, Electronista and Dice Blog Network
Mat Smith / Engadget:
Amazon UK opens its doors for the Christmas sales, adds hundreds of Kindle books from 99p — Got some Kindle hardware burning a hole in your pile of festive gifts? Well, British bookworms have been given some extra yuletide joy courtesy of Amazon UK which has also started a 12-day sale, focusing on its e-book wares .
Mona Zhang / 10,000 Words:
Growth of Twitter Fueled by Media Coverage — A new study by MIT, which seeks to understand Twitter's “contagion process,” has found that news media played a crucial role in the site's growth. The study tracked development from 2006 to 2009, and also found that more traditional forms of social networking …
Discussion:
Marketing Pilgrim, more at Mediagazer »
Jamie Keene / The Verge:
Swype update for Android adds Dragon voice recognition and a swath of other new beta features — Swype Beta for Android has received a major over-the-air update, and in the first real change since its acquisition by Nuance it ships with Dragon Dictate technology in place of Google's own voice recognition.
Discussion:
Engadget, Electronista and VentureBeat
