Check out Mini-Techmeme for simple mobiles or Techmeme Mobile for modern smartphones.
3:55 PM ET, December 29, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
DigiTimes:
Apple to unveil two versions of next-generation iPad in January, sources claim  —  Apple is set to unveil its next-generation iPad - which will come in two versions - at the iWorld scheduled for January 26, 2012, according to sources at its supply chain partners.
RELATED:
Jim Dalrymple / The Loop:
Apple will not release iPad 3 at Macworld or CES  —  Reports began circulating earlier today that Apple would release two new iPads at Macworld Expo in January.  These rumors are completely false.  —  I checked with a number of my sources today and an iPad 3 is not planned for release at Macworld.
Darrell Etherington / GigaOM:
Three models of iPad in January? Not very likely
Discussion: everythingiCafe and GottaBeMobile
Tom Anderson / Google+:
Dear +MG Siegler, Are you seriously upset about your photo removal?  (MG's complaint here: http://bit.ly/sp8mLo) I thought I'd offer an alternate opinion here in the public and see what happens.  (An opinion that PR from Google+ will probably not take the time to express, because they're busy and have better things to do.
RELATED:
Greg Finn / Marketing Land:
Google+ Censoring Borderline Offensive Profile Images; Author Images in Search Results To Blame?
Discussion: parislemon and TechCrunch
Kellex / Droid Life:
Verizon to Charge Customers $2 Fee When Paying Bills Online or Over the Phone Starting January 15  —  Time to set up “auto pay” through your Verizon Wireless account.  According to our sources, Big Red will start charging you a $2 fee both over the phone and online for your monthly bill transaction unless …
RELATED:
Kevin Fitchard / GigaOM:
Verizon's New Year's vow: Cut back on credit cards
Discussion: CNNMoney.com, BGR, CNET and Bits
Paul Thurrott / SuperSite for Windows:
Exclusive: Microsoft's LTE Plans For Windows Phone  —  Since other sites are starting to leak glimpses of what Microsoft is doing with Windows Phone and LTE in 2012, I've decided to simply reveal what's happening.  And as you might expect, Microsoft and its Windows Phone partners do indeed intend …
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Amazon: We Sold Over 4 Million Kindle Devices This Month; Gifting Of E-Books Up 175 Percent  —  Amazon has just released new data regarding its Kindle sales for the holiday season.  According to the e-commerce giant, Amazon customers purchased millions of Kindle Fires and millions of Kindle e-readers.
Jack Purcher / Patently Apple:
Apple Envisions Face & Presence Detection Security for iOS Devices  —  On December 29, 2011, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals one of the next chapters for device security.  In 2009, Apple's presence detection patent first came to light in relation to future MacBooks.
Christina Bonnington / Gadget Lab:
Why Windows 8 Tablets Will Surprise Everyone  —  At Microsoft's Build conference, Michael Angiulo, corporate vice president of Windows Planning, Hardware and PC Ecosystem, displays a prototype Windows 8 tablet.  Photo: Microsoft  —  Windows-based tablets haven't been treated kindly by the test of time.
Dave Copeland / ReadWriteWeb:
Twitter Ignored Request To Keep Subpoena Under Wraps [UPDATED]  —  Twitter appears to have forwarded a subpoena requesting user information to at least one of the owners of the accounts in question, despite a request from the Suffolk Massachusetts District Attorney's office that the request not be disclosed …
Arik Hesseldahl / AllThingsD:
Hurd Loses Appeal to Keep Accuser's Letter Confidential  —  Former Hewlett-Packard CEO and current Oracle president Mark Hurd has lost an appeal before a court in Delaware in which he sought to keep confidential a letter that contained allegations of sexual harassment.
Sebastian Haley / VentureBeat:
Ocean Marketing fiasco addressed in official press release  —  Ocean Marketing, a one-man PR firm led by Paul Christoforo, underwent instantaneous destruction this week, as we reported yesterday.  —  It's hard to judge precisely when Christoforo's career ended: Was it after the heinously rude …
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
Apple's iPad Looms Large as Small Businesses Start Making Tablet Plans  —  Nearly three-quarters of small businesses are planning on buying a tablet over the next year, with the iPad topping the consideration list, according to a new survey from NPD.  —  Even the smallest of businesses …
Kunal / Sammy Hub:
Samsung ships 1 million Galaxy Note units globally; coming soon to US  —  The phone / tablet hybrid devices sales are pretty good, going by the numbers released by Samsung today.  The Korean giant has shipped over a million units since its launch in late October.
Deborah Gage / Wall Street Journal:
Start-Ups Need Staff To Get Investors' Cash  —  Many Silicon Valley start-ups have had a tough time finding qualified computer engineers amid a growing talent war.  Investors are adding to the pressure.  —  Venture capitalists and Bay Area entrepreneurs say local start-ups face extra hurdles …
Azrienoch / xda-developers:
HTC Unlocks Its Verizon and AT&T Bootloaders  —  Today, Peter Chou makes good on his word to no longer lock the bootloaders on HTC Android phones.  Just in time for those New Year's Resolutions.  —  XDA Junior Member nightwings noticed, when trying out HTCDev's bootloader unlocking tool on his HTC Rezound …
Chris Ziegler / The Verge:
Verizon says LTE outage is resolved, 3G never affected  —  We've received a brief statement from Verizon this morning regarding the LTE outage it suffered yesterday afternoon: … As the company notes, 3G data service was totally unaffected — the problem is that LTE-enabled phones …
Jennifer Van Grove / VentureBeat:
Google and Facebook reign as the most-visited sites of 2011  —  Facebook may be growing in popularity, but Google is still the web brand to beat.  —  In 2011, an average 153.4 million people in the U.S. visited Google sites each month, making the search giant the most-visited U.S. web brand of the year, according to Nielsen.
Ian Paul / PC World:
Anonymous Hacks SpecialForces.com, Posts Passwords and Credit Card Data  —  Members of the hacker collective Anonymous claim they have stolen about 14,000 user passwords and 8,000 credit card numbers from SpecialForces.com, a military and law enforcement equipment retailer.
Jane Wakefield / BBC:
British teenage designer of Summly app hits jackpot  —  Nick D'Aloisio talks to Jane Wakefield about the inspiration for his app  —  Most teenagers will find any reason under the sun not to do their homework.  —  But 16-year-old South Londoner Nick D'Aloisio's excuse is better than most …
Matt Brian / The Next Web:
Report: 300 million users now access Facebook via its mobile apps  —  Christmas gadget gifting appears to have boosted Facebook app use, with it being reported in the last couple of days the world's largest social network saw monthly active users of its mobile apps pass 300 million users.
Amir Efrati / Wall Street Journal:
Bid for Same-Day Delivery Taps the Smartphone Boom  —  Numerous start-ups have tried to go after the Holy Grail of e-commerce—delivering things to people's homes and offices on the same day they ordered them—and have failed.  —  Postmates Inc., a San Francisco Internet start-up that launched …
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of Techmeme at 3:55 PM ET, December 29, 2011.

View the current page or another snapshot:


 
 Techmeme Sponsor Posts: 
Meta:
Open Source AI: Available to all, not just the few  —  Meta's open source AI enables small businesses, start-ups, students, researchers and more to download and build with our models at no cost.
Tribe AI:
Build AI products that matter  —  Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact.  We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Zoho:
CIO challenge 5: Can we find an effective solution that also minimizes operational costs?  —  Welcome to the next and final installment of our CIO series!  After what feels like a thousand cups of coffee …
Hamming:
Make AI Voice Agents trustworthy  —  Hamming AI automatically tests AI voice agents and continuously monitors them in production.
Sponsor Techmeme
 
 See Also: 
Techmeme: site main
Techmeme River: reverse chronological Techmeme
Techmeme Mobile: for phones
Techmeme Leaderboard: Techmeme's top sources
 
 Subscribe: 
Techmeme RSS feed
Techmeme on X
Techmeme on Mastodon
 
 
 More Items: 
Chris Ziegler / The Verge:
What is an ‘Android device’?  —  Android boss Andy Rubin offered …
Discussion: @asymco
Evelyn M. Rusli / DealBook:
Ahead of I.P.O., S.E.C. Pressed Groupon on Accounting
Discussion: AllThingsD, Pulse2 and @karaswisher
Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:
Not even one of Oracle's six patents-in-suit has been definitively invalidated — but four of them are under pressure
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Indian ISP Blocks A Bunch Of Websites To Try To Prevent File Sharing Of A Single Movie
Discussion: TorrentFreak
Emil Protalinski / Friending Facebook Blog:
Facebook tries to appease frustrated developers
Discussion: Lincoln's blog and WebProNews
Sakthi Prasad / Reuters:
Stratfor delays website launch after hack attack
Discussion: VentureBeat
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Copyright Office Seeks To Make It More Difficult To Retain DMCA Safe Harbors
 Earlier Items: 
T.C. Sottek / The Verge:
To build a holodeck: an exclusive look at Microsoft's Edison lab
Discussion: TechNet Blogs
Stacey Higginbotham / GigaOM:
Getting to a gigabit. How Sonic.net will take on caps, residents and AT&T in San Francisco
Discussion: Aswath Weblog
Horace Dediu / asymco:
Discerning Apple's international product positioning through the big Mac index
Greg Kumparak / TechCrunch:
Khan Academy Jumps To 4M Uniques Per Month (Up 4X From Last Year)
Darrell Etherington / GigaOM:
Apple's App Store tops 5M free downloads per day in November
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:
Internal memo: Hearst Magazines president announces layoffs as part of a decision to “reallocate resources” to “continue our focus on digital innovation”

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced she will leave the agency on January 20; she was the first woman to be confirmed to lead the agency

Lachlan Cartwright / The Ankler:
Sources: MSNBC renewed Rachel Maddow's contract early this fall, but with a pay cut; MSNBC bosses' plan to shake up daytime and weekend programming

 
Sister Sites:

Mediagazer
 Top news and commentary for media professionals from all around the web
memeorandum
 What US political commentators are discussing online right now
WeSmirch
 The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page