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2:40 PM ET, January 3, 2012

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Google's Jaw-Dropping Sponsored Post Campaign For Chrome  —  Google, the company that has been fighting against paid links and “thin” content, seems to be behind a campaign that's generating both on behalf of its Chrome browser.  File this under “what were they thinking.”  —  “This Post Sponsored By Google”
RELATED:
Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
Google Ad Buyer Unruly Media Defends Google Chrome Ads  —  Google is paying bloggers to run posts promoting its Google Chrome browser.  —  Is that a big deal?  Depends on who you ask.  —  Search Engine Land's Danny Sullivan, who sussed this out yesterday, has two big problems with the notion.
Discussion: @fredericl and Daring Fireball
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Google caught up in Chrome sponsored post controversy, blames it on marketing partner Unruly Media  —  Google's gotten some attention for its new marketing direction lately, but a series of sponsored blog posts and video placements for Chrome has some accusing the company of violating its own guidelines on paid advertising links.
Discussion: Search Engine Land, WebProNews and eWeek, Thanks:lylesback2
Financial Post:
RIM leaning toward new chairman: sources  —  Under intense pressure from a group of shareholders, Research in Motion Ltd. is preparing to unveil a corporate shakeup at the beleaguered BlackBerry maker that could see co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie relinquish their titles as co-chairmen of the board, according to sources.
Roger Capriotti / The Windows Blog:
The US Says Goodbye to IE6  —  Time to pop open the champagne because, based on the latest data from Net Applications, IE6 usage in the US has now officially dropped below 1%!  —  IE6 has been the punch line of browser jokes for a while, and we've been as eager as anyone to see it go away.
Evan Blass / pocketnow.com:
More Nokia Lumia 900 “Ace” Details Revealed  —  We've gotten some more information on the upcoming Nokia Ace for AT&T — whose codename for the device is Eloko — including confirmation that it is indeed the Lumia 900 which will be sold globally as Nokia's flagship Windows Phone.
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
This Month's Apple Event To Focus On Publishing And iBooks  —  Apple will be holding a product event later this month in New York, Kara Swisher is reporting, and we've confirmed independently with a source.  —  According to the source the event will not involve any hardware at all and instead …
RELATED:
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
January Apple event to focus on two ‘large projects’ relating to education, iTunes  —  Following multiple reports claiming that Apple is holding an event later this month to discuss new media-related services, Clayton Morris shares some tidbits that he has heard from sources.
Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:
Not the iPad 3 or New TV — But Apple Planning Media-Related Event in the Big(ger) Apple This Month
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Larry Page, CEO of the year?  You kidding me?!  —  Investor's Business Daily has named Larry Page of Google “CEO of the year.”  I think it jumped the gun.  It is too early to be passing the honors.  Why?  First, Larry took over the CEO job in April 2011, so he hasn't really had a full year under his belt.
Discussion: @ed
RELATED:
Jordan Kahn / 9to5Google:
Larry Page named ‘CEO of the year’ by Investors Business Daily
Electronista:
RIM cuts all PlayBooks to $300, gets ad hoc Android Market  —  BlackBerry PlayBook drops to 300 on company store  —  RIM has started running a new sale for the BlackBerry PlayBook on its own store.  Every version of the tablet costs the same $300, making the 64GB version the best option until stock runs out.
Rajat Agrawal / BGR India:
Spot the difference: Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus Vs Apple iPhone 3G  —  Ever since Samsung announced the Galaxy Ace Plus a few hours ago, I have not been able to help but think how similar it looks to a phone launched in June of 2008.  The iPhone 3G that is.  It has been bugging me so much that I dug …
Thanks:rajatagr
RELATED:
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:
If Android is so hot, why has Java ME overtaken it?  —  Ranked by Internet market share — rather than unit sales — Google is now No. 3  —  Data: NetApplications.  Chart: PED  —  From the perspective of NetApplications, which has been measuring browser usage data since 2004 …
Bill Slawski / SEO by the Sea:
IBM Assigns 217 More Patent Filings to Google including Wireless Phones and Javascript Widgets  —  Looks like Google and IBM are working together again to build up Google's patent portfolio, from an update at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) patent assignment database.
Discussion: eWeek and Electronista
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Netflix To Debut Original Series “Lilyhammer” Next Month  —  Netflix is launching a new original series next month called Lilyhammer, which will kick off the company's foray into original programming for 2012.  The series will star The Sopranos actor and E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt in a …
Dan Graziano / BGR:
Transformer Prime to get Android 4.0 on January 12, official bootloader unlock tool soon  —  ASUS took to its Facebook page on Tuesday to ease tensions from an increasing number of customers unhappy with the locked bootloader on the quad-core Transformer Prime tablet.
Darren Murph / Engadget:
Ask Ziggy: the Windows Phone 7 counter to Apple's Siri (video)  —  Ask Ziggy has actually been on the Windows Store for right around a fortnight, but there's an updated version hitting soon that brings an astounding amount of Siri-ness to Microsoft's own Windows Phone 7 platform.
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Report: 522 Exits Of Venture-Backed US Companies Netted $53.2 Billion In 2011  —  According to a Dow Jones VentureSource report released this morning, fewer US-based venture-backed companies exited in 2011 than the year before, but the deals netted more capital as the median price for M&A and buyouts …
Telegraph:
Facebook IPO: the £64bn question of 2012  —  If it ever happens, Facebook will be the frenzied float of 2012, with a possible valuation of $100bn (£64.4bn).  —  An IPO will make founder Mark Zuckerberg one of the world's richest men and many of Facebook's 3,000 employees exceedingly wealthy.
Harrison Weber / The Next Web:
Google+ just had its biggest traffic month of all time, up 55% from November.  —  According to Experian Hitwise, Google+'s total monthly US visits have grown 55% since November. 49 million visits were recorded in December 2011 — the biggest month to date.  —  But regardless of the actual numbers …
 
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 More Items: 
Guardian:
Wendi Deng Twitter account is a fake
Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:
Ziff Davis Acquires IT Networking Site Toolbox.com
Discussion: TechCrunch and Business Wire
Jack Purcher / Patently Apple:
Apple Wins Patents for 3D Camera Direction in Motion, MagSafe Connectors and Two Industrial Designs
Tony Smith / The Register:
The Commodore 64 is 30  —  Commodore took the wraps off …
Discussion: GadgeTell
Haaretz:
Saudi Hackers claim to post personal information of 400 thousand Israelis
 Earlier Items: 
Matt Hamblen / Network World:
Mobile campaigns to be hot in 2012 presidential race
Kristian Davis Bailey / The Stanford Daily:
University explains NYC withdrawal
Wall Street Journal:
PC Firms Bet on Ultrabooks
Discussion: Digits
Barb Darrow / GigaOM:
Twine project blows by funding goals thanks to Kickstarter
Discussion: PC World and SlashGear
Tim Stevens / Engadget:
MSN Direct goes dark, SPOT watches to suffer no more
Discussion: SlashGear, The Verge and @dannysullivan
 

 
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
 
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