Top Items:
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines Blog:
Barnes & Noble eyes Nook spin-off amid sales shortfall — Summary: Barnes & Noble may have no choice but to spin off its Nook unit amid a sales miss. — Barnes & Noble said it is exploring a spin-off of its Nook e-reader unit so it can continue to scale the business.
Discussion:
TechFlash, GeekWire, Business Wire, VentureBeat, Digits, AllThingsD, The Verge, GigaOM, Business Insider, paidContent, The Next Web, Pulse2, the Econsultancy blog, internetretailer.com, New York Times, Liliputing, Mashable!, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, SlashGear, Electronista and Boing Boing, more at Mediagazer »
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Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:
Barnes & Noble Aims to Sell Publishing Unit
Discussion:
VatorNews, TechCrunch, The Digital Reader, Deal Journal, Gizmodo, paidContent and GeekWire, more at Mediagazer »
Vinton G. Cerf / New York Times:
Internet Access Is Not a Human Right — FROM the streets of Tunis to Tahrir Square and beyond, protests around the world last year were built on the Internet and the many devices that interact with it. Though the demonstrations thrived because thousands of people turned out to participate …
Discussion:
CNET, GigaOM, Technology Liberation Front, Techi.com, Washington Post, Slate, Business Insider and Gizmodo
Neil Hughes / AppleInsider:
Apple's television could offer superior picture quality with advanced backlighting — Apple has explored building displays with dynamic backlight adaptation for better picture quality, particularly when watching letterboxed widescreen movies on a high-definition screen.
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Enigmax / TorrentFreak:
US Threatened To Blacklist Spain For Not Implementing Site Blocking Law — United States government interference in Spain's intellectual property laws had long been suspected, but it was revelations from Wikileaks that finally confirmed the depth of its involvement.
Discussion:
Business Insider, London Calling Blog and The Next Web
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Google Ventures, Mark Cuban And Others Invest $1M In Social CRM Startup Nimble — Customer relationship management startup Nimble has raised $1 million in funding from notable investors Mark Cuban, Jason Calacanis, Don Dodge, Dharmesh Shah and more! — Nimble CEO Jon Ferrara views Nimble …
Discussion:
SiliconANGLE, SocialTimes.com and socalTECH.com
Steve Kovach / Business Insider:
Crazy Rumor: Google Is Working On A 7-Inch Tablet Priced To Beat The Kindle Fire — A few weeks ago, Google chairman Eric Schmidt let it slip that the company had plans to market “a tablet of the highest quality” within the next six months. — That led to a lot of speculation, but Google refused to clarify Schmidt's statements.
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Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
For blazing fast wireless internet, Broadcom announces its first 5G WiFi chips — Broadcom is announcing today its first WiFi chips that will allow wireless to surf the web at a speed of 1.3 gigabits per second. That is several times faster than existing network speeds …
Discussion:
9to5Mac, Broadcom.com, LAPTOP Magazine, The Verge, Digits, PC World, PC Magazine, EE Times, dailywireless.org, Electronista, GigaOM, Engadget, Network World, AnandTech, VR-Zone and SlashGear
Jonathan S. Geller / BGR:
RIM now working on only one BlackBerry 10 smartphone; Colt, Milan canceled — We already reported that the BlackBerry Colt — the handset that was originally intended to be the Research In Motion's first BlackBerry 10 smartphone — had been cancelled. Now, we have heard from multiple sources …
Discussion:
CNET, Pocket-lint, Business Insider, SlashGear, Electronista and PhoneArena
Owen Gibson / Guardian:
Apple unlikely to enter auction for Premier League TV rights — • BSkyB and ESPN will be back in the bidding — • Google and al-Jazeera may also enter market — The Premier League is preparing to go to market with its lucrative television contract in the second quarter of this year …
Discussion:
MacRumors, Business Insider and Electronista
Liz Gannes / AllThingsD:
Facebook Says Most Photos Flagged by Users Aren't Actually Offensive — Just Unattractive — Last year Facebook determined that the majority of photos its users reported as offensive were not actually offensive. Much of the time, they were just unflattering angles or situations.
Discussion:
Betabeat, Gawker, The Next Web and SlashGear
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Logitech Cube is a tiny touch-sensitive presentation mouse, available in January for $69.99 — Have you ever thought your portable mouse was a little too large, or perhaps shaped a little too much like the inside of your hand? We can't say we have, but Logitech's got a new peripheral …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, VentureBeat, The Toybox Blog, Engadget and Electronista
Brad Molen / Engadget:
AT&T expands LTE coverage to eleven new markets, including NYC, San Francisco and Los Angeles — In one announcement, AT&T has nearly doubled its LTE coverage by officially flipping the switch on eleven new markets. The list includes New York City metro, San Francisco / Oakland / San Jose …
Discussion:
AT&T, FOSS Patents, 9to5Google and The Verge
Clare Jim / Reuters:
Taiwan's Elan says Apple to pay $5 million in patent settlement — (Reuters) - Elan Microelectronics Corp, a Taiwanese touch design company, said on Thursday that Apple Inc will pay $5 million as part of a settlement in a patent infringement case. — The statement said the two companies …
Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:
Marvell's ARM chips will power Google TV's future — It's official: Marvell's ARM-based processors will power the next generation of Google TV devices, which are going to be unveiled at CES next week. The chip maker announced Thursday morning that its ARMADA 1500 system-on-a-chip (SoC) …
Scott Kirsner / Boston Globe:
Former Lotus and Microsoft exec Ray Ozzie hiring for new start-up, Cocomo — Ray Ozzie e-mailed earlier today to let me know that he has a post-Microsoft start-up, and he's hiring. But aside from mentioning that the company is called Cocomo and doesn't yet have an office of its own, he didn't want to divulge much more.
Eric Eldon / TechCrunch:
Lithium Raises $53.4M Fourth Round To Push For Lead in Social Brand Software — Big consumer brands generate all sorts of consumer interest and expertise, but they've generally struggled to capitalize on these relationships to improve themselves. Lithium has been building itself …
Ryan Lawler / GigaOM:
Deloitte: 9% have cut cable, another 11% are considering it — Deloitte just released its sixth annual State of the Media Democracy survey, which (among other things) asks U.S. respondents how they get access to their content in a world full of new and exciting devices.
Discussion:
VatorNews, AllThingsD, GigaOM Pro and blog.chron.com
Diane Bartz / Reuters:
ICANN to expand top level domains despite critics — (Reuters) - ICANN, an independent body responsible for organizing the Internet, plans to press ahead with plans to expand the number of possible website addresses despite criticism from industry and concerns from some law enforcement groups.
Discussion:
Ars Technica and WebProNews
Steven Bertoni / Forbes:
Spotify's Daniel Ek: The Most Important Man In Music — Spotify's Daniel Ek created a free, Facebook-enabled platform that could save the recording industry from piracy-and iTunes. — It's a typically damp, dark November afternoon in Stockholm, and Daniel Ek is ill. Over the past month …
Discussion:
ArcticStartup Posts, Tech Europe, ITProPortal, Engadget, Macgasm, iClarified, T3 News, iDownloadBlog.com and GottaBeMobile
Jennifer Van Grove / VentureBeat:
Do-it-yourself legal site Rocket Lawyer raises $10.8M — Just five months after raising $18.5 million, online legal services provider Rocket Lawyer has added $10.8 million in funding to its bank account, according to an SEC filing VentureBeat uncovered today.
Thanks:jbruin
Tarmo Virki / Reuters:
Nokia prospects brighten as chairman search narrows — (Reuters) - Struggling phone maker Nokia Oyj basked in brightening prospects for its much-hyped Windows phone on Thursday as it prepared to strengthen the hand of new boss Stephen Elop by replacing its old-guard chairman.
Discussion:
ArcticStartup Posts, Inquirer, The Nokia Blog, PhoneArena, mocoNews, Bloomberg and GigaOM
Phil Wolff / Skype Journal:
Skype's GroupMe drops mobile voice chat, saying group text enough — Skype bought two mobile app companies last year: GroupMe for its group SMS service and Qik for its live mobile video streaming and sharing. GroupMe stripped out its voice conferencing as of 1 January 2012, they say for lack of use.
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The Verge
Telegraph:
Apple ‘threatens legal action’ over Steve Jobs action doll — The makers of an action figure with an uncanny resemblance to the late Apple founder Steve Jobs are reportedly being ‘threatened with legal action’ by the computing giant. — The action figure of the late Apple founder Steve Jobs
Discussion:
Mashable!, MacRumors, Gizmodo, 9to5Mac, The Next Web, Ubergizmo, Business Insider, Macgasm, Techland, The Consumerist, The inneractive Blog, SlashGear and Phones Review
Alex Heath / Cult of Mac:
Apple Now Taking Legal Action Against App Store Piracy — Apple has begun an attack on App Store piracy. The popular resource for cracked iOS apps known as Apptrackr recently said that Apple has begun sending large amounts of takedown notices, thereby forcing Apptrackr to relocate …
Discussion:
Computerworld and Business Insider
Roy Bahat / Also:
Could coding be the next mass profession? — Like farming was in the 17th century, factory work during the industrial revolution, construction during the Great Depression, and manufacturing after World War II. Better, because writing code is a creative act which can be done with or without a traditional …
Discussion:
Slate and Business Insider
Frederic Lardinois / SiliconFilter:
Google Translate for Android Gets Handwriting Recognition — Here is a small but nifty update for Google Translate for Android: the app now features experimental handwriting recognition for Chinese and Japanese characters. You can also enable this feature for English, French, Italian …
Discussion:
Google Translate Blog, PhoneArena, WebProNews and MacStories
Evan Narcisse / Kotaku:
Patents Show that the Next Xbox Might Be a DVR, Too — Xbox 3, Xbox 720, NextBox... whatever you call it, lots of rumors are being floated about Microsoft's next home console. Some say it'll output Avatar-level visuals while others say it'll lean heavily on cloud architecture.
Discussion:
ITworld.com, SlashGear, Softpedia News, Destructoid and Business Insider
Dana Wollman / Engadget:
Acer Iconia Tab A200 arriving January 15 for $330, Ice Cream Sandwich coming mid-February — After slipping not-so-quietly through the FCC, we knew it was only a matter of time before Acer's Iconia Tab A200 went on sale here in the US of A. Well, we just got word it'll go on sale January 15th starting …
Discussion:
CNET, Computerworld, Digital Trends, AllThingsD, The Verge, PC Magazine, Pocket-lint, SlashGear, TechEye, Inside Mobile Apps and Gizmodo
Ross Miller / The Verge:
Nokia Lumia 710 for T-Mobile review — It's been almost nine months since Nokia released a carrier-branded smartphone in the US, the Symbian-powered Astound for T-Mobile. That was before the company's sea change — it has come a long way since then, betting its future almost entirely on Microsoft's Windows Phone.
Discussion:
BGR, eWeek, Tech Trader Daily, Engadget, The Tech Trade, GeekWire, My Nokia Blog, MobileBurn.com, The Tech Herald Technology …, IntoMobile and TechCrunch
