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.
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Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:
Barnes & Noble Aims to Sell Publishing Unit
Discussion:
TechCrunch, The Digital Reader, Gizmodo, paidContent, GeekWire, Engadget and Electronista, more at Mediagazer »
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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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:
Technology Liberation Front, Business Insider, Gizmodo, Slate and Techi.com
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, The Next Web and SlashGear
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, The Next Web and Techdirt
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:
SocialTimes.com and socalTECH.com
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:
The Toybox Blog, VentureBeat, Engadget and TechCrunch
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
Elad Blog:
How Pinterest Will Transform the Web in 2012: Social Content Curation As The Next Big Thing — The most interesting wave hitting the social web in 2012 is social curation. This was kicked off in 2011 as Pinterest's growth was noticed by Silicon Valley and a number of companies quickly followed suit …
Discussion:
Business Insider and Betabeat
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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 and blog.chron.com
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.
Discussion:
jobs.37signals.com, CNET, Xconomy, Real Dan Lyons Web Site, All about Microsoft Blog, GeekWire, Business Insider and GigaOM
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, Business Insider, PSFK and Smarterware
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:
Inquirer, ArcticStartup Posts, mocoNews, PhoneArena, GigaOM, The Nokia Blog and Bloomberg
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:
Tech Europe, ArcticStartup Posts, ITProPortal, Engadget, Macgasm, iClarified, iDownloadBlog.com, T3 News, GottaBeMobile, The Next Web and Evolver.fm
Josh Lowensohn / CNET:
The 50-inch Apple TV set rumor re-emerges — Apple's got a 50-inch TV set in its labs, a new report says. — Apple's much-expected TV set effort could truly be a big-screen affair, with a new report pegging the company gunning for a set beyond 40-inches in size.
Discussion:
USA Today, iDownloadBlog.com, The Tech Herald Technology …, The Verge, Pocket-lint, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Edible Apple, 9to5Mac, Webomatica, NBC Bay Area, Softpedia News, Business Insider, T3 News, Geek.com, PadGadget, MacRumors, Redmond Pie, MacDaddyNews.com, SlashGear, PalmAddicts, Mobile Industry Review, Macgasm, Electronista, iClarified and MacDailyNews, more at Mediagazer »
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 and Business Insider
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
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
File-Sharing Recognized as Official Religion in Sweden — All around the world file-sharers are being chased by anti-piracy outfits and the authorities, and the situation in Sweden is no different. While copyright holders are often quick to label file-sharers as pirates …
Discussion:
PC Magazine, DSLreports, PC World, Mashable!, Inquirer, Computerworld, Digital Trends, Technologizer, Wired.co.uk, Examiner, Techland, Tech Europe, Fudzilla, msnbc.com, Business Insider, SlashGear, Techdirt and The Digital Reader
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 …
Discussion:
The Register, CNET, GigaOM, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, Between the Lines Blog, taiwannews.com.tw, The Next Web, WebProNews, Softpedia News, Electronista, @fosspatents, TechCrunch and PhoneArena
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.
Discussion:
The Verge
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, Business Insider, SlashGear, Destructoid, Softpedia News, VG247 and ITProPortal
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, Business Insider, Mobile Marketing Watch, TUAW, GamePolitics blogs, everythingiCafe, Ars Technica, Macgasm and AppleInsider
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 …
Discussion:
VatorNews, VentureBeat, GigaOM, Lithium, Business Insider and A Software Insider's Point …
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 and MacStories
Wayne Rash / eWeek:
LightSquared GPS Interference Issue Faces Congressional Oversight — Table of Contents: — NEWS ANALYSIS: A U.S. defense spending bill signed by President Barack Obama includes provisions that require LightSquared wireless LTE network to meet Congressional guidelines aimed …
Discussion:
All Points Blog, FierceBroadbandWireless and dailywireless.org
Charlie Zhu / Reuters:
Huawei dismisses U.S. calls for probe of Iran business — (Reuters) - Huawei Technologies Co Ltd said on Wednesday that calls by six U.S. lawmakers to investigate whether the giant Chinese telecommunications equipment maker has violated a sanctions law by supplying sensitive technology to Iran were based on inaccurate media reports.
Discussion:
The Register, Hillicon Valley, The Next Web and Wall Street Journal
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Are You The World's Best Programmer? Compete In Facebook's 2012 Hacker Cup — Facebook has announced its 2012 Hacker Cup, a global computer programming competition. The event will serve as an important recruiting tool to attract great coders to the company, which is constantly battling …
Discussion:
PC Magazine, CSOONLINE.com, Facebook, Network World, Inquirer, WebProNews, Softpedia News, Friending Facebook Blog, CNNMoney.com and ReadWriteWeb
