Top Items:
Jack Purcher / Patently Apple:
Apple Patents Reveal Thunderbolt is headed for iOS Devices — Three new patent applications from Apple were published this morning by the USPTO that detail various aspects of Apple's revolutionary I/O technology called Thunderbolt. Apple filed many Thunderbolt trademarks in 2011 which opened …
Discussion:
VentureBeat, T3 News, @scobleizer, MacRumors, Gizmodo, PadGadget, Macgasm, BGR, iDownloadBlog.com and Pulse2
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Amy Willis / 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
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:
The Verge, PhoneArena, Mashable!, CNET, Business Insider, Electronista, Engadget, Between the Lines Blog and Gizmodo
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Stuart Miles / Pocket-lint:
BlackBerry OS 10 to get February reveal at MWC
Discussion:
Engadget, IntoMobile, GottaBeMobile, MobileSyrup.com and SlashGear, Thanks:stuartmiles
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:
TechCrunch, The Register, GigaOM, The Verge, CircleID, msnbc.com, dailywireless.org, Errata Security, PC Magazine, TechFlash, SlashGear and Washington Post
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Adam Thierer / Technology Liberation Front:
Vint Cerf on Why Internet Access Is Not a Human Right (+ A Few More Reasons)
Discussion:
Cato Institute
Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
Warner Brothers Will Make Netflix, Redbox, Blockbuster Wait Longer for New Movies — Want to watch a new movie just out on DVD from Warner Brothers? You're going to have to buy it, or wait even longer to get it from Netflix or other disc renters. — A new deal between Time Warner's movie studio …
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Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:
HBO Ends DVD Discounts for Netflix — Netflix said a month ago that it sees HBO as its chief rival. And it appears that HBO agrees, as the company confirmed on Thursday that it had decided to stop selling DVDs to Netflix at a discount. — Netflix typically buys the film and TV show DVDs …
Discussion:
CNET, Engadget, The Next Web, Epicenter and CNET, more at Mediagazer »
Chris Pendleton / Bing:
Bing Maps New Routing Engine — Did you happen to notice the new routing engine we implemented on Bing Maps? No? I suppose that's a good thing since your service was never interrupted. However, I can tell you that we're enjoying the reduced latency, high performance …
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb, SiliconFilter and WebProNews
Ryan Mack / Facebook:
Building Timeline: Scaling up to hold your life story — Timeline isn't just a bold new look for Facebook—it's also the product of a remarkably ambitious engineering effort. While our earlier profile pages surfaced a few days or weeks of activity, from the onset we knew that with Timeline …
Discussion:
Between the Lines Blog, GigaOM, Betabeat, TechCrunch and Business Insider
Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:
BitTorrent takes on Dropbox with personal file sharing — BitTorrent Inc. launched a personal file sharing application called Share Thursday that aims to give users an alternative to paid cloud storage companies and media sharing over social networks. Share makes it possible to transfer files without …
Discussion:
TorrentFreak and The Verge, Thanks:alliewag
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.
Discussion:
BGR
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Josh Lowensohn / CNET:
The 50-inch Apple TV set rumor re-emerges
Discussion:
USA Today, The Atlantic Wire, I4U News and Pulse2, more at Mediagazer »
Paul Marks / New Scientist:
Apple power adapters could remember your passwords — Apple has worked out a way in which the power cords for computers or smartphones can help people recover their forgotten login passwords - or the answers to secret questions (like “what was the name of your first pet?") that are often used to recover them.
Discussion:
MacDailyNews, Thanks:paulmarks12
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:
ReadWriteWeb, Washington Post, Guardian, CNET, GamePolitics blogs, WebProNews, The Raw Story, London Calling Blog and Business Insider
Jon Mitchell / ReadWriteWeb:
New Chrome Will Pre-Load Web Pages Before You Hit Enter — Google Chrome released a new beta version today that takes the insurgent browser's instant and predictive features even further. The Instant Pages feature that pre-loads Web pages in the background as you search has been expanded to the omnibox …
Discussion:
Google Chrome Blog, VentureBeat, CNET and 9to5Google
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
Ray Ozzie Gathering Ex-Microsoft Colleagues for New Start-Up, Cocomo — Everyone knew that Ray Ozzie would eventually resurface after leaving Microsoft. — The Lotus Notes creator and Groove founder has lain extremely low since departing the software giant at the end of 2010.
Discussion:
Domain Name Wire
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Scott Kirsner / Boston Globe:
Former Lotus and Microsoft exec Ray Ozzie hiring for new start-up, Cocomo
Discussion:
InfoWorld, Network World, CNET, Xconomy and Mass High Tech
Rik Henderson / Pocket-lint:
White Samsung Galaxy Nexus and 32GB model coming 6 February — A white 16GB version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is due to hit stores from the week beginning 6 February. Additionally, a 32GB version of the titanium silver handset will also be on sale from that date.
Discussion:
Handtec Blog, Techie Buzz, Electronista, TechCrunch, The Verge, Phones Review and MobileBurn.com
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
LG, Sony, Vizio announcing Google TV devices at CES, Samsung later in the year — Google just announced that LG, Sony, and Vizio will be showing off Google TV devices at CES 2012, with additional devices from Samsung coming later in the year. Google's also partnering with MediaTek and Marvell …
Discussion:
The Official Google TV Blog, Engadget, Marketing Land, Electronista, VentureBeat, CNET and Android Phone Fans
Ben Popper / Betabeat:
Kanye West Now Hiring “App Guys” and “Tech Guys” for New Company: DONDA — After a long sabattical from his Twitter account, Kanye West returned to the internet last night with a flurry of thoughts in 140 characters or less. The big news, he is forming a new company, DONDA.
Discussion:
Us Weekly, AllThingsD and Business Insider
Greg Kumparak / TechCrunch:
Even Sprint's “Truly Unlimited” Plan Isn't Truly Unlimited — Watch the video up above. Note the end: … Also watch: — Now, read this bit from the Dow Jones Newswire, quoting Sprint CEO Dan Hesse on an investor call today: … Something doesn't quite match up here.
Discussion:
MacRumors, BGR, Engadget and Electronista
Tim Culpan / Bloomberg:
Apple Profit Margins Rise at Foxconn's Expense: Chart of the Day — Apple Inc. (AAPL)'s margins have widened at the expense of its main supplier as Foxconn Technology Group cuts prices to retain orders for iPhones and iPads. — The CHART OF THE DAY compares the operating margins of Apple …
Discussion:
MacRumors
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:
MediaPost, SocialTimes.com, SiliconANGLE and Pulse2
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:
AllThingsD, AT&T, BGR, TechCrunch, The Verge, PC World, BetaNews, GottaBeMobile, Mercury News, VentureBeat, NBC Bay Area, Electronista, SlashGear, The Verge, 9to5Google, Gizmodo and GottaBeMobile
Jim Edwards / Business Insider:
Mobile Ad Seller Millennial Media Files For IPO — Millennial Media, a leading server of ads on mobile devices, filed S-1 papers with the SEC to go public. The company made nearly $70 million in revenues through the first nine months of 2011 but saw a net loss of of $417,000 …
Discussion:
@pkafka
Dan Frommer / SplatF:
Amazon is doing its real job: Squeezing retail chains — One of the dramas in tech right now is the story around Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet and its potential to mess up Apple's iPad business. I don't think the Kindle Fire (an okay-but-not-great media tablet) is a real, long-term threat to the iPad …
Discussion:
Digital Trends
Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:
Italian court denies Samsung motion for preliminary injunction against iPhone 4S — ANSA, the leading Italian news agency, just reported that Judge Marina Tavassi of the Tribunale di Milano — the Milan-based Italian first-instance court for patent cases — has rejected a Samsung request …
Discussion:
PC Magazine, TUAW, GigaOM, PhoneArena, London Calling Blog, The Next Web, CNET and MacRumors
Jeff Roberts / paidContent:
Amazon Ends Lawsuit Over Kindle Fire — In a surprise development, Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) has quietly resolved a lawsuit that alleges its Kindle Fire violates four patents related to touchscreen technology. — In court papers filed in Texas this week, Amazon and Smartphone Technologies …
Discussion:
GeekWire and DigiTimes, more at Mediagazer »
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:
L.A. Times Tech Blog, Reuters, AllThingsD, Barnes & Noble, Inc., paidContent, The Next Web, TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, DealBook, LAPTOP Magazine, Mashable!, SiliconANGLE, AnandTech, The Verge, GeekWire, VatorNews, Liliputing, TechFlash, SlashGear, VentureBeat, 9to5Google, Business Insider, the Econsultancy blog, BetaNews, GigaOM, Electronista, internetretailer.com, Digits and Pulse2, 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:
Techie Buzz and MacRumors
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:
Broadcom.com, 9to5Mac, The Register, Digits, Internet Evolution, Engadget, eWeek, EE Times, AnandTech, PC World, LAPTOP Magazine, VR-Zone, ces.cnet.com, Electronista, SlashGear, BetaNews, PC Magazine, Network World, The Verge, dailywireless.org and GigaOM
Casey Chan / Gizmodo:
Digital Music Sales Beat Physical Music Sales for the First Time — It took longer than I thought it would (because physical music sales still makes the monies) but digital music sales has finally topped physical music sales. According to Nielsen and Billboard, digital music sales accounted …
Discussion:
The Next Web and Engadget
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:
ReadWriteWeb, Gizmodo, WebProNews, PhoneArena, Mobile Magazine and Google Translate Blog
Luke Fretwell / FedScoop:
NASA Launches Agency-wide Open Source Initiative — NASA has launched a new website, located at code.nasa.gov, aimed at centralizing the agency's open source software efforts and creating a collaborative environment to discuss issues related to its use. — The site, currently in “alpha” …
Discussion:
Ars Technica, open.NASA and SiliconFilter
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:
SlashGear, The Next Web, Gawker, Business Insider and Betabeat
