Top Items:
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:
The Verge, The Register, PC Magazine, CNET, VentureBeat, TechFlash, GigaOM, Techi.com, Washington Post and Business Insider
RELATED:
Adam Thierer / Technology Liberation Front:
Vint Cerf on Why Internet Access Is Not a Human Right (+ A Few More Reasons)
Discussion:
New York Times and Cato Institute
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:
MacRumors, BGR, Business Insider, Macgasm and 9to5Mac
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
Discussion:
VentureBeat, CNET, Mashable!, Gizmodo, MacRumors, The Next Web, GSMArena Blog, everythingiCafe, 9to5Mac, Ubergizmo, Macgasm, MacNN, The inneractive Blog, SlashGear, Techland, Business Insider, Phones Review and The Consumerist
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.
RELATED:
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:
Engadget, Gizmodo, Between the Lines Blog, CNET, Business Insider, Pocket-lint, PhoneArena, SlashGear and Electronista
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:
LAPTOP Magazine, SiliconANGLE, BetaNews, 9to5Google, Business Wire, VatorNews, Reuters, GeekWire, TechFlash, AllThingsD, TechCrunch, paidContent, VentureBeat, The Next Web, Digits, Wall Street Journal, Pulse2, DealBook, GigaOM, Mashable!, New York Times, The Verge, dailywireless.org, internetretailer.com, Liliputing, SlashGear, Electronista, Business Insider and the Econsultancy blog, more at Mediagazer »
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:
Guardian, Business Insider, WebProNews, The Raw Story, The Next Web and London Calling Blog
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, BGR, CNET, London Calling Blog, MacRumors, GigaOM, Engadget, The Next Web, Electronista and iClarified
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:
Business Insider, Digits and Us Weekly
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, Pulse2 and SocialTimes.com
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:
eWeek, BetaNews, Engadget, 9to5Mac, Gizmodo, LAPTOP Magazine, The Verge, Digits, Engadget, EE Times, dailywireless.org, Electronista, AnandTech, Broadcom.com, Network World, VR-Zone, SlashGear, PC Magazine and GigaOM
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 …
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
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 …
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:
BetaNews, 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:
GigaOM, The Verge, AllThingsD, BGR, Gizmodo, 9to5Google, The Verge, AT&T, SlashGear and GottaBeMobile
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:
Business Insider, Gawker, Betabeat, SlashGear, Gizmodo and The Next Web
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 …
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:
LiveSide.net, ArcticStartup Posts, GigaOM, Bloomberg, The Nokia Blog, mocoNews, Inquirer and PhoneArena
Saeed Kamali Dehghan / Guardian:
Iran clamps down on internet use — Restrictions on cybercafes and plans to launch national internet prompt fears users could be cut off from world wide web — Iran is clamping down heavily on web users before parliamentary elections in March with draconian rules on cybercafes and preparations to launch a national internet.
Discussion:
Wired.co.uk and Gizmodo
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) …
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:
Target
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
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
Quincy Liang / CENS.com:
MIC: 614 M. Smartphones to be Shipped in 2012 — About 452 million smartphones were shipped in 2011, and the volume is expected to grow 35.8% to 614 million units in 2012, according to the Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC) of Taiwan's Institute for Information Industry.
Discussion:
Neowin.net and WMPoweruser
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
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, Softpedia News, PC Magazine, Digital Trends, The Verge, AllThingsD, Pocket-lint, SlashGear, Electronista and TechEye
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.
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:
AllThingsD, VatorNews, blog.chron.com and GigaOM Pro
