Top Items:
Alexandre Roche / Facebook Blog:
Listen to Music With Your Friends — Music is one of the most powerful and fun ways to connect. Whether it's at a concert with a bunch of people or on a long car ride with your best buddy, we love listening to music with our friends. But what if you could listen to music with your friends …
Discussion:
MediaPost, TechCrunch, VatorNews, PC Magazine, Inside Facebook, VentureBeat, Friending Facebook Blog, Gizmodo, gHacks Technology News, TechCrunch, Lifehacker, WebProNews, ReadWriteWeb, SiliconFilter, Epicenter, SlashGear, Mashable!, Evolver.fm, All Facebook, The Next Web, GigaOM, The Blog Herald, Redmond Pie, Pulse2 and Engadget
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Jacob Schulman / The Verge:
Facebook introduces ‘listen with friends’ feature for Spotify users, other services coming soon
Discussion:
LAUNCH and VentureBeat
Ashlee Vance / Business Week:
Steve Ballmer Reboots — Cooler tech, more energy, higher profit—the Microsoft CEO is out to prove Steve Jobs wrong and make Redmond relevant again — They had his dining room waiting. Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive and one of the richest men in the world …
Discussion:
CNET, Business Insider, The Next Web, AllThingsD, ReadWriteWeb, GeekWire, Neowin.net and Computerworld
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Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
Microsoft's Ballmer: If I had it to do all over again... Summary: Steve Ballmer's last three years as CEO is the subject of Businessweek's cover story this week. Here's what I found interesting in the story. — Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is no more Mr. Monkeyboy.
Benjamin Edelman / Ben Edelman:
Google Tying Google Plus and Many More — Disclosure: I serve as a consultant to various companies that compete with Google. But I write on my own — not at the suggestion or request of any client, without approval or payment from any client. — This week Google announced Google Search Plus Your World …
Discussion:
PC World, MediaPost, Guardian, Mashable!, Epicenter, Gizmodo, SplatF, ReadWriteWeb, @dannysullivan, Social Media and GigaOM
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Verdi / epic.org:
EPIC Urges Trade Commission to Investigate Google Search
Discussion:
Real Dan Lyons Web Site, ZDNet, Mercury News, The Next Web and Pulse2
Steven Levy:
Is Too Much Plus is a Minus for Google?
Discussion:
The Verge, @mathewi, @nickbilton and Nieman Journalism Lab
Jason Kilar / Hulu Blog:
2011, 2012 and beyond. — We just closed the books on a big 2011 for Hulu. As a team, we recently reflected on our 2011 investments in innovation and thought it would be an appropriate time to share some of those thoughts via this post. — First, some results:
Discussion:
AllThingsD, paidContent, VentureBeat, GigaOM, Between the Lines Blog, SiliconFilter, SplatF, Company Town, Forbes, The Next Web and socalTECH.com, more at Mediagazer »
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Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Hulu's 2011 Revenue Grew 60 Percent To $420M, Will Invest $500M In Content This Year
Discussion:
ClickZ
Christian Robertson / Android Developers Blog:
Introducing the Android Design site — Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) is our biggest redesign yet — both for users and developers. We've enhanced the UI framework with new interactions and styles that will let you create Android apps that are simpler and more beautiful than ever before.
Discussion:
BetaNews, GigaOM, The Verge, paidContent, The Verge, 9to5Google, TechCrunch, MobileSyrup.com, Gadget Lab, PhoneArena, Android Phone Fans, Engadget, Pocket-lint, SlashGear and Tip Desk
Stephen Totilo / Kotaku:
This is What EA's Up To (On the Day Zynga Hired One of Their Top Guys) — The FarmVille people at Zynga just hired Barry Cottle—former executive vice president of EA Interactive—to be their executive vice president of business and corporate development...
Discussion:
Business Insider
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Tricia Duryee / AllThingsD:
Zynga Hires Top Digital Executive Away From Electronic Arts — Zynga has hired away Barry Cottle, the EVP of Electronic Arts' interactive division, marking the third such high-profile steal it's made from the rival videogame maker over the past year. — Last year, Zynga hired Electronic …
Discussion:
Social Markets, Inside Social Games, VentureBeat and TechCrunch
Jennifer Valentino-DeVries / Digits:
Author of Controversial Piracy Bill Now Says ‘More Study’ Needed — The senator who introduced hotly debated legislation intended to shut down pirate websites said Thursday he is backing away from one of the most controversial parts of the bill, amid criticism from Web companies, human rights groups and Internet engineers.
Discussion:
Patrick Leahy, ReadWriteWeb, Techdirt, GigaOM, Ars Technica and Threat Level
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Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
If SOPA's Main Target Is The Pirate Bay, It's Worth Pointing Out That ThePirateBay.org Is Immune From SOPA
Discussion:
TorrentFreak
E.D. Kain / Forbes:
Time Is Running Out For SOPA Opponents Congressmen Warn At CES 2012
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb, AllThingsD, Betabeat, Dan Nguyen pronounced fast …, Techdirt, Mashable!, Fox Business and The Register
Dave Stewart / Gmail Blog:
Improvements to the Gmail offline Chrome app — When we first announced Gmail offline last August, we told you that it was only the beginning of our HTML5-powered offline journey. Since then, we've been listening to your feedback and today, we want to let you know about some of the key updates we've made to the Chrome Web Store app.
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb, Between the Lines Blog, Engadget, SlashGear, 9to5Google, Webmonkey, The Next Web and WebProNews
Adam Penenberg / Fast Company:
Amazon's Plagiarism Problem — Amazon's erotica section isn't just rife with tales of lust, incest, violence, and straight-up kink. It's also a hotbed of masked merchants profiting from copyright infringement. And even with anti-piracy legislation looming, Amazon doesn't appear too eager …
Discussion:
TechFlash, @nytimesbits and msnbc.com
George Avalos / Mercury News:
Apple leases Sunnyvale complex as it expands into that city — Apple (AAPL) has agreed to lease a big research and office complex in Sunnyvale and is seeking even more space in the city, marking a major expansion outside of the tech titan's home town of Cupertino.
Jack Purcher / Patently Apple:
Apple is paving the Way for a new 3D GUI for iOS Devices — On January 12, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals an exciting new 3D GUI for iOS mobile devices. The new UI will work with proximity sensor arrays and will respond to hovering gestures.
Discussion:
Gizmodo, CNET, Bright Side Of News*, MacRumors, iClarified and 9to5Mac
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Gambling giant IGT buying DoubleDown for $500M, moving into Facebook games — International Game Technology, a maker of real-world casino games and gambling systems, has agreed to pay $500 million to acquire Seattle-based DoubleDown Interactive, a maker of casino-style Facebook games that don't allow users to gamble real money.
Discussion:
VatorNews, Inside Social Games, AllThingsD and The Seattle Times, Thanks:johnhcook
Gregory Lyons / iCrossing:
Facebook to Hit a Billion Users in the Summer — Last summer we took a look at Facebook usage around the world, and with Facebook recently announcing that they're currently at over 800 million active users we thought it would be interesting to extrapolate their current grown rate and estimate …
Rachel King / Between the Lines Blog:
Amazon enables sending documents from the PC to Kindle — Summary: Amazon's new “Send to Kindle” option makes it possible to transfer files from Windows applications to the Kindle. — Amazon just added a huge new piece of functionality to the Kindle, making it more useful for all sorts of personal and business purposes.
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb, Kindle Post US, Ars Technica, The Verge, Gizmodo and HotHardware.com News
Stephen Rosenman / Seeking Alpha:
Apple's Foreign Cash Hoard — Apple (AAPL) is piling up boatloads of cash: just not here. — Those boatloads are increasing becoming docked in Apple's foreign subsidiaries and cannot be repatriated without incurring additional hefty U.S. taxes. A whopping $54 billion of Apple's $82 billion cash …
Discussion:
MacNN, Pulse2, Techie Buzz and TUAW
Bill Rigby / Reuters:
ARM chief not impressed with Intel phone chips — (Reuters) - The head of British chip designer Arm Holdings plc has shrugged off the latest attempt by Intel Corp to muscle its way into the expanding market for low-power processors used in smartphones and tablets, which ARM dominates.
Discussion:
VentureBeat, PhoneArena, Neowin.net, SlashGear and TG Daily
Om Malik / GigaOM:
VMWare co-founder joins Google's board — Diane Greene has joined the board of directors of Google, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company announced today. Greene was the CEO of VMware but was replaced by current CEO Paul Maritz a few years ago. Greene, who was the co-founder of VMWare …
Discussion:
Google, Business Insider, 9to5Google, AllThingsD, The Next Web and Search Engine Land
Jennifer Van Grove / VentureBeat:
Foursquare's mobile recommendation engine, Explore, hits the web — Chances are that the insights gathered from one-and-a-half billion check-ins and 15 million tips are better than your own eyes and ears at sleuthing out the best places to eat, drink and see nearby or afar.
Discussion:
Foursquare Blog, About Foursquare, Search Engine Land, The Verge, Business Insider, Mashable!, Betabeat and Pulse2
David Barboza / New York Times:
Foxconn Resolves Pay Dispute With Workers — SHANGHAI — Foxconn Technology, the largest contract electronics manufacturer in the world, said Thursday that it had resolved a pay dispute with scores of workers at one of its factories in central China, following a large protest that involved threats …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Wire, Digital Trends, Mashable!, GeekWire, PC Magazine, The Verge and Bloomberg
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
LG signs Android, Chrome OS patent deal with Microsoft — Summary: LG Electronics is the latest Android vendor to license Microsoft patents in order to head off potential legal issues. — It's been a couple of months since Microsoft has touted any new Android/Chrome OS vendors agreeing to license its patents.
Discussion:
parislemon, VentureBeat, @fxshaw, AllThingsD, Unbiased Tech, PC World, LiveSide.net, Reuters, Android Phone Fans, Microsoft, BGR, TechCrunch, Engadget, Seattle Times, Inquirer, SiliconANGLE, Business Insider, Business Insider, The Tech Trade, The Next Web, Android Police, PC Magazine, paidContent, TechSpot, @akovacs, Neowin.net, MobileSyrup.com, SlashGear, eWeek, WMPoweruser, CNET, Mercury News, @tim_stevens, PhoneArena, GeekWire, Techie Buzz, IntoMobile, WebProNews, Digital Trends, 9to5Google, FOSS Patents, Digits, Xconomy and Softpedia News
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Target Confirms Plans to Bring Dedicated Apple Shops to 25 Stores — Reuters reports that Target has confirmed its plans to launch “store-within-a-store” concepts for Apple products in 25 of its stores around the United States. The announcement comes alongside a broader effort called …
Discussion:
New York Times, The Toybox Blog, BGR, MarketWatch, GigaOM, The Verge, IntoMobile, SlashGear, Reuters, 9to5Mac, AllThingsD and WebProNews
John Cook / GeekWire:
Venture capital investing hits 10-year peak, sparking bubble talk — Despite hiccups in the IPO and M&A markets, venture capitalists were still mighty busy in 2011. Investors in privately-held companies sunk $30.6 billion in 3,051 companies last year, the largest dollar and deal total in the past 10 years …
Discussion:
CB Insights, Betabeat, GigaOM and Xconomy
