Top Items:
Steven Levy:
Is Too Much Plus is a Minus for Google? — On Tuesday, Google announced something called Search, plus Your World (SPYW). It marked a startling transformation of the company's flagship product, Google Search, into an amplifier of social content. Google's critics—as well as some folks generally …
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Dave Winer / Scripting News:
Could Bing seriously challenge Google? — King Kaufman who is a sports writer says he reads Scripting News to learn about football. That's one of the highest compliments someone can pay me, cause I often think in terms of football analogies when it comes to tech.
Discussion:
Business Insider and Gizmodo
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:
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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:
parislemon, The Verge, The Next Web, Business Insider, Neowin.net, CNET, ReadWriteWeb, GeekWire, AllThingsD 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...
Discussion:
Gizmodo
Christina Bonnington / Gadget Lab:
Why Windows Phones Are the Most Exciting Handsets at CES — LAS VEGAS — There's a curious thing happening in the smartphone space at this year's CES. Two Windows Phone devices — the HTC Titan II and the Nokia Lumia 900 — are the most hyped, talked-about phones at the show. Yeah, that's right: Windows Phones.
Discussion:
IntoMobile, @dannysullivan, @maximbark, FierceWireless and PC World
John Paczkowski / AllThingsD:
iPhone 4S Sales Cancelled at Beijing and Shanghai Apple Stores — Apple has decided to postpone the retail availability of its new iPhone 4S at some stores in mainland China after a rowdy crowd disrupted the device's debut at its Sanlitun store in Beijing. — Would-be customers …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, IntoMobile and iLounge
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Zachary Lutz / Engadget:
iPhone 4S launch in China draws large crowds, unnecessary violence and SWAT teams (video)
Discussion:
BBC, M.I.C. Gadget, Reuters, Gizmodo, MacRumors, Wall Street Journal, MacRumors, AppleInsider, Neowin.net, iDownloadBlog.com, 9to5Mac, ifoAppleStore, Digital Trends, DigiCha, The Next Web, TUAW and iClarified
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:
TechCrunch, WebProNews, LAUNCH, gHacks Technology News, VentureBeat, Redmond Pie, Gizmodo, MediaPost, Pulse2, VatorNews, Epicenter, The Blog Herald, Lifehacker, ReadWriteWeb, PC Magazine, GigaOM, Inside Facebook, The Next Web, Evolver.fm, The Verge, Engadget, TechCrunch, All Facebook, Mashable!, SlashGear, Friending Facebook Blog, SiliconFilter and T3 News
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
As SOPA/PIPA Becomes Toxic, Frantic Congress Test Runs Dropping DNS Blocking Provisions — Well, well, well. It looks like some in DC are starting to get the message that there is real concern with SOPA/PIPA. The latest is that the fact that SOPA/PIPA support is becoming “toxic” is starting to make the press.
Discussion:
Techdirt
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Jennifer Valentino-DeVries / Digits:
Author of Controversial Piracy Bill Now Says ‘More Study’ Needed
Discussion:
Patrick Leahy, Computerworld, CircleID, ReadWriteWeb, The Domains, Ars Technica, VentureBeat, Threat Level, GigaOM, Betabeat, Fox Business, AllThingsD and Forbes
BBC:
Ex-Apple boss Sculley sets record straight on Jobs — Former Apple boss John Sculley said he enjoyed a great working relationship with Steve Jobs during ‘the good times’ — Apple's former chief executive John Sculley is perhaps best known as the man who first mentored and then clashed with Steve Jobs …
Discussion:
CNET and The Next Web, Thanks:zackwhittaker
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:
Gadget Lab, The Verge, The Verge, BetaNews, Pocketables, MobileSyrup.com, Pocket-lint, GottaBeMobile, PhoneArena, paidContent, Android Phone Fans, GigaOM, SlashGear, Tip Desk, Pulse2, 9to5Google, TechCrunch and Engadget
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
The Pirate Bay Will Stop Serving Torrents — After half a decade of loyal service, The Pirate Bay shut down its tracker in November 2009. — The Pirate Bay argued that BitTorrent trackers have been made redundant by technologies such as DHT and PEX. In addition, The Pirate Bay team …
Discussion:
The Next Web
Cliff Edwards / Business Week:
Beats Electronics Is Breaking Up with Monster — The popular headphone line parts ways with its manufacturing partner — In a Las Vegas hotel a few days before the start of the Consumer Electronics Show on Jan. 10, Interscope Geffen A&M Chairman Jimmy Iovine takes out an iPad …
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:
ZDNet, Lifehacker, SlashGear, ReadWriteWeb, 9to5Google, Webmonkey, Between the Lines Blog, The Next Web, Engadget and WebProNews
Peter Burrows / Business Week:
Map Apps: The Race to Fill in the Blanks — Google, Skyhook Wireless, and startups are mapping airports, malls, and other indoor spaces — Visitors to the sprawling Powell's Books in Portland, Ore., often grab one of the fold-up maps available at the entrances to the four-story, city-block-size store.
Thanks:nfarina
Tricia Duryee / AllThingsD:
Xbox Accounted for 40 Percent of All Videogame Sales in 2011 — Microsoft dominated the videogame industry last year, with the Xbox capturing nearly half of all consumer spending from physical sales in 2011. — About $6.7 billion, or 40 percent of consumer retail spending, was spent on the Xbox …
Discussion:
VentureBeat, TechNet Blogs and Neowin.net
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:
Uncrunched and Business Insider
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Tricia Duryee / AllThingsD:
Zynga Hires Top Digital Executive Away From Electronic Arts
Discussion:
TechCrunch, VentureBeat and Social Markets
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.
Discussion:
MacRumors, 9to5Mac and iClarified
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:
@nytimesbits, TechFlash and msnbc.com
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:
9to5Mac, T3 News, Bright Side Of News*, MacRumors, iClarified and Gizmodo
Hayley Tsukayama / Washington Post:
Smart TVs: The next tech war is in the living room — Hawking their wares at the Consumer Electronics Show this week, the world's top television manufacturers are bent on making a splash: They're trying to sell a whole new approach to television. — In a world where the latest gadgets …
Nick T. / PhoneArena:
The HP TouchPad is alive, receives OTA software update — Listen up, HP TouchPad owners (and we know that there is a lot of you out there): an over-the-air update has been made available for your slate bringing its software version to webOS 3.0.5. And besides taking care of a few glitches …
Discussion:
The Official HP Palm Blog, PhoneNews.com, Engadget, Phones Review, Electronista, Phone Scoop and Liliputing
