Techmeme
January 27, 2012, 9:00 AM

Top News

Twitter Blog:
Tweets still must flow  —  One year ago, we posted “The Tweets Must Flow,” in which we said, … As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression.  Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there.
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Tim Cook responds to claims of factory worker mistreatment: “We care about every worker in our supply chain”  —  This morning, The New York Times published a lengthy report with details about the harsh conditions of working in the factories of an Apple parts supplier or Apple product manufacturer.
Sarah Lacy / PandoDaily:
Page Rage Escalates As Google Cancels Twitter Android Meeting  —  We've heard from insiders that Google's PR strategy to the Don't Be Evil toolbar bombshell- which exposed just how much the search giant is meddling with search results- is just to stay quiet until it blows over.
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Polish Politicians Don Guy Fawkes/Anonymous Masks To Protest ACTA Signing  —  There's been lots of talk today about how various EU governments are agreeing to sign ACTA (which still needs to be ratified by the EU Parliament).  It's gotten the most attention in Poland, where there were mass protests …
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Dear Google: Crappy Results Like This Don't Give The Impression You Care About Search  —  The debate about what should — and shouldn't — show in a Google search result for “santorum” has been well-documented, at this point.  But I'd like to use this now famous search to illustrate something else …
More: PandoDaily
Betsy Masiello / Google Public Policy Blog:
Setting the record straight about our privacy policy changes  —  A lot has been said about our new privacy policy.  Some have praised us for making our privacy policy easier to understand.  Others have asked questions, including members of Congress, and that's understandable too.
Gabe Rivera / Techmeme News:
Techmeme has redesigned.  Drudge Report is now indisputably the web's ugliest news site  —  In the beginning, links on web pages were underlined, because that let us know they were links.  And it was good.  But all those underlined words started to afflict the eye, particularly on pages with many links.
Tom Cheredar / VentureBeat:
Warner Bros. now adding restrictions to your Netflix DVD queue  —  Giant media company Warner Brothers might be taking further steps to ensure that its updated distribution strategy for newly released DVD movies has the maximum effect — regardless of how petty the company may seem as a result.
Matt Rosoff / Business Insider:
Google: “Ads Are Just More Answers”  —  When a user searches Google, the ads are just as important as the answers.  —  At least that's what Google says in its annual financial report filed with the SEC this afternoon.  —  The company lists new ad formats as one of the big things it changed in 2012:
More: PandoDaily
Scott Main / Android Developers Blog:
Say Goodbye to the Menu Button  —  Before Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), all Android-powered devices included a dedicated Menu button.  As a developer, you could use the Menu button to display whatever options were relevant to the user, often using the activity's built-in options menu.
Frederic Lardinois / SiliconFilter:
Google Earth 6.2: A Seamless Globe That's Ready for Sharing on Google+  —  Google just launched a major update for Google Earth.  The program now offers one seamless image of the globe instead of a patchwork of separate images that made the Earth look a bit like a quilt in earlier versions.
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Apple Estimated to Retake Title of World's Largest Smartphone Vendor  —  Research firm Strategy Analytics today announced its estimates of the global smartphone market for the fourth quarter of 2011, finding that Apple narrowly squeezed by Samsung to retake the title of world's largest smartphone vendor as measured by unit shipments.
Kim Zetter / Wired.com:
Symantec: We Didn't Know in 2006 Source Code Was Stolen  —  Anti-virus giant Symantec says it did not know back in 2006 that source code for its software was stolen when it experienced a breach at that time.  —  The company surprised the public last week when it disclosed that hackers …
More: The Verge and Gizmodo
Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:
Samsung loses second German 3G patent lawsuit against Apple  —  One week after dismissing Samsung's first German patent infringement lawsuit against Apple, the Mannheim Regional Court also rejected Samsung's second complaint.  —  Either complaint related to the 3G/UMTS wireless telecommunications standard.
Electronista:
Steam hits iOS and Android for buying, but not playing games  —  Steam Mobile live for iOS and Android  —  Valve has partly fulfilled one of the most common wishes of gamers Thursday by posting Steam Mobile.  Versions for both iOS (App Store) and Android (Market) lets users both keep up with their Steam chats and groups while away.
Paul Miller / The Verge:
Debate rages as Spotify, MOG, and Rdio kill / save the music industry  —  For the conscience-laden music consumer, streaming music services present an interesting quandary.  By separating the concept of “legal access to music” from the age-old paradigm of “paying the artist for an entire song or album …
John Paczkowski / AllThingsD:
HTC to Give Up on Quantity and Try Quality  —  HTC's disappointing fourth-quarter earnings seem to have inspired a sea change at the company — or at least given it cause to reconsider its strength-in-SKU-numbers handset strategy.  —  Rather than compulsively adding to the cluttered cavalcade of Titans …
Declan McCullagh / CNET:
Hawaiian politician backs away from Web dossier law  —  A Web site attacking Hawaii Rep. Kym Pine that appears to have given birth to the H.B. 2288 dossier bill  —  A Hawaii politician who proposed requiring Internet providers to record every Web site their customers visit is now backing away from the controversial legislation.
Jordan Kahn / 9to5Google:
Google rolls out new Music Manager with options to download songs, YouTube integration  —  Google just announced Android users will now be able to download all of their songs from a new version of Google Music Manager, allowing you to create a backup of both purchased music from the Google Music store …
Matt McGee / Search Engine Land:
Google's “Trusted Photographers” Turns Business Photos Into A Self-Serve Product  —  Google is hoping to expand its Business Photos product with the launch of a new service called “Trusted Photographers” that essentially makes the process entirely self-service.

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