Techmeme
June 20, 2012, 2:10 PM

Top News

Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Live from Microsoft's Windows Phone summit  —  Demo time for “Smart Groups shot.”  Camera Extras include new extensions with self-timer, action shot for burst mode, panorama, and group-shot.  Nokia Music 3.0 - adds “gig enhancements, mix radio enhancements, and offline playback enhancements.”
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft: no upgrades to Windows Phone 8, but some features will come in Windows Phone 7.8  —  It's official, Microsoft is not offering Windows Phone 8 to existing handsets.  We exclusively revealed Microsoft's plans back in April, and the reaction generated Windows Phone discussions far and wide.
Matthew Panzarino / The Next Web:
Microsoft announces Windows Phone 8, shares code core with Windows 8, ships this fall  —  Today at the Windows Phone Summit in San Francisco, Microsoft formally announced Windows Phone 8 for the first time.  —  “Today, for the first time, we are here to preview the first chapter in our Windows Story …
Peter Bright / Ars Technica:
Windows Phone 8's new, even more personal Start screen  —  Windows Phone 8 will sport a new Start screen that builds on the personalization features of the Windows Phone 7.5 interface, making it even more customizable and personal.  The core concept of the Start screen is the live tiles.
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 finally gets a ‘real’ Windows core  —  Summary: The rumors were true: Windows Embedded is out and the Windows NT kernel is in with Microsoft's Windows Phone 8.  —  Microsoft execs have always been reticent to talk about the guts of its Windows Phone (and its predecessor, Windows Mobile) operating systems.
Joseph Volpe / Engadget:
Microsoft partners with Audible to enhance Windows Phone voice recognition, available for WP 7.5 and up  —  Siri, S Voice — well, now Microsoft's got its own answer to those rival voice services and it's coming in the form of a partnership with Audible on the Windows Phone platform.
Jon Fingas / Engadget:
Windows Phone 8 to support multi-core CPUs, HD resolutions, SD cards and NFC  —  Microsoft is on stage at the Windows Phone Developer Summit offering us a bite of what's to come in Windows Phone 8, and one of the tastiest morsels may just be the noticeably more diverse hardware it will support.
Sam Biddle / Gizmodo:
Microsoft Boots Bing Maps for Nokia in Windows Phone 8  —  We saw this coming, and we're glad it's true: Windows Phone 8 will replace Bing Maps with Nokia's stellar mapping tech.  —  The Nokia data will be available offline—a huge perk—and include turn by turn directions, 3D, and fast transit planning.
Reuters:
Microsoft kept PC partners in dark about Surface  —  (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp kept its personal computer partners largely in the dark about its plans to launch a competing tablet computer, with some long-time collaborators learning of the new gadget only days before its unveiling, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Thomas Ricker / The Verge:
Samsung owed compensation from Apple after winning 3G patent ruling in The Hague  —  The Hague District Court has ruled in Samsung's favor regarding a 3G patent asserted against Apple.  As reported by AllAboutPhones, Samsung has already issued a press release ahead of the decision's publication:
Dan Levine / Reuters:
Apple, Google to face off in key smartphone hearing  —  (Reuters) - Apple Inc will try to salvage a high-profile lawsuit against Google Inc's Motorola Mobility unit on Wednesday at a crucial hearing in the smartphone patent wars between the two tech companies.
Nick Turner / Bloomberg:
RIM's Job Cuts Under Way as Company Seeks $1B in Savings  —  Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), the struggling maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, is cutting jobs as part of a broad cost-saving effort aimed at trimming $1 billion in operating expenses.  —  “RIM has committed to achieving …
Brittany Darwell / Inside Facebook:
Facebook hides page content from logged-out users  —  Facebook pages are no longer visible to users who are logged out of the social network.  —  Users who visit fan pages without being signed into Facebook will not be able to see any details on a page's Timeline besides a login dialog.
Kim-Mai Cutler / TechCrunch:
Peter Thiel Launches Mithril: A New $402 Million Late-Stage Fund  —  Peter Thiel may be best known for his angel investments, most notably, his legendary call with Facebook.  But now he's got something for companies that sit just on the cusp between public and private markets.
Mark Milian / Bloomberg:
New Incubators Focus on Hardware  —  Arye Barnehama had an idea for a headband that could measure a person's level of focus.  So last year, he recruited people with the know-how to design software and arrange circuit boards to help build it.  —  “We had a really great foundation for the company,” he said.
Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:
Ex-Googlers Launch Avocado, An App For Couples Backed By Baseline, General Catalyst, And Lightspeed  —  There's a growing market for mobile apps designed to help couples stay closer.  The phenomenon first came to my attention with the launch of Pair at Y Combinator's most recent demo day.
Kevin Fitchard / GigaOM:
Swype's new “living keyboard” doesn't just predict, it learns  —  Swype, the text input interface now common on Android phones, just got a whole lot smarter.  New owner Nuance Communications is updating Swype with the same sophisticated contextual language technologies it uses in its speech recognition products.
Sean Ludwig / VentureBeat:
Bitcasa's ‘infinite’ cloud storage wins $7M from Pelion, Horizons, others  —  Cloud storage startup Bitcasa has nabbed $7 million in its first round of funding to realize its vision of giving consumers “infinite storage” for all of their devices for $10 a month.
Mike Butcher / TechCrunch:
HotelTonight ExpandsTo The UK, Former Jetsetter Leads The Charge  —  HotelTonight, the last-minute discounted hotels booking app, is bringing its service to the UK, with an initial service in London launching today.  In addition, Heather Leisman, most recently of the troubled Jetsetter travel startup, has joined as MD for Europe.
Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land:
Bing Ties Yellow Pages Sites For Most Accurate Local Data  —  In April I wrote about a local data accuracy study preformed by a company called Implied Intelligence.  The company offers data services to publishers and developers.  In April the company found that yellow pages site Superpages bested Google Maps …
Darrell Etherington / BetaKit:
Pathbrite Raises $2.5M, Looks to Become Academic Credentials 2.0  —  Online portfolio startup Pathbrite today announced a Series A funding round of $2.5 million, led by Rethink Education and including strategic investment from ACT, makers of standardized tests and testing material for high school and college admissions.

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Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

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