Techmeme
November 8, 2012, 9:20 AM

Top News

Martin Bryant / The Next Web:
Samsung's Galaxy S III overtakes the iPhone 4S as the world's best-selling smartphone in Q3 2012  —  Samsung's flagship Galaxy S III handset usurped the Apple iPhone 4S as the world's best-selling smartphone in the third quarter of 2012, according to a new report released by market research and consulting firm Strategy Analytics.
Michael Kan / Computerworld:
Apple out of China's top five smartphone list in Q3  —  Coolpad smartphones took third place in market share for China, according to Canalys  —  Apple dropped out of the top five list in China's smartphone market for the third quarter, as local handset vendors saw their shipments surge …
Daniel Terdiman / CNET:
Obama's win a big vindication for Nate Silver, king of the quants  —  Despite some incredulous political pundits, the FiveThirtyEight statistician appears to have correctly predicted the winner in all 50 states in the presidential election.  —  In the end, big data won.
Michael Scherer / TIME:
Tricia Duryee / AllThingsD:
7,000 Starbucks Locations Added to the Square Wallet  —  Starbucks is now accepting Square's mobile payment application at about 7,000 of its stores, as part of a wide-ranging agreement between the two companies.  —  The rollout is right on schedule, coming just three months after the partnership was announced in August.
Jacqueline Seng / CNET:
MasterCard rolls out credit card with display and keypad  —  The next-generation 2-in-1 card features an embedded LCD display and touch-sensitive buttons for generating one-time passwords.  —  Next time you get a new card from your bank, don't be surprised if it has a keypad and an LCD on it.
Dara Kerr / CNET:
Verizon won't charge Sandy victims for voice and text usage  —  As New York and New Jersey residents struggle to get back on their feet after last week's superstorm, the carrier announces it will waive voice and text charges for a two-week period.  —  As Hurricane Sandy bore down on the East Coast …
Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
The Narcissism Of Minor Silicon Valley Differences  —  There's a prevalent myth in Silicon Valley, the myth that people aren't snobs here.  This isn't true.  A sort of reverse/meta-snobbery exists here, mostly intellectual in its nature, and the line between the alphas and the betas is extremely clear cut for those who can see it.
Arik Hesseldahl / AllThingsD:
Hurricane Sandy Proved How Hard It Is to Break the Internet  —  All the damage to the communications infrastructure brought on by Hurricane Sandy is sure giving the people who keep track of the technical underpinnings of the Internet a lot of fodder to see how well things do and don't work in real-world situations.
Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:
Judge blocks California's new ban on anonymity for sex offenders  —  On Tuesday, voters in California overwhelmingly approved Proposition 35, which ratcheted up penalties for those convicted of sex crimes, including human trafficking.  The proposition included a provision requiring registered sex offenders …
More: Wired
Jordan Golson / MacRumors:
Apple Store App Updated With Siri and Gift Card Passbook Support (Theoretically)  —  Apple has updated its Apple Store app [App Store] with support for Siri, and the ability to email Passbook enabled gift cards to friends via the app.  However, despite being in the release notes …
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Patent suits target Google, Intel, hundreds more for encrypting web traffic  —  Enlarge / A figure from the patent that has been asserted against Intel, Google, and hundreds of other companies providing SSL and TLS on their websites.  —  Google  —  An unknown company's four-year campaign …
More: SlashGear
Claire Cain Miller / NYT Bits:
Walk in a Mall, Receive a Mobile Coupon  —  Smart online shoppers always search the Web for a coupon before they make a purchase.  RetailMeNot, one of the leading coupon Web sites, is also trying to offer coupons for mall shoppers via their cellphones.  —  The idea is the same as the paper coupons …
Eva Galperin / Electronic Frontier Foundation:
Egyptian Prosecutor Orders a Ban on Internet Porn  —  Censorship circumvention software is about to become very popular in Egypt.  On Wednesday, the country's Prosecutor General, Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, ordered government ministries to enforce a ban on pornographic websites …
Josh Ong / The Next Web:
With 400 million registered users, China's YY chat client looks to raise up to $97 million in US IPO [update]  —  Chinese social entertainment company YY has updated its documents with the Securities Exchange Commission for its upcoming IPO, revealing that it hopes to bring in as much as $97 million …
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
DC Comics Announces Deals To Sell Digital Comics In Big Three E-Bookstores, Says Digital Sales Have Grown 197%  —  DC Comics is announcing the next big step in its digital plans today, saying it will sell monthly comics in the Kindle Store, iBookstore, and Nook Book Store.
Steve Dent / Engadget:
T-Mobile USA Q3 2012 earnings: Revenue drops 6 percent to $4.9 billion, profit down 15 percent  —  T-Mobile USA just announced its Q3 2012 financials, and both revenue and profits are down over last year: the company took in $4.9 billion, 6.4 percent less than last year, and earned $1.2 billion, a decline of 15.2 percent year-on-year.
Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:
Voters boot three SOPA-sponsoring Hollywood allies from Congress  —  Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), a key supporter of the 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act dedicated to her late husband, lost her seat in Tuesday's election.  —  US Congress  —  When the new Congress takes office in January …
More: CNET

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