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9:10 PM ET, December 14, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
The Official Google Blog:
Making URLs shorter for Google Toolbar and FeedBurner  —  This morning, we launched updated versions of the Google Toolbar and FeedBurner that offer a new URL shortening service from Google called the Google URL Shortener.  We mentioned our URL shortener as a feature in both announcements …
RELATED:
Eric Eldon / Inside Facebook:
Facebook Testing New URL Shortener, fb.me  —  URL shorteners, like bit.ly, have become a popular way for people to share links on Twitter while taking up as few of the allotted 140 characters as possible.  But saving space is just one of the benefits that shorteners provide.
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Bit.ly Just Got Fu.kd: Facebook And Google Get Into The Short URL Game  —  Moments after we heard reports of Facebook's new URL shortener, Google launched its own service, aptly called goo.gl.  —  At the moment, its only being used for Google Toolbar and Feedburner.
Discussion: Mashable! and CloudAve
Joshua Topolsky / Engadget:
Exclusive: first Google Phone / Nexus One photos, Android 2.1 on-board  —  Well here you have it folks, honest-to-goodness pics of the Google Phone... AKA, the Nexus One.  As you can see by the photos, the design of the device is largely similar to those we've seen, but the graphic …
RELATED:
Reuters:
Google phone with T-Mobile contract in January: source  —  FRANKFURT/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc will sell a version of its own-branded cellphone for a reduced price to U.S. consumers who agree to a service contract from Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA, a source familiar with the matter said.
Thomas Ricker / Engadget:
HTC Nexus One blessed by the FCC (updated)  —  Well lookie here.  A little phone by the name of “NEXUSONE” just slipped through the FCC as model number PB99100 built by HTC.  The filing also confirms a few more details including microSD expansion, 802.11b/g WiFi, and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR.
AdSense for Feeds:
Socializing your feed with Twitter  —  Sometimes you reach across the hedgerow to share with your nearby neighbors.  Other times, members of the household move away and yet you can't keep from calling to remind them to wear a hat and such because it's chilly out.
RELATED:
Emma Barnett / Telegraph:
Marissa Mayer: An omnivorous Google is coming  —  Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president for search products and user experience, shares her unparalleled insights into the future of internet search engines.  —  The next big breakout area for Google is going to be language, according to Marissa Mayer.
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Facebook For Android Just Got A Big Upgrade, Is Catching Up To Its iPhone Cousin  —  For quite a while now now, one of the biggest problems with Android has been its app support.  In particular, the Facebook application has been quite limited: you could read your News Feed …
Jim Dalrymple / CNET News:
Apple apologizes for iMac delays  —  Apple on Sunday apologized to customers amid reports of shipping delays of its recently introduced iMac computer.  —  “The new iMac has been a huge hit and we are working hard to fulfill orders as quickly as possible,” an Apple spokesperson told CNET.
Andrew Nusca / Between the Lines:
Best Buy, Samsung, Westinghouse, 11 more named in GPL lawsuit  —  Best Buy, Samsung, Westinghouse and JVC are among 14 consumer electronics companies named in a copyright infringement lawsuit filed today in New York by the Software Freedom Law Center.  —  According to the complaint (.pdf) …
Ben Parr / Mashable!:
BREAKING: Twitter Starts Testing Features for Businesses  —  We know that Twitter believes that businesses are central to helping grow and monetize the microblogging service; recent integrations with Citysearch and LinkedIn have foretold its interest in the space.
Discussion: CNET News, VentureBeat and Twitter Blog
Matt Buchanan / Gizmodo:
Fuse: What Your Next Touch Phone Is Going to Feel Like  —  Fuse is what Synaptics—who probably made the trackpad you're swirling your finger on, and maybe your phone's touchscreen—says the next generation of touch phones will be like: You'll be squeezing, touching and stroking the phone, all over.
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
ZumoDrive Lands $1.5 Million For Cloud Storage And Syncing Application  —  File syncing and storage startup Zumodrive has raised $1.5 million in funding led by Sherpalo Ventures with Tandem Entrepreneurs and VeriFone CEO Douglas Bergeron participating.  We initially reviewed Zumodrive here.
Discussion: paidContent, VentureBeat and VatorNews
The Official Google Blog:
Cloud apps, big city: LA goes Google  —  This fall we've seen lots of government agencies decide to make the switch to cloud computing, joining the many businesses already using Google Apps for email and collaboration at work.  Today we'd like to officially welcome another customer to the mix: the City of Los Angeles.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
The Unofficial Google Text-To-Speech API  —  Last month Google unveiled enhancements to Google Translate.  Among the new features was a simple text-to-speech function.  You can try it out, or watch this video to see how it works (skip to 0:45).  —  There's no official API for the text-to-speech service.
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Exclusive: MySpace Eyes Flixster  —  Now that the digital equivalent of a super-vac, MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta, has sucked up some decent music start-ups-Imeem and iLike-for a song, to bolster the social networking site's efforts to expand into an entertainment portal, what's next?
Discussion: Mashable!
Fred / A VC:
Why Social Beats Search  —  That's a controversial post headline and I don't mean that social will always beat search, but there's a rising chorus out there about “content farms” and search optimized content creation that is worth touching on.  —  Arrington started it when he posted about “the end of hand crafted content”.
Jennifer Van Grove / Mashable!:
iPhone Users Urged to Take Down AT&T  —  Apparently, AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega's recent remarks concerning the carrier's plans to “incentivize” mobile data hogs to cut back on their usage rates aren't sitting well with AT&T customers.  Shocker.  —  Fake Steve Jobs, for one, has had enough of AT&T's excuses.
BetaNews:
The case in favor of the open source enterprise database  —  Linux and open source middleware JBoss has made its mark in the enterprise, and it is just a matter of time before open source becomes mainstream in other functional parts of the IT infrastructure as well.
Discussion: internetnews.com and eWeek
Dan Goodin / The Register:
Hackers declare war on international forensics tool  —  Microsoft's COFEE decaffeinated  —  Hackers have released software they say sabotages a suite of forensics utilities provided for free by Microsoft to hundreds of law enforcement agencies across the globe.
Sean Fallon / Gizmodo:
Boxee Beta Leaks on BitTorrent  —  Interested in trying out the latest version of Boxee with its fancy new UI?  Beta 0.9.20.9647 is now available for download from The Pirate Bay.  [TPB]
Discussion: TechSpot
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Brainstorm Tech:
The Mac's holiday momentum  —  A pair of analysts see an end-of-the-year uptick in Apple's computer sales  —  “Our conversations with industry contacts suggest that the Mac shipment levels have improved over the last two weeks,” writes J.P. Morgan's Mark Moskowitz in a report to clients issued Monday morning.
Jon Fortt / Brainstorm Tech:
How LG is getting teens to think before they text  —  With its “Give It A Ponder” campaign, the handset maker walks the line between lecture and laughs  —  LG's viral marketing campaign is using humor to get teens to think before they text.  Image: Facebook.
Discussion: Between the Lines
TeliaSonera:
TeliaSonera first in the world with 4G services  —  Today, as the first operator in the world, TeliaSonera launches 4G services commercially to customers in Stockholm, Sweden and Oslo, Norway.  —  “We are very proud to be the first operator in the world to offer our customers 4G services.
New York Times:
Author Grants Exclusive E-Book Rights to Amazon  —  Ever since electronic books emerged as a major growth market, New York's largest publishing houses have worried that big-name authors might sign deals directly with e-book retailers or other new ventures, bypassing traditional publishers entirely.
Mia / YouTube Blog:
Release Notes: Find Facebook Friends, Total Video Views & More  —  Here are a couple of things we launched recently:  —  Find your Facebook friends and Yahoo contacts on YouTube: In addition to finding your Gmail contacts on YouTube, now you can find and connect with the people you know on Facebook …
 
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 More Items: 
Eric Slivka / MacRumors iPhone Blog:
Tesco Launches iPhone in UK Today
Discussion: IntoMobile and LOOPRumors
Jessica Dolcourt / Crave: The gadget blog:
Seesmic Twitter app lands in BlackBerry store
Discussion: MobileCrunch, Thanks:loic
Wendy Davis / MediaPost:
Judge OKs Class-Action Suit For ATandT Broadband Slowdown
Brad Stone / New York Times:
Viruses That Leave Victims Red in the Facebook
Discussion: CrunchGear, Thanks:atul
Camille Ricketts / VentureBeat:
Clarizen gives companies real-time glimpses into project pipelines
Discussion: VC Cafe and TechCrunch
Tameka Kee / paidContent:
Paramount, Redbox Extend Rental Rev-Share Trial—With Focus On New Releases
Discussion: PR Newswire and NewTeeVee
Nielsen Wire:
U.S. Web Users Spent Just Over 66 Hours on the Computer in November
Discussion: BetaNews and ResourceShelf
 Earlier Items: 
The Huffington Post:
The Goracle — Al Gore, the Internet and the Future of American Politics
Michelle Maisto / eWeek:
BlackBerry User Satisfaction on Rise, as iPhone, Droid Skirmish
Discussion: Brainstorm Tech
Times of London:
Spinvox nears £92m takeover
Yukari Iwatani Kane / Digits:
App Watch: Exploiting the iPhone Lock Screen
Todd Spangler / Multichannel News:
Can TiVo Reinvent Itself?
Discussion: NewTeeVee and DSLreports, Thanks:arjo
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Authentic Brands licenses Sports Illustrated's publishing rights to The Players' Tribune owner Minute Media for 10 years, with plans to keep the print edition

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Ofcom rules that five GB News programs presented by Conservative politicians have broken its due impartiality rules and puts the channel “on notice”

Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTuber MrBeast announces a deal with Prime Video for Beast Games, a reality-competition show with 1,000 contestants, promising the winner a $5M cash prize

 
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