Check out Mini-Techmeme for simple mobiles or Techmeme Mobile for modern smartphones.
1:45 PM ET, December 17, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Get Ready For The Google Branded Chrome OS Netbook  —  Most of the tech world now considers it a given that Google will be selling its own unlocked phone, called the Nexus One, to customers directly early in 2010.  A few stragglers are still debating the finer points of the difference between Google working …
Facebook:
Facebook Data Team: How Diverse is Facebook?  —  How Diverse is Facebook?  —  In order to make Facebook as open and connected as possible for everyone, one of our goals is to understand how different populations of users join and use the service.  With that objective in mind …
RELATED:
Mike Swift / Mercury News:
Facebook releases first-ever demographic look at users
Discussion: NPR Blogs
Arn / MacRumors:
Apple Working on 3D ‘Hyper-Reality’ Displays  —  Apple's patent applications always provide an interesting peek into what Apple researchers have been working on.  In one of the more interesting patent applications we've discovered, Apple appears to be researching 3D displays in which the user will be able to look around an object.
Nick Bilton / Bits:
A Day in the Life of NYTimes.com  —  Have you ever wondered where the readers of The New York Times's Web site come from, and what kind of devices they use to read our content?  In a past life, not too long ago, when I worked in The Times's research and development labs …
Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider
Thomas Ricker / Engadget:
ComScore: iPhone overtakes Windows Mobile use for the first time in US  —  There are plenty of ways to measure smartphone marketshare.  IDC measures units shipped from manufacturers whereas Gartner measures units sold to consumers.  Then there's comScore, the research firm that conducts monthly surveys …
Matt Webb / BERG:
Mag+, a concept video on the future of digital magazines  —  I've got something I want to share with you.  —  We've been working with our friends at Bonnier R&D exploring the future of digital magazines.  Bonnier publish Popular Science and many other titles.
RELATED:
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Yet Another (Very Attractive) E-Magazine Fantasy
Discussion: Electronista
Bruno Bowden / The Official Google Blog:
Browser Size: a tool to see how others view your website  —  In a newspaper, the most important story is featured on the front page.  If it's a really important piece, then it's placed “above the fold,” which means you can find it on the top half of the first page — the bottom half …
Raphaël Moll / Android Developers Blog:
Knowing is half the battle  —  As a developer, I often wonder which Android platforms my applications should support,especially as the number of Android-powered devices grows.  Should my application only focus on the latest version of the platform or should it support older ones as well?
Discussion: Android Phone Fans, Thanks:atul
RELATED:
Tim Conneally / BetaNews:   Analytics: 15% of all Android devices are Motorola Droids
Hugo Miller / Bloomberg:
RIM Says BlackBerry E-Mail Service Is Interrupted  —  Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) — Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry phone, said some North American customers using the device are experiencing problems with their e-mail service.  —  Technicians are working on the problem, the Waterloo …
Google LatLong:
Google & Audi take Google services in a car to the next level in the new Audi A8  —  Nowadays, it seems like everything is connected to the Internet: mobile phones, laptops, netbooks, portable game consoles, personal navigation devices.  Think of how applications such as Google Maps for mobile …
Brandon Hill / DailyTech:
Dell Lays Off 700 Workers, Dell.com Suddenly Filled with Numerous Price Mistakes  —  Simply a coincidence, or payback from scorned employees?  —  Maybe it's a coincidence, but Dell's recent round of layoffs seems to have sparked a flurry of price mistakes on Dell.com.
BBC:
YouTube post leads to movie deal  —  A producer from Uruguay who uploaded a short film to YouTube in November 2009 has been offered a $30m (£18.6m) contract to make a Hollywood film.  —  The movie will be sponsored by director Sam Raimi, whose credits include the Spiderman and Evil Dead films.
Discussion: Pocket-lint.com and Open Gardens
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols / Computerworld:
Shuttleworth steps down as Ubuntu CEO  —  In a morning press call on December 17th, 2009 Mark Shuttleworth announced that he was stepping down as head of Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu.  In his place, Jane Silber, the current Chief Operating Officer who has been with Canonical since 2004 will take over as CEO.
Discussion: eWeek and OStatic blogs
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Exclusive: Ex-MySpace Execs Launch Gravity Into Private Beta  —  Back in March 2009 a trio of MySpace execs -COO Amit Kapur, SVP Steve Pearman and SVP Jim Benedetto - left to begin working on a new startup.  —  In May we learned that the company, then called Blue Rover Labs, had raised $10 million in funding.
Discussion: GigaOM, Thanks:mrinaldesai
Ina Fried / CNET News:
Windows 7 leaving Redmond's help desk less busy  —  There are many ways to measure how Windows 7 is doing.  There are reports on new PC sales, tallies of boxed copy sales, and surveys of planned enterprise adoption, to name a few.  —  But one of the most encouraging signs for Microsoft …
Nilay Patel / Engadget:
Zune HD Twitter app now live UPDATE: it censors tweets!  —  It was a slow rollout today, but the promised Zune HD Twitter app is now live in Marketplace.  We've been playing with it a little since we got it, and while it's definitely one of the more attractive mobile Twitter clients we've come across …
David Kaplan / paidContent:
WSJ, MarketWatch and NY Post Subscriptions Coming To Sony E-Reader  —  Sony (NYSE: SNE) has struck a deal with News Corp (NYSE: NWS). that gives the electronics company the opportunity to sell subscriptions to the WSJ digital edition of the WSJ, as well its Dow Jones sibling MarketWatch …
Wall Street Journal:
Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones  —  $26 Software Is Used to Breach Key Weapons in Iraq; Iranian Backing Suspected  —  WASHINGTON — Militants in Iraq have used $26 off-the-shelf software to intercept live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, potentially providing them with information they need …
Zee / The Next Web Network:
Report: The Most Active Online Are The Most Educated.  —  People who spend the most time online are in fact the most educated claims a recent report from Eurostat.  —  The study, that covered households containing at least one person aged 16-74 across Europe, shows that nearly 90 …
Discussion: TechStartups.com
Dan Nystedt / PC World:
Asustek Plans EeeBot Educational Robot  —  Asustek Computer plans to develop an educational robot for kids called the EeeBot along with software and services as part of several technology projects sponsored by the Taiwan government.  —  The goal is to build an affordable robot able to interact …
Kat Hannaford / Gizmodo:
3D Blu-ray Specs Officially Confirmed, We Can All Breathe Easy Now  —  The Blu-ray Disc Association has issued the official specifications for 3D Blu-ray, thankfully confirming that the discs will be backwards-compatible for when you tire of actors lunging out of the TV at you.
The Official Google Blog:
Transliteration goes global  —  Most of us use a keyboard to enter text; it's one of the most basic activities we perform on a computer.  However even this simple activity can be cumbersome in many parts of the world.  If you've ever tried to type in a non-Roman script using a Roman keyboard, you know that it can be difficult to do.
Discussion: The Next Web Network
Telegraph:
Most influential British Twitter users revealed  —  Stephen Fry is the most influential Twitter user in the world of entertainment, but social media blogger Pete Cashmore is named most influential overall.  —  Cashmore, chief executive of Mashable, the highly influential social media blog …
Discussion: Mashable!
Jonny Evans / 9 to 5 Mac:
AT&T dismisses tiered data chatter?  —  AT&T has dismissed speculation it intends changing the way it charges iPhone users for data plans on its service, but hopes to encourage customers to use other methods to get their data in future.  —  “We have not made any decision to implement tiered pricing …
Rob Jackson / Android Phone Fans:
Motorola Backflip/Enzo Pictures & Details!  —  We just got a big scoop from an anonymous tipster that will leave you doing backflips... or, uh... Enzos.  If you remember our first Motorola Backflip article, you'll remember a unique/odd form factor that left people guessing exactly how it would work.
Daniel Brusilovsky / TechCrunch:
Skribit Finally Launches, Aims to Cure Your Writer's Block  —  Skribit, the startup that is trying to help cure writer's block, has opened its doors to the public after being in beta since its inception at Startup Weekend Atlanta in November of 2007.  Yes, that's a really long time to be in beta …
Discussion: PaulStamatiou.com
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Nimbuzz Comes to Android.  Nice.  —  Earlier this month, when Fring launched its messaging and communications application for the Android platform, it was clear that rival Nimbuzz, a Netherlands-based VoIP and messaging services company, wouldn't be far behind.
Discussion: Android Central
Jackie Kong / Facebook Blog:
Celebrating Anniversaries on Facebook  —  As much as I enjoy celebrating my birthday every year with my friends, I often regard the anniversary of my relationship with my significant other to be even more important.  —  At Facebook, we're always looking to make it easier to share and recognize such milestones.
Gregg Keizer / Computerworld:
FAQ: How the IE ballot screen works  —  Microsoft, EU ink deal, but what's under the hood of landmark concession?  —  Computerworld - After an 11-month legal face-off, Microsoft and European antitrust officials yesterday signed off on the ballot screen concept that will give Windows users a chance to download rivals' browsers.
Discussion: SitePoint
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of Techmeme at 1:45 PM ET, December 17, 2009.

View the current page or another snapshot:


 
 Techmeme Sponsor Posts: 
Tribe AI:
Build AI that works  —  Tribe builds tech for top AI companies.  Get in touch to learn how our bench of 500+ engineers and researchers can accelerate your roadmap.
Kulkan Security:
Hire Kulkan as your penetration testing partner  —  Kulkan prioritizes deep-dive manual security reviews, dissecting your software and infrastructure to find issues that once remediated can truly reduce security risk.
Zoho:
Navigating the workday with Zoho Cliq's task management capabilities  —  As Monday dawns and I settle into my workday with a steaming cup of coffee, I brace myself for the usual storm of tasks headed my way.
Mastodon:
Donate to Mastodon  —  Mastodon gGmbH, the non-profit behind the open-source software powering the social web, relies entirely on support from users like you.  Donate directly with a credit card or through Patreon.
Sponsor Techmeme
 
 See Also: 
Techmeme: site main
Techmeme River: reverse chronological Techmeme
Techmeme Mobile: for phones
Techmeme Leaderboard: Techmeme's top sources
 
 Subscribe: 
Techmeme RSS feed
Techmeme on X
Techmeme on Mastodon
 
 
 More Items: 
Business Wire:
NAVIGON Adds Google Local Search to iPhone Navigation App …
Jonny Evans / 9 to 5 Mac:
Kindle is ‘iPod of the book world’ - Citigroup
Discussion: Tech Trader Daily
Jonny Evans / 9 to 5 Mac:
Psst: Looking for an iPod nano clone? Aldi has it covered...
Nick O'Neill / All Facebook:
How Facebook's New Privacy Settings Could Prevent Freedom Abroad
Todd Zeigler / The Bivings Report:
The Use of Twitter by America's Newspapers
MediaShift:
Lessons Learned from Tweeting a Biker Gang Trial
 Earlier Items: 
Mwsherman / ClipperHouse:
Amazon's core competency? Pricing.
Political Punch:
V.P. Biden to Announce Stimulus Funding for Broadband Internet Projects
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
EA to launch three big franchise games on the iPhone
Discussion: Fast Company
Om Malik / GigaOM:
How Facebook Squeezes More From Its Machines
Discussion: Online Dating Insider
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Craigslist Unclogs Yahoo Pipes
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Ben Sherwood and Joanna Coles take minority stakes in The Daily Beast; Sherwood will be CEO and publisher, and Coles will be chief creative and content officer

Laurence Peter / BBC:
Russia's Ministry of Justice labels BBC Russian correspondent Ilya Barabanov and science reporter Asya Kazantseva as “foreign agents”; both now live abroad

Sahil Patel / The Information:
Sources: Disney plans old-style TV channels within Disney+, with a continuous, scheduled stream of shows that are focused on certain genres like Star Wars

 
Sister Sites:

Mediagazer
 Top news and commentary for media professionals from all around the web
memeorandum
 What US political commentators are discussing online right now
WeSmirch
 The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page