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6:30 AM ET, February 18, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
New York Times:
Apple Is Weighing a Cheaper iPhone  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Apple has been exploring ways to broaden the appeal of the iPhone by making the popular device less expensive and allowing users to control it with voice commands.  —  But contrary to published reports, Apple is not currently developing …
RELATED:
Arn / MacRumors:
Apple Not Planning to Launch a Smaller iPhone
Discussion: Phones Review
Wall Street Journal:
Regulators Eye Apple Anew  —  Enforcers Interested in Whether Digital-Subscription Rules Stifle Competition  —  WASHINGTON—U.S. antitrust enforcers have begun looking at the terms Apple Inc. set this week for media companies who want to sell their content on its popular iPad and other devices …
The Official Google Blog:
An update to Google Social Search  —  Today we're doing a little bit more to bring you all the goodness of Google, plus the opinions of the people you care about.  As always, we want to help you find the most relevant answers among the billions of interconnected pages on the web.
RELATED:
Foremski / Silicon Valley Watcher:
Analysis: Google Social Search Is All About Blocking Facebook/Twitter Search
Discussion: Fortune and SAI
Popular Mechanics:
Confessions of an Apple Store Employee  —  Apple is famous for its secrecy, with a code of silence that runs from top management all the way down to its retail employees.  One Apple Store employee decided to throw protocol to the curb and tell us what it's really like working at the vaunted retail outlets.
Carla Marinucci / San Francisco Chronicle:
Obama dines with tech stars of Silicon Valley  —  (02-18) 04:00 PST Woodside - —  President Obama - on his first official trip to the Bay Area that didn't involve political fundraising - held a dinner meeting Thursday to talk job creation and education with a star-studded team …
RELATED:
Matt Spetalnick / Reuters:   Apple's Jobs at tech CEO meeting with Obama: White House
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Gawker's Gulp Moment: Big Redesign Is Driving People Away  —  About ten days ago, gossip blog Gawker and its sister sites Gizmodo, Lifehacker and others switched over to a drastic redesign which was met with plenty of jeers.  People always complain about design changes …
Discussion: SAI
Evelyn M. Rusli / DealBook:
Zynga Nears Deal Valuing It at Close to $10 Billion  —  Zynga, the company behind many of the Web's most viral games, is in advanced discussions on an investment that would value the company at nearly $10 billion and could pave the way for an initial public offering next year.
RELATED:
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Zynga Raising $500 Million at $10 Billion Valuation
Discussion: PE Hub Blog and SAI
Connie Loizos / PE Hub Blog:
It's Not a Bubble, People; It's a Pyramid Scheme  —  Mark Cuban knows a thing or two about bubbles, having profited handsomely from an earlier Internet boom.  But ask him if we're seeing Bubble 2.0 and he'll give you a different theory.  —  “It's almost the 2011 version of a private equity chain letter …
Discussion: Howard Lindzon and DealBook
Ryan Kim / GigaOM:
Apple Contemplating Reduction in 15-Minute App Purchase Window  —  In an apparent response to rising concerns about children buying costly virtual goods in freemium apps, Apple is reportedly discussing the possibility of reducing a 15-minute purchase window for users to buy successive apps …
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
‘Year Of The Rabbit’ Begins As Chrome 10 Hops Into Beta With ‘Crankshaft’ JavaScript  —  As they have made abundantly clear over the past several months, Google hates talking about the version numbers of Chrome.  —  Well, except when they have something to talk about.  Which is actually quite often.
Michael Kan / PC World:
Lenovo to Launch LePad Tablet Worldwide in June  —  Chinese PC maker Lenovo plans on selling its LePad tablet worldwide in June, but will first launch the device in China at the end of March, a company spokesman said on Friday.  —  The LePad, Lenovo's first tablet computer …
Discussion: SAI, Softpedia News, SlashGear and Engadget
Paul Lamkin / Pocket-lint:
Acer Windows Phone 7 devices coming Autumn 2011  —  EXCLUSIVE: September or October release  —  An Acer spokesperson has confirmed to Pocket-lint that Acer will be joining the Windows Phone 7 party this autumn, with a September or October 2011 launch planned.
Phil Hornshaw / Appolicious Advisor:
Apple adds copyright infringement to reasons for rejecting apps  —  Apps mentioned:  —  The iTunes App Store is a big place, and in such a large and crowded digital space, there are bound to be a few unseemly characters.  —  One such character is intellectual property theft …
Discussion: PlagiarismToday
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Nordstrom Acquires Flash Sales Site HauteLook For $270 Million  —  In one of the larger exits so far in the flash sales business, retail chain Nordstrom has acquired flash sales site HauteLookfor $180 million in Nordstrom stock and three-year earn-out of up to $90 million.  HauteLook has raised $41 million in funding.
Sascha Segan / PC Magazine:
Skype: Expect Video Calling for AT&T  —  Now that Skype and Qik have joined, they plan to bring video calls to all four major US carriers.  —  BARCELONA—Skype's video-calling prowess will improve the quality of Qik video calls on Sprint and T-Mobile devices, and the joined company is pursuing …
Discussion: Electronista and Engadget
Tricia Duryee / eMoney:
Telltale Signs That Videogames Will Be Downloaded, Not Sold at Retail  —  The business of selling plastic-wrapped videogames for $60 apiece is becoming an ancient practice, as digital downloads take over-often at lower prices.  —  But a small San Rafael, Calif.-based videogame company thinks …
Alex Williams / ReadWriteCloud:
Amazon CTO Werner Vogels Now Hosts His Blog on Amazon S3 and So Can You  —  Amazon is now offering hosting for static Web sites through S3.  It makes it possible now for people with blogs and static Web sites to get the power of Amazon Web Services performance.  —  Its first customer?
Neil Hughes / AppleInsider:
Apple looking to increase battery life with dense lithium cells  —  Apple is investigating techniques to increase the energy capacity of rechargeable lithium battery cells without increasing the size of the battery, allowing longer battery life in future devices.
Leander Kahney / Cult of Mac:
Confirmed: Apple To Build Biggest Store Yet In Grand Central Terminal [Exclusive]  —  Apple will be building a massive store in New York's Grand Central Terminal, we have independently confirmed.  The store will open in the fall, likely early September — and it will be Apple's largest retail space in the world.
Jan Wildeboer:
Microsoft: Absolutely NO (GPLv3-or-compat-licensed) Free Software for Windows Phone and Xbox Apps.  —  This is rather uncool, IMHO, I stumbled upon this forum entry and was quite astonished.  It points to the Microsoft Application Provider Agreement that governs the Windows Marketplace …
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Spotify Signs On EMI for U.S. Launch.  At Least One More to Go...  It's getting closer: Spotify has finalized a U.S. distribution deal with EMI Music, multiple sources tell me.  —  Both EMI and Spotify declined to comment.  —  Coupled with last month's Sony deal, Spotify now has the approval …
Mike Melanson / ReadWriteWeb:
Klout Chrome Extension Brings Scores to the Twitter Timeline  —  Time and again, we're told that influence on Twitter isn't simply about the number of followers someone has.  It's about a number of different factors, from retweets to reach to interaction, and more.
 
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 More Items: 
Stephen Lawson / CIO.com:
Clearwire Gains Subscribers, Remains in the Red
Fatema Yasmine / The Next Web:
Naval Ravikant and AngelList: The Match.com of Funding [Interview]
Stephen Lawson / PC World:
House Passes Defunding of Net Neutrality Rules
Discussion: NewsGrange
Daniel Eran Dilger / AppleInsider:
Inside subscription content: Apple iPad vs Google One Pass vs Amazon Kindle
Brodie Beta / The Next Web:
Netflix may get slapped with fees to broadcast in Canada
Andrew Lyle / Neowin.net:
Microsoft planning IE9 announcement on March 14, launch imminent?
Discussion: The Windows Blog, Thanks:lylesback2
Daniel Eran Dilger / AppleInsider:
Apple nearing CDMA iPhone 4 deal with China Telecom
 Earlier Items: 
Tricia Duryee / eMoney:
Amazon Lets Users Buy Android Apps Before Their New Device Even Ships
Discussion: NBC Bay Area
Darryl K. Taft / eWeek:
Google Asks Patent Office for Second Opinion on Oracle's Android Claims
Jennifer Lynch / Electronic Frontier Foundation:
Newly Released Documents Detail FBI's Plan to Expand Federal Surveillance Laws
Wall Street Journal:
Accel Targets $2 Billion for New Venture Funds
Discussion: PE Hub Blog and SAI
Matthew Lynley / VentureBeat:
Y Combinator founder: There is no tech bubble
Discussion: VatorNews, SAI, Deal Journal and PE Hub Blog
Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land:
Redesigned Bing Bar Toolbar More Like A “Dashboard”
 

 
From Mediagazer:

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”

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

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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