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12:50 PM ET, March 15, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Cade Metz / The Register:
Apple handcuffs ‘open’ web apps on iPhone home screen  —  Three ‘bug’ App Store ‘conspiracy’  —  Exclusive Apple's iOS mobile operating system is running web applications at significantly slower speeds when they're launched from the iPhone or iPad home screen as opposed to the Apple Safari browser …
RELATED:
Bryan Wolfe / App Advice:
Is Apple Deliberately Slowing Down Web Apps?
Bloomberg:
Google Is Said to Plan Payment Test in New York, San Francisco  —  Google Inc. (GOOG) plans to start testing a mobile-payment service at stores in New York and San Francisco within four months, letting shoppers use their phones to ring up purchases, two people familiar with the project said.
Kevin Rose Blogg:
Apple's Role in Japan during the Tohoku Earthquake  —  Wow, this email is from a friend of mine that works for Apple in Japan... makes me happy Apple went the extra mile here, check out his story below:  —  Dear Alex L, David, & Kevin,  —  Hi this is XXXXX in Japan.
Dean Hachamovitch / MSDN Blogs:
IE9 Release Globally Available for Consumers and Businesses  —  The final, consumer-ready Internet Explorer 9 is available for download starting at 9:00 PM PDT at www.BeautyOfTheWeb.com in 39 languages.  With this set of browser releases, the best experience of the Web is on Windows.
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
Microsoft Adds Do-Not-Track Tool to Browser
Discussion: Fortune and AdExchanger.com
Matthew Rothenberg / updates @ m.blog:
On Leaving Flickr  —  So uh, yeah... I know these sorts of personal departure posts are a bit trite, and I certainly have mixed feelings about posting one.  However, as Yahoo-bashing is apparently quite de rigueur in the tech press these days, I wanted to make sure my reasons for leaving Flickr …
RELATED:
Jeff / Amazon Web Services Blog:
A New Approach to Amazon EC2 Networking  —  You've been able to use the Amazon Virtual Private Cloud to construct a secure bridge between your existing IT infrastructure and the AWS cloud using an encrypted VPN connection.  All communication between Amazon EC2 instances running within …
Mark Gurman / 9 to 5 Mac:
iPad 2 shortages continue: now shipping in 4-5 weeks from Apple's online store  —  This is already becoming insane: the iPad 2 is now shipping in 4-5 weeks from the Apple online store.  That means if you order an iPad 2 from the online store right now it won't show up at your door step for over a month.
Dina Bass / Bloomberg:
Microsoft Said to Stop Releasing New Zune Models as Demand Ebbs  —  Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) will cease introducing new versions of the Zune music and video-player amid tepid demand, helping the company shift its focus to mobile phones, according to a person familiar with the decision.
Jeremy Horwitz / iLounge:
An Open Letter to Jon Bon Jovi On What's Really “Killing The Music Business”  —  When my wife—a huge and long-time Bon Jovi fan—asked me to spend over $300 for two floor seat tickets to your Valentine's Day show in Toronto, there were two reasons that I said yes.
John Boudreau / Mercury News:
In Silicon Valley, no immediate threat to supply chains from Japan disaster  —  Despite the widespread devastation in Japan, experts don't see imminent dangers to global tech supply chains that Silicon Valley companies depend on.  —  Japan is a powerhouse in production of high-end technology commodities …
RELATED:
Miyoung Kim / Reuters:
Chip prices jump as Japan disaster hits tech supplies
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
Feature: Ars reviews the iPad 2: big performance gains in a slimmer package  —  Apple's original iPad has taken off to levels none of us anticipated when it was launched one year ago.  Though it has very recently gotten some competition in the tablet space, the iPad still dominates the market and mindshare of new tablet buyers.
Tim Stevens / Engadget:
Verizon Wireless stops being coy, confirms HTC Thunderbolt for March 17th at $249.99  —  We said it'd be coming on the 17th, but you didn't believe us.  /Why/ didn't you believe us?  No matter, Verizon's finally fessing up and letting us know the good news: the HTC Thunderbolt drops on March 17th for $249.99.
RELATED:
Matt Hamblen / Computerworld:
First LTE phone, HTC Thunderbolt, coming to Verizon on Thursday
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
Report: Piracy a “global pricing problem” with only one solution  —  A major new report from a consortium of academic researchers concludes that media piracy can't be stopped through “three strikes” Internet disconnections, Web censorship, more police powers, higher statutory damages, or tougher criminal penalties.
Discussion: TechEye
Chris Chang / M.I.C. Gadget:
Facebook Is Not Happy With The Poking Inventor Action Figure  —  We're the big fans of the man who makes the world more open and connected.  So we introduced the “Poking Inventor” action figure.  Everyone likes the social network, but we never thought Mr. Mark Zuckerberg would be unhappy …
Discussion: msnbc.com, Thanks:jeremyfranklin
Matt McGee / Search Engine Land:
Google Relaunches Street View Website  —  Google is revealing more about its sometimes controversial Street View product with an expanded web site that just launched today.  —  The new site continues to show where Street View vehicles are currently active and educates people on how to use Street View's features.
Macworld:
Tablet camera tests: iPad 2 vs. Motorola Xoom vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab  —  Odds are, if you ask anyone waiting in line for an iPad 2, they'll list plenty of reasons why they're lusting after Apple's latest camera-equipped tablet.  —  According to our lab tests, image quality isn't going to be one of them.
Kent Walker / European Public Policy Blog:
Keeping counterfeits out of ads  —  Thanks to the Internet, it's never been easier to start a business and reach a huge audience, at an incredible scale.  Unfortunately, some people misuse legitimate online services to try to market counterfeit goods.  Of course, this isn't a problem unique …
Discussion: Inquirer and WebProNews
Matt Rosoff / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:
Google's 15 Biggest Acquisitions And What Happened To Them  —  Google has a reputation as an innovative company, but in fact it owes a lot of its success to acquisitions.  —  Google basically bought AdSense, the paid search platform that made it a financial powerhouse, from Applied Semantics in 2003.
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Netflix Has 60 Percent Of Digital Movie Market  —  If you're going to pay for a movie over the Web, you don't have to use Netflix.  But there's a very good chance you'll do just that: A 60 percent chance, says NPD.  —  The consumer tracking outfit says Reed Hastings' company owns 61 percent …
Discussion: AppleInsider, The Next Web and MacNN
Anthony Morganti / Gadget Daily News:
Apple Creating a Magazine Publishing Tool for Developers?  —  Since the iPad was announced over a year ago, one of the uses that seemed to be natural for it was that of a Magazine and Newspaper reader.  Real life results, unfortunately have been mixed.  Many magazines such as Wired …
Joe Mullin / paidContent:
Will Congress Push Google To Tweak Its Algorithm To Punish Pirate Sites?  —  Judging by today's hearings, some members of Congress are willing to consider radical measures to rid the internet of “rogue” websites accused of piracy.  Among them: getting search engines like Google (NSDQ: GOOG) …
Jessica Dolcourt / The Download Blog:
Skype introduces Qik Video Connect for iPhone  —  One-time Skype competitor Qik has released its latest app for video communications: Qik Video Connect for iPhone.  The new program expands on Qik's work with video calling and broadcast.  —  The app offers two-way video calls, and lets you record video mail.
 
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 More Items: 
Julie Bosman / New York Times:
Publisher Limits Shelf Life for Library E-Books
Josh Constine / Inside Facebook:
Facebook's Discover New Games Module Shows Users What Their Friends Play
Discussion: All Facebook
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Former Myspacers Build Link Curator ‘Tagging Robot’
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Charlie Sheen Tweets Generated Over 1M Uniques For Internships.com
Discussion: The Blog Herald
Rip Empson / TechCrunch:
Zynga Gamers Raise $1 Million For Tsunami Relief
Discussion: VentureBeat
Ina Fried / Mobilized:
The Sidekick is Dead. Long Live the Sidekick. T-Mobile Aims to Reinvent the Original Smartphone
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
DRAMA IN TWITTERLAND: Featuring Kleiner Perkins, John Doerr And A Dentist
Discussion: Sramana Mitra
 Earlier Items: 
Wall Street Journal:
Rush to Fix Quake-Damaged Undersea Cables
Jennifer Valentino-DeVries / Digits:
Firefox Maker: ‘Do Not Track’ Likely to Be Regulated
Discussion: Electronista
Tim Chaten / App Advice:
iPad 2 Beats Out MacBook Pros In iMovie Speed Tests!
Discussion: everythingiCafe and Gizmodo
Chris Ziegler / Engadget:
Kyocera Echo hits Sprint on April 17th for $200
Sascha Segan / PC Magazine:
How AT&T Totally Flubbed 4G