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12:10 AM ET, August 16, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Exclusive: Guess who else wanted to buy Motorola?  —  Google may not have had much of a choice when it came to buying Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion.  If it didn't, someone else would have and that would have put the company in an even bigger patent hole.
RELATED:
Larry Page / The Official Google Blog:
Supercharging Android: Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility  —  Since its launch in November 2007, Android has not only dramatically increased consumer choice but also improved the entire mobile experience for users.  Today, more than 150 million Android devices have been activated worldwide …
Henry Blodget / The Business Insider:
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE GOOGLE-MOTOROLA DEAL: It Could End Up Being A Disaster  —  A very interesting move by Google this morning, buying handset hardware maker Motorola for $12.5 billion.  —  Google deserves credit for a big, bold move.  —  But let's be real: This deal could end up being a disaster.
MG Siegler / parislemon:
Rope-A-Dope, Indeed  —  Sometimes you want so badly to say “I told you so!” after months of getting kicked in the ass, that you do so without really looking into what you're writing about.  Or even thinking, really.  —  Such is the predicament Dan Lyons finds himself in today.
Dan Lyons / Real Dan Lyons Web Site:
Suck on it, AppleSoft — Google pulls a rope-a-dope  —  Everyone was baffled when Google made those crazy bids for the Nortel patents last month.  Remember?  They bid things like the distance from the earth to the sun, the number pi, and some other wacky numbers from mathematics.
Bloomberg:
Google Deal Said to Have $2.5 Billion Reverse Breakup Fee
Discussion: FOSS Patents and Engadget
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines Blog:
Google's $12.5 billion Motorola Mobility bet: 6 reasons why it makes sense
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
BART Shuts Down Cell Service To Thwart Rumored Protests, Gets Actual Protests (And Has To Close Stations)  —  Since shutting down cell service on Thursday to try to quell rumored protests which never came to fruition, the Bay Area Transit Authority (BART) has had an interesting weekend and Monday.
RELATED:
Andreas Udo de Haes / Computerworld:
Apple's evidence may be flawed in European Samsung case  —  Pictures of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 submitted into evidence look more like the iPad than the actual Samsung device does  —  (COMPUTERWORLD NETHERLANDS) — Apple and its lawyers have, perhaps inadvertently, misled the judge …
RELATED:
Daniel Cooper / Engadget:
Did Apple alter photos of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in its injunction filing?
Discussion: BGR
Electronista:
Microsoft drops Reader after Amazon, Apple take over  —  Microsoft Reader to shutter August 30 2012  —  Microsoft on Monday quietly said it would end its Reader app within a year.  Stores carrying the LIT format will pull the format on November 8 of this year, while the app would no longer …
Discussion: CNET News, ReadWriteWeb and TechCrunch
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
iOS devs pay $50,000 for collecting children's info in apps  —  The parent company of Broken Thumbs Apps—a prominent iOS app maker responsible for games like Zombie Duck Hunt, Truth or Dare, and Emily's Dress Up—has today settled with the Federal Trade Commission over its apparent collection …
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Apple reportedly kills plans for new iPad this fall due to Retina Display issues  —  Backing up a TiPB report from last week, Digitimes reports that Apple's plans for a Retina Display iPad launch this fall have been terminated; if they even existed in the first place.
Ed Bott / The Ed Bott Report Blog:
Microsoft declares victory over Linux, names Apple and Google main rivals  —  Summary: Normally, reading a company's annual report is better than Ambien for lulling oneself to sleep.  But this year Microsoft's lawyers allowed some actual competitive insight to sneak into the normally dull 10-K reports …
Jonathan S. Geller / BGR:
Exclusive: 4G LTE iPhone currently in carrier testing  —  Apple's iPhone 5 is set to be unveiled in the next month or so, though no one quite knows what the device will feature thanks to the ongoing flood of rumors.  Sure, we have a pretty good idea of what it will look like …
Ben Parr / Mashable!:
President Obama Joins Foursquare  —  Foursquare has just gained its highest-profile user yet: President Barack Obama.  —  “The White House is now on Foursquare, a location-based social networking website, which is the latest way for you to engage with the administration,” The White House said on its blog.
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Official Steve Jobs biography set for November 21 release, based on forty interviews  —  According to Barnes and Noble's website, the official Steve Jobs biography - titled Steve Jobs: A Biography - is becoming available on November 21, 2011.  This is a big leap from the previously announced March 6 …
Casey Newton / San Francisco Chronicle:
Startup Weebly takes profitable leap forward  —  Not long ago, visitors at San Francisco startup Weebly would step into its office only to spot one of the company's co-founders stepping out of the shower.  —  That's what happens when your office is a two-bedroom apartment in North Beach …
AppleInsider:
Construction begins at site of Apple's Grand Central Terminal store  —  Construction is now underway at New York's Grand Central Terminal, where Apple is hard at work on a new retail store that may open this year.  —  Temporary scaffolding can now be seen on the second floor at the world-famous terminal.
Discussion: MacRumors, TUAW and iDownloadBlog.com
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Androids Are For Cheap Pessimists, iPhones Are For Worldly Optimists  —  Ever wonder what's the real difference between Android and iPhone users?  According to Hunch, Android users are 10 percent more likely to be men, skew younger, and 20 percent more likely to be politically conservative.
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Twitter Opens Photo Service To Third-Parties — API Hints At Other Media Down The Line  —  It's been two and a half months since Twitter first unveiled their own photo sharing service, in partnership with Photobucket.  Just last week, they finished rolling it out to all users.
Laura Hazard Owen / mocoNews:
New Amazon Student App Also Offers 6 Free Months Of Amazon Prime  —  It's not as good a deal as Amazon's offer last year that gave anyone with a .edu e-mail address a free year of Amazon Prime, but the new Amazon Student iOS app does come with six months of free two-day shipping.
Tricia Duryee / AllThingsD:
Airbnb Pumps Up Security With New Hires and Guarantees  —  Airbnb continues to roll out new security features at a breakneck pace to thwart mounting concerns over whether the site is a safe way to rent out your primary residence to travelers.  —  The heavily backed San Francisco start …
 
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 More Items: 
Brad Molen / Engadget:
Motorola Defy+ leaves the gym, coming this fall with slightly more muscle
Discussion: Gizmodo
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
WhaleShark Media Buys UK's Top Coupon Site, VoucherCodes
Colleen Taylor / GigaOM:
It's official: Facebook is the 21st century Nielsen family
Miles Weiss / Bloomberg:
Thiel's Clarium Hedge Fund Invests in Tech
Discussion: Betabeat
Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:
South Korea's “real names” debacle and the virtues of online anonymity
Eric Schmidt / Detroit Free Press:
Guest commentary: Detroit can win by using genius of the Internet
 Earlier Items: 
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Google Is Now The Proud Owner Of Android.me
Discussion: 9to5Google
Michael Kan / PC World:
Nokia to Bring Windows Phone 7 Devices to China Mobile
Discussion: IntoMobile and SocialTimes.com
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
RIM Hopes Small Businesses Can Help With Cloudy Future
Discussion: TechCrunch
Lee Mathews / ExtremeTech:
Mozilla takes Firefox version numbers to the next level... by removing them
Discussion: SiliconFilter and Techie Buzz
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
iOS 5 Assistant based on Siri technology, may tap into contacts, calendars, e-mail
Discussion: SlashGear and iDownloadBlog.com
Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:
Most Android vendors lost their Linux distribution rights, could face shakedown or shutdown