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11:50 AM ET, August 17, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Arik Hesseldahl / AllThingsD:
OuchPad: Best Buy Sitting on a Pile of Unsold HP Tablets  —  There have been plenty of hints that Hewlett-Packard's TouchPad isn't selling well.  First there was a $50 discount.  Then there were spot discounts of $100 at outlets like Costco.  Then the $100 discount became permanent.
RELATED:
JP Mangalindan / Fortune:
Facebook: Google+ has no users  —  Facebook executives have choice words for Google's efforts to bring casual games to its fledgling social network.  —  FORTUNE — A little less than two months after Google launched its fledgling social network, Google+, Silicon Valley's latest rivalry is heating up.
RELATED:
Josh Lowensohn / CNET News:
Google, Facebook spar over Google+ invite issue
Farhad Manjoo / Slate Magazine:
Android Isn't Free  —  How Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility will make it more like Apple.  —  Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has a knack for making completely boneheaded predictions about his competitors' products, so when he took to blasting Google's Android strategy last year, many observers—myself included—dismissed him.
RELATED:
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Photovine Grows Ready For Public Use; Easily Google's Most Ambitious Photo-Sharing App Yet  —  Google's Slide team has been busy.  In the past few months, they've unleashed a range of social apps meant to fulfill different needs.  But the strange thing is that Google hasn't done a thing to promote any of them.
Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:
Exclusive: Apple's Mobile Ad Head Andy Miller Departs for Highland Capital  —  Andy Miller (pictured here), the high-profile VP of mobile advertising at Apple, is planning on leaving the company, according to sources close to the situation.  —  Sources said Miller — who sold Quattro Wireless …
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Apple currently plans to start pre-orders for next iPhone on Sept. 30, launch Oct. 7  —  We've independently heard that Apple has plans to begin selling the next-generation iPhone on Friday, October 7th; the date first reported by TiPB.  According to our sources, Apple has been weighing between launching …
Scientific American:
How Did BART Kill Cellphone Service?  —  The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system initially claimed a phone service shut-down was performed by telecoms, but that's not the latest story  —  The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART) shut down subterranean cellular phone service …
Discussion: Hillicon Valley
RELATED:
David Kravets / Threat Level:
San Francisco Subway Spokesman Says Cellphone Shutdown Was His Idea
Discussion: TechCrunch
Steve Lohr / New York Times:
A Bull Market in Tech Patents  —  Google was willing on Monday to pay $12.5 billion for Motorola Mobility in no small part because of its stockpile of 17,000 patents.  The patent portfolio, some analysts estimate, could represent more than half of the value of the deal, or more than $400,000 a patent.
Ian Austen / DealBook:
BlackBerry Maker RIM Again Subject of Takeover Talk  —  OTTAWA — Ever since the introduction of its first BlackBerry more than a decade ago, Research in Motion has defied expectations that it would be gobbled up by a larger rival and has effectively created the market for smartphones.
New York Post:
City to test parking meters that can be paid by phone  —  Drivers may soon be able to phone the meter instead of feeding it in person.  —  New York City plans to test new “pay by phone” parking meters that warn motorists as the time winds down and invites them to buy extra minutes without returning to their cars.
Colleen Taylor / GigaOM:
StumbleUpon's new Explore Box lets you stumble with purpose  —  Since its inception, StumbleUpon has worked pretty much as the name advertised: It allows you to stumble upon cool things on the web, rather than through explicit web searches.  But a new beta feature is set to expand StumbleUpon's offering …
Bloomberg:
Kodak Worth More in Breakup With $3B Patents  —  Eastman Kodak Co. (EK) may hold patents worth five times more than the business itself, making the 131- year-old camera company a target in the billion-dollar hunt for inventions used in mobile phones.  —  Kodak, which once had a market value …
Discussion: AppleInsider
Michael Stroh / The Windows Blog:
New Xbox LIVE features, games on the way for Windows Phone  —  It's a sweet day for mobile gamers.  Today Microsoft previewed new Xbox LIVE titles and features coming to Windows Phone in the months ahead.  The announcement came at the annual Gamescom conference in Cologne, Germany.
Emil Protalinski / Friending Facebook Blog:
Exclusive: Paul Ceglia says Facebook is doing the forgery  —  Summary: Following Facebook's accusations of forgery, courtroom adversary Paul Ceglia fires back as he looks to open source his lawsuit through a wiki.  —  Paul Ceglia, a man in a heated lawsuit with Facebook, wants his side heard.
Chris Davies / SlashGear:
Nintendo Wii makeover: Streamlined style but no GameCube support  —  Nintendo is readying a new version of the Wii, featuring a streamlined design intended to be placed horizontally rather than vertically, and with a new, lower price.  Confirmed so far for the UK market …
Tim Stiffler-Dean / PreCentral.net:
SIM-free Pre3 now available via Palm Europe for £299.00 [UPDATE x2: Statement from HP]  —  There have been a thousand-and-one rumors and bits of news going around of the HP Pre3 being made available as a SIM-Free device in Europe, but now it's looking to be official.
Miyoung Kim / Reuters:
Samsung's Lee eyes deals to boost software prowess: report  —  (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee has asked the firm's top management to seek measures including acquisitions to enhance its software prowess, local media reports said on Wednesday.
Discussion: Electronista
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Jeremy, Call Your Mother — She's Worried Sick  —  When we switched to Facebook comments several months ago, we spun it as a way to combat the trolls.  But you know, there was actually a secret agenda.  We wanted to bring families closer together.  —  And it's with great pleasure that I can now announce that it's working.
Amar Toor / Engadget:
Motorola's new Droid HD makes cameo alongside Droid Bionic  —  We've just received a fascinating set of photos from a sharp-eyed tipster, who sent along images of what appear to be Motorola's Droid Bionic and, most alluringly, that rumored handset known as the Droid HD (pictured above).
Chris Smith / AppleInsider:
Apple predicted to ‘strike back’ at Google with its own patent purchase  —  Following Google's bid to purchase Motorola Mobility, Apple is predicted strike a deal — perhaps with competitors Nokia or RIM — to consolidate its already significant patent portfolio and better position itself both offensively and defensively.
Discussion: Softpedia News and Guardian
Nicholas Kolakowski / eWeek:
ATandT Planning First LTE Devices For Aug. 21 Debut  —  AT&T's first LTE-enabled devices will make their debut in the carrier's stores and online starting Aug. 21.  There's more 4G hardware due in months to come.  —  AT&T's first LTE/HSPA+ devices will reportedly arrive in the carrier's stores (and online) starting Aug. 21.
RELATED:
Donald Melanson / Engadget:
Why is LTE equipment being installed in an Apple Store?
 
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 More Items: 
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Glam Media Takes On Apple's iAd With New Brand-Focused Mobile Ad Platform
Lee Spears / Bloomberg:
Tudou to Raise $174 Million in U.S. IPO
Soo Ai Peng / Reuters:
China's Baidu may face tougher rules after state media criticism
Discussion: DigiCha
Jun Yang / Bloomberg:
Apple Sued by South Korean IPhone Users Over Location Data
Rip Empson / TechCrunch:
Ooyala Now Powering ESPN's Billion-Plus Video Streams
 Earlier Items: 
Michael Gorman / Engadget:
Fusion Garage Grid 10 tablet and Grid 4 smartphone hands-on
Discussion: Web 2.0 Asia Blog and IntoMobile
Jack Purcher / Patently Apple:
Apple Wins Major Patent for Integrating Cellular Antennas into MacBook and iMac Keyboards
Discussion: AppleInsider and MacRumors
Ryan Lawler / GigaOM:
Time Warner Cable's future is in broadband, not TV
Edmund Lee / AdAge:
What's the Most Popular Channel on YouTube?
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:
A peek at Steve Jobs' book jacket - front, back and spine
Discussion: Gizmodo and 9to5Mac, Thanks:philiped
 

 
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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