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6:30 PM ET, August 22, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Brian Heater / Engadget:
HP TouchPad tops Amazon US sales, rumored for UK price drop  —  Well, it's official, the TouchPad is currently the hottest piece of consumer electronics around, and all it took was HP's complete abandonment of its current line of webOS devices.  The once maligned slate is currently atop Amazon's electronics sales list.
RELATED:
Sascha Segan / PC Magazine:
HP Pre 3 Cancelled in U.S., Will Sell for $75 In Europe  —  The $99 HP TouchPad isn't the only amazing deal coming out of HP's fire sale on WebOS devices.  The unlocked HP Pre 3 smartphone will go on sale “shortly” in both France and the U.K. for a mere $75 unlocked, according to HP.
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
HP: webOS Still Coming to PCs and Printers, Pre3 Launching in “Limited” Markets  —  Even as the rest of the world is writing the obituary of webOS, Hewlett-Packard insists the software has a bright future.  It's just not clear what that future is.  —  In an interview on Monday …
Arik Hesseldahl / AllThingsD:
How Much Did HP Lose on the TouchPad? Here's a Good Guess.
Discussion: mocoNews, CNET News and ReadWriteWeb
Bloomberg:
Motorola's Value Found in 18 Patents  —  Among Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.'s more than 17,000 patents, a group of 18 may prove most useful in Google Inc. (GOOG)'s effort to fend off litigation targeting the Android mobile platform.  —  The inventions date back to 1994 and form the heart …
RELATED:
Susan Decker / Bloomberg:
Microsoft Says Motorola's Android Phones Infringe Its Patents  —  Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), the world's largest software maker, began arguing its U.S. trade case that Android- based smartphones made by Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. use technology derived from Microsoft inventions.
New York Times:
Motorola's Identity Crisis
Discussion: Light Reading and MediaPost
Jonathan S. Geller / BGR:
HTC's September 1st event to feature only Windows Phone Mango devices: Eternity, Omega  —  BGR has exclusively learned that HTC plans to unveil several upcoming Windows Phone Mango devices at the company's upcoming event taking place on September 1st.  While Android is HTC's bread and butter of course …
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
Fox's 8-Day Delay on Hulu Triggers Piracy Surge  —  One of the main motivations for people to download and stream TV-shows from unauthorized sources is availability.  If fans can't get a show through legal channels they turn to pirated alternatives.  —  This is one of the reasons …
Lee Mathews / ExtremeTech:
Download.com wraps downloads in bloatware, lies about motivations  —  There was a time long, long ago when Download.com was the place I went for software.  It's been years, however, as the site repeatedly showed signs of devolving into a site every bit as bothersome as the many third-tier …
Arnold Kim / MacRumors:
iPhone 5's Battery, Back Camera, and Audio Flex Cable Parts Leaked [Updated]  —  As we approach the anticipated launch of the iPhone 5, we are seeing an increasing number of small leaks related to the production of the device in China.  As the design is finalized, and production begins to ramp up …
Eric Savitz / The Tech Trade:
Thinking The Unthinkable: Is Oracle Considering Buying HP?  —  Larry Ellison: Biggest deal ever?  —  In what would be Larry Ellison's crowning achievement if he could pull it off, the market is buzzing over the idea that Oracle could make a run at Hewlett-Packard.
Discussion: ITProPortal and Kellblog
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Square Makes iOS Apps Speedier, No Longer Requires Signatures For Transactions Under $25  —  Disruptive mobile payments company Square has pushed a number of new updates to its iPhone and iPad apps today and rolled out a redesigned and updated website.  First, the apps are speedier and transaction speed has improved, says the company.
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Android vs Windows Phone 7: At least one handset maker thinking about it  —  The blockbuster deal between Motorola and Google is going to be a game-changer, and it will force many of the smaller handset makers to rethink their reliance on Google's Android operating system.
Jonathan S. Geller / BGR:
Exclusive: HP EVP Todd Bradley looking to jump ship for CEO role elsewhere  —  BGR has exclusively learned that Hewlett-Packard Executive Vice President Todd Bradley is looking to leave HP.  While HP reported last week that the company plans to discontinue its webOS smartphones and tablets …
Daniel Rubino / WPCentral.com:
Microsoft gets over 500 responses to webOS recruitment attempt  —  Looks like Microsoft's Brandon Watson got more than he expected when he Tweeted about webOS devs switching to Windows Phone.  In a follow up Tweet, he notes the overwhelming response:
Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:
Miramax Launching Multi-Title Facebook Movie App In U.S., UK & Turkey  —  Watching movies on Facebook isn't new—Warner Bros. (NYSE: TWX), Paramount and Universal each are trying variations on the theme.  But today, paidContent can report, Miramax is launching the largest-scale Facebook …
Mark Gurman / 9to5Google:
Verizon plans to take 300MB for $20/m data plan nationwide this holiday season  —  Late last week, Verizon introduced a new 300MB data plan for $20/month for the carrier's mid-Atlantic region.  This covers Maryland, Washington, DC, Virginia and North Carolina.
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Former Expedia Employees Raise $8 Million For Travel Search Startup Hopper  —  Hopper, a Montreal, Canada-based startup, has raised $8 million in fresh funding from Atlas Venture and previous backer Brightspark Ventures to try and ‘reinvent travel search’.  —  Hopper is still in stealth mode …
Dan Frommer / SplatF:
Twitter improves photo sharing again with user photo galleries  —  Twitter now aggregates all of the photos you've shared across a bunch of different image hosts — including Twitter's own photo service, Instagram, Twitpic, and Yfrog — into a single gallery on your profile page.
Nicholas Carlson / The Business Insider:
Tumblr Talking To Top VCs About An $800 Million+ Valuation  —  New York-based blogging platform Tumblr is talking to fancy venture capital firms about raising another huge pile of cash at a very generous valuation.  —  We hear, and a source confirms, that Tumblr is talking about raising $75 million …
Poornima Gupta / Reuters:
HP unveils new PC days after saying it exits unit  —  (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard launched a new desktop on Monday, days after the technology company revealed plans to spin off or sell its personal computer unit.  —  HP billed the new computer — the HP Compaq 8200 Elite All-in-One Business Desktop …
Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Ubergizmo, Thanks:rajupp
Greg Sandoval / CNET News:
RIAA files appeal in Jammie Thomas case  —  The large record companies have filed an appeal in their long-running copyright case against Jammie Thomas-Rasset, a Minnesota woman who was found liable for illegal file sharing.  —  In court documents filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit …
Discussion: Techdirt and Ars Technica
Zach Epstein / BGR:
Android, iOS gain U.S. market share in Q2 while BlackBerry slides, NPD says  —  Android's lead in the U.S. smartphone market was extended further in the second quarter of 2011 according to leading market research firm The NPD Group.  The firm on Monday released its second-quarter Mobile Phone Track report …
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Best Buy Offering iPhone 3GS Free Today on Contract  —  The iPhone 3GS is still holding strong in the U.S. smartphone market, ranking as the second most popular handset during the second quarter.  The device's success is clearly due to the low $49 price tag, even if the cost …
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
iOS 5 includes early earthquake warning notifications for Japanese iPhone users  —  Following the devestating earthquake in Japan earlier this year, Apple has added a new early earthquake warning notification option to iOS 5. iOS 5 users in Japan can turn on early earthquake notifications …
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Video: Microsoft bridges Xbox, Windows Phone games via Kinect and QR codes  —  Microsoft this morning showed a new way share game content across Xbox 360 and Windows Phone.  One Microsoft executive described it as an example of a larger strategy to use companion devices to supplement games on the Microsoft console.
 
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 More Items: 
Mercury News:
Opinion: Subsidizing Netflix
Discussion: Brad Ideas
Tricia Duryee / AllThingsD:
Ticket Search Expert SeatGeek Gets Front Row Seats on Yahoo
Discussion: VentureBeat and The Next Web
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Placecast Brings Location-Based Shopping Alerts To Retailer Smartphone Apps
Discussion: VentureBeat
Declan McCullagh / CNET News:
FTC commissioner calls for new ‘do not track’ approach
Discussion: Consumer Reports News
Rob Lewis / Techvibes.com:
Vancouver's Zite to be acquired by CNN for $20-25 Million?
Discussion: VentureBeat
 Earlier Items: 
Eliot Van Buskirk / Wired:
Rdio Launches Unique Family Plan for Digital Music
Emily Glazer / Wall Street Journal:
Having trouble landing investors? Try showing some attitude on Twitter
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
AMD stays the course with new desktop and laptop chips
Discussion: Engadget, InfoWorld and Inquirer
Sean Collins Walsh / New York Times:
Federal Push for ‘Cloud’ Technology Faces Skepticism
Discussion: TechFlash