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11:30 PM ET, October 28, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
The Official Google TV Blog:
An Update on Google TV  —  In the 1970s, there were just a few networks on TV.  Cable changed things by adding hundreds of new channels like HBO, ESPN, and MTV.  The Internet marks a new chapter for television.  This chapter is not about replacing broadcast or cable TV; it's not about replicating what's on TV to the Web.
RELATED:
Charles Arthur / Guardian:
Apple engineers contacting iPhone 4S owners to solve battery life puzzle  —  Short battery life may be affected by corrupted contact details or background services - but solutions vary widely, and Siri apparently not to blame  —  Apple engineers are contacting some iPhone 4S owners to try …
RELATED:
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Dear Apple, Please Make My iPhone 4S Battery Life Suck Less  —  I think I figured out what the “S” stands for in the iPhone 4S.  Now, to be clear, I love my new iPhone 4S.  I talk to it even when there isn't a human on the other end of the line.  Sometimes it talks back.
Matt Rosoff / Business Insider:
Google's Big Video Push Is Here: YouTube Getting More Than 100 New Channels  —  Google is launching more than 100 new YouTube channels with exclusive video content commissioned from media companies and celebrities.  —  Providers with their own channels will include Thomson Reuters …
Discussion: paidContent, Gizmodo and GigaOM
RELATED:
Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
YouTube and Hollywood Finally Link Up: Here Come the Channels  —  YouTube and Hollywood, which have been circling each other for years, are finally getting together.  —  But instead of moving movies and TV shows to the world's biggest Web site, they're trying something different …
Brooke Crothers / CNET News:
Bye, bye $99 TouchPad: HP says tablet officially out of stock  —  Hewlett-Packard sent out notices today that it is officially out of TouchPads, meaning there will be no more shipments of those popular $99 tablets.  —  The notice says, “As you signed up for updates on the HP TouchPad …
RELATED:
Jim Dalrymple / The Loop:
The bulls**t Samsung smartphone numbers  —  The Internet is buzzing this morning with news that Samsung has overtaken Apple as the worlds leading smartphone vendor.  The problem is, there are no numbers to actually back up the claim.  —  Here's an example of how it's being reported.  From GigaOM:
Ben Popper / Betabeat:
After Big Layoffs, BuyWithMe Being Acquired By Gilt Groupe, Slashes More Staff  —  These sale prices are nuts!  —  Betabeat has learned that Gilt Groupe is in the final stages of acquiring the troubled daily deal site BuyWithMe, which laid off more than half its staff last week to sweeten the deal for potential buyers.
RELATED:
Peter D'Amato / TechCrunch:   LaidOffWithMe: The Day The Axe Fell At BuyWithMe
Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:
Spooking Flipboard: Yahoo's Livestand and Google's Propeller Set to Launch Next Week  —  Memo to Flipboard, as well as Pulse, CNN's Zite and AOL's Editions: You might want to make some room in the already-crowded news and social reader space, because you're about to get some bigfoot company.
Ian Sample / Guardian:
Kindle makes for heavy reading  —  It has been revealed that the Amazon e-book reader weighs more when it is fully loaded.  How come?  —  One of the original selling points of Amazon's Kindle was that the device weighed no more than the average paperback.
Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Firm Acknowledges Syria Uses Its Gear to Block Web  —  A U.S. company that makes Internet-blocking gear acknowledges that Syria has been using at least 13 of its devices to censor Web activity there—an admission that comes as the Syrian government cracks down on its citizens and silences their online activities.
Discussion: CNET News, Digits and Slashdot
Charles Arthur / Guardian:
HP to hold on to PC division - but sources say it will finally kill webOS  —  Internal review decides not to spin off world's largest PC maker, but operating system developed for short-lived TouchPad to be closed along with 500 jobs  —  Hewlett-Packard is to keep its PC division rather than selling it off …
Jay Alabaster / PC World:
Samsung to Sell Phones With Flexible Screens Next Year  —  Samsung Electronics said Friday that it is aiming to launch mobile phones with flexible displays next year, with tablets and other portable devices to have these displays soon after.  —  The company said it was aiming to follow …
Declan McCullagh / CNET News:
Dolphin HD browser snared in security breach  —  Tapping the designated corner in the Dolphin HD browser will let you control many browser functions with gestures.  —  The makers of a popular mobile browser called Dolphin HD confirmed that their software leaks the addresses of all Web sites a user visits …
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Apps Are the New Channels  —  I got an email yesterday from an up-and-coming young blogger named Jason Kottke, with a screenshot of two consecutive DF entries posted earlier in the day — “Condé Nast Subscriptions Up 268 Percent Since Newsstand Launch” and “Bloomberg TV+ for iPad”.
Discussion: iDownloadBlog.com
Matt Lynley / Business Insider:
Steve Ballmer Torched This Ex-Microsoft Employee's Chance To Work On iCloud For Apple  —  In April news broke that Apple had poached Microsoft employee Kevin Timmons to help build out its cloud-computing services.  —  Then in October, it turned out Timmons wasn't at Apple.
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Supplanted By Facebook Messenger, Beluga Will Stop Swimming On November 11  —  Beluga, the slick group messaging app that Facebook acquired back in March, is shutting down.  In a post on Beluga's blog, the company's original team of three writes that, beginning November 11 …
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Hulu Signs Five-Year, In-Season Content Streaming Deal With The CW  —  After Netflix signed a deal with The CW Television Network, Hulu is the next online movie platform to announce an agreement with the network.  Hulu has just announced a five-year licensing agreement with the CW Network …
RELATED:
Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
CBS, Warner Bros. Sell “Gossip Girl” Again — This Time to Hulu
Ian Sherr / Wall Street Journal:
GameStop Steps into Tablet PC Sales  —  Videogame retailer GameStop Corp. plans to begin selling tablet-style computers as part of an effort to expand its gaming device offerings.  —  The company plans to begin selling tablets based on Google Inc.'s Android mobile operating system during …
Discussion: PC Magazine, TechCrunch and SlashGear
Jeremy Kirk / PC World:
Facebook Shrugs off Alleged Attachment Vulnerability  —  Facebook downplayed an alleged vulnerability in its social-networking site that could allow a hacker to send a potentially malicious file to anyone on Facebook.  —  The issue concerns a Facebook feature that allows a user to send another user …
Richard Lawler / Engadget:
Xbox Companion app for WP7 shown off at Nokia World, leaks Vudu integration (video)  —  Even if you're not planning on picking up one of Espoo's latest handsets, Microsoft is also on the scene at Nokia World 2011 giving live demos of the upcoming Xbox Companion remote app for Windows Phone 7.
Ryan Kim / GigaOM:
RIM gets desperate to move BlackBerry Playbooks  —  Research In Motion has a bit of a problem on its hands.  It's got a bunch of PlayBook tablets sitting on shelves and little reason for people to buy them, especially now that some needed software improvements won't come until next year.
Reuters:
Steve Martin turns tweets into book  —  (Reuters) - Veteran actor and comedian Steve Martin is writing a book based on his Twitter posts, with all profits going to charity, the book's publishers said on Friday.  —  Martin announced the book via Twitter in a tweet that said “Due to absolutely no demand …
Discussion: The Next Web
 
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 More Items: 
Christopher Zinsli / Wall Street Journal:
After Spurning Groupon's Offer, China's LaShou Files For IPO
Discussion: DigiCha
Bloomberg:
Yahoo Said to Lean Toward Dividend, Buyback Instead of Sale
Discussion: Business Insider
Bloomberg:
Groupon Said to Consider Raising IPO Price Range
Discussion: Business Insider
Zach Epstein / BGR:
4G now counted among ‘ideal phone features’ by 75% of consumers, survey finds
Discussion: PhoneArena
Dylan Love / Business Insider:
It Looks Like The Nook Color 2 Launches On November 7
Elizabeth Woyke / Mobilized:
Eye-Tracking Study Finds iPhone, iPad Draw More Attention Than Android Devices
Tricia Duryee / AllThingsD:
Expedia Questions the Lifetime Value of the Groupon Customer
 Earlier Items: 
Graham Cluley / Naked Security:
600,000+ compromised account logins every day on Facebook, official figures reveal
Alyson Shontell / Business Insider:
Wait, Fab Launched In June And It's Already HOW Big?
Discussion: TechCrunch
Marco Arment / Marco.org:
Informal e-reader library comparison
Discussion: TiPb
Eric Bangeman / Ars Technica:
San Francisco cellphone warning law fails science, says judge
Discussion: CNET News, CNET News and TechCrunch
Katie Marsal / AppleInsider:
Apple board member Andrea Jung facing scrutiny at Avon
Matthew Panzarino / The Next Web:
The next disruptive iPhone feature? High definition audio calls
Eliot Van Buskirk / Evolver.fm:
Surprise: You Can't Make Apps on an iPad
Kellex / Droid Life:
Exclusive: First Pictures of the DROID4 by Motorola
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Indian streaming service JioCinema launches an ad-free subscription plan with the lowest tier costing $0.35/month for a single device, undercutting rivals

Murray Stassen / Music Business Worldwide:
Warner Music Group sells Uproxx, HipHopDX, and other assets to a new company, Uproxx Studios, formed by Jarret Myer, Rich Antoniello, and will.i.am

Jesse Whittock / Deadline:
Wondery UK hires ex-head of studios for Spotify UK and Ireland as its head of podcasts, and launches its paid, ad-free subscription service Wondery+ in the UK

 
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