Techmeme: Firefox faces uncertain future as Google deal apparently ends (Ed Bott/The Ed Bott Report Blog)

5:00 AM ET, December 4, 2011

Top Items:

Firefox faces uncertain future as Google deal apparently ends — Summary: It hasn't been a good year for Firefox. Mozilla has lost share to Google, it's lost the loyalty of enterprise customers, and it's lost key talent. And a deal with Google that supplied 84% of its revenue last year was scheduled to end in November.

Discussion: Marco.org, parislemon, ReadWriteWeb, Pulse2 and WebProNews

Sarah Frier / Business Week:

Mozilla's Catch-Up Strategy for Mobile — The Firefox browser, a force in PCs, is nowhere in smartphones — When Gary Kovacs ran the New York City marathon this year—his first ever—the chief executive officer of Mozilla wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the logo of the Web browser made by his nonprofit.

Thanks:sarahfrier

Dan Levine / Reuters:

Judge rejects Apple bid to halt Galaxy sales — (Reuters) - Apple failed to convince a U.S. judge to block Samsung Electronics from selling some Galaxy smartphones and tablets in the U.S. market, depriving the iPhone and iPad maker of crucial leverage in a global patent battle between the two companies.

Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:

Denial of US preliminary injunction against Samsung shows low strategic value of Apple's design patents — Five months and one day after Apple filed its motion for a preliminary injunction in the United States against four Samsung products based on three design patents and one software patent …

Discussion: PC Advisor, App Advice, MacStories, Pulse2, MacDailyNews, PC Magazine and SlashGear

Laurie Segall / CNN Money:

Facebook buys Gowalla — NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Facebook has acquired location sharing service Gowalla for an undisclosed sum, according to a source close to Gowalla. — Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment. — Most of Gowalla's employees, including founder Josh Williams …

The Economic Times:

Facebook to hire thousands of employees over next year — NEW YORK: Facebook has said it plans to hire thousands of employees over the next year and add an engineering team to its office in New York. — “We will hire as many high quality engineers as we can here in New York,” …

Discussion: Pulse2, Facebook Press Releases, Fox News, New York Times, Slashdot and Bloomberg

Susanna Kim / ABC News:

Tech Firm Implements Employee ‘Zero Email’ Policy — You've got mail-not. Employees of tech company Atos will be banned from sending emails under the company's new “zero email” policy. — CEO Thierry Breton of the French information technology company said only 10 percent …

Discussion: GigaOM, Larry Magid, @qthrul, The Atlantic Online and Social Business Blog

Eric Slivka / MacRumors:

Apple Considering Building Huge New Data Center in Oregon — OregonLive.com reports that Apple is currently deciding whether to commit to building a major new data center in Prineville, Oregon that would complement its newly-opened facility in Maiden, North Carolina.

Discussion: Oregonian, Pulse2, iDownloadBlog.com, AppleInsider, Data Center Knowledge, 9to5Mac, Electronista, iClarified and Slashdot

Evelyn M. Rusli / DealBook:

SAP to Buy SuccessFactors for $3.4 Billion — SAP of Germany announced plans on Saturday to buy SuccessFactors, a Web-based enterprise software company, for $40 a share, or $3.4 billion. — The all-cash transaction, which is expected to close early next year, offers SuccessFactors' shareholders …

Discussion: Bloomberg, A Software Insider's Point …, Irregular Enterprise Blog, CNET News, Between the Lines Blog, Pulse2, Associated Press, Chris Dixon, Financial Times, Reuters, TechCrunch and AllThingsD

David Kravets / Threat Level:

Carrier IQ Admits Holding ‘Treasure Trove’ of Consumer Data, But No Keystrokes — MOUNTAIN VIEW, California — An embattled phone-monitoring software maker said Friday that its wares, secretly installed on some 150 million phones, have the capacity to log web usage, and to chronicle …

Discussion: The Register, Mashable!, NevilleHobson.com, The Verge, Examiner, CNET News, mocoNews, Cult of Mac, Blog of Rights and Ars Technica

Marco Arment / Marco.org:

Kindle Touch compared to Nook Simple Touch, Kobo Touch, and Kindle 4 — Amazon's new Kindle Touch, Barnes & Noble's Nook Simple Touch (my review), and the Kobo Touch are surprisingly similar. — Nook Simple Touch, Kindle Touch, and Kobo Touch — They all have the same E-Ink Pearl screen …

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Revealed: Apple's internal policies on employee social networking, speculating on rumors, leaking, blogging, and more — With some of the Apple news spotlight this week on the firing of an Apple employee (and last month) over a Facebook rant, we thought the best way to clear up this employee's claims of …

Discussion: Neowin.net, Business Insider, ifoAppleStore and Redmond Pie

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