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12:20 PM ET, December 6, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Michael Arrington / Uncrunched:
Gowalla Founders v. Gowalla Investors  —  Location based service Gowalla is going to shut down at the end of January.  The two founders, Josh Williams and Scott Raymond, will be heading off to Facebook.  Loyal Gowalla users will be stranded as the service shuts down.
RELATED:
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Gowalla Versus Foursquare: Why Pretty Doesn't Always Win
Discussion: ClickZ, Betabeat and Digital Trends
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:
Why Europe's trustbusters targeted Apple's e-book ‘cartel’  —  The antitrust probe dates back to a deal Steve Jobs cut with five publishers in Jan. 2010  —  The language of the European Commission's press release Tuesday announcing the start of a formal antitrust investigation of Apple …
RELATED:
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
EC Opens Antitrust Proceedings To Investigate Apple, E-book Publishers ‘Cartel’  —  The European Commission this morning announced that it has opened formal antitrust proceedings to investigate whether a number of international ebook publishers have engaged in anti-competitive practices affecting …
Jakob Nielsen / Alertbox:
Kindle Fire Usability Findings … Amazon.com's new Kindle Fire offers a disappointingly poor user experience.  Using the web with the Silk browser is clunky and error-prone.  Reading downloaded magazines is not much better.  Still, user testing with the Fire did help us understand …
RELATED:
Robert Scoble / Google+:
Yahoo News is seeing huge returns from Facebook's Open Graph, is this the future of Flickr?  —  Here Mike Kerns, who runs social and personalization at +Yahoo! News talks to me about the effects Yahoo has seen thanks to the inclusion of Open Graph technology from Facebook (AKA “frictionless sharing").
RELATED:
Liz Gannes / AllThingsD:
Hey Facebook, Where's That Timeline and Open Graph You Promised?
Discussion: Neowin.net
JR Raphael / Computerworld:
Confirmed: Verizon Galaxy Nexus won't support Google Wallet (but will receive Google updates)  —  With the launch of Verizon's Galaxy Nexus growing closer, rumors about the device are starting to pour out at a breakneck speed.  As such, I thought now might be a good time to do a quick round of fact vs. fiction.
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
‘Steve Jobs’ Becomes Amazon's Best-Selling Book of 2011  —  As predicted by Amazon following its release, Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of Steve Jobs has become the retailer's best-selling book of 2011.  The milestone is a remarkable one given that the book did not debut until late October.
Paul Sawers / The Next Web:
The BBC's global iPlayer expands to iPhone and iPod Touch  —  Five months after BBC Worldwide launched its global iPlayer app to 11 Western European countries on iPad, the commercial arm of the UK broadcaster has announced that it's making the app available on iPhone and iPod Touch too.
Harry McCracken / Technologizer:
How the iPad 2 Became My Favorite Computer  —  My iPad 2 and ZaggFolio, in the press room at IFA in Berlin, September 2011.  —  Can the iPad replace a PC?  —  Ever since Apple announced its tablet nearly two years ago, the Internet has been awash in discussion of this question.
Discussion: MacStories and PalmAddicts, Thanks:harrymccracken
Mat Honan / Gizmodo:
Siri Is Apple's Broken Promise  —  A long time ago, I made a compact with Apple.  “You can control my entire technological life, from my computer to my phone to my stereo.  I'll pay premium prices.  I'll dive into your product ecosystem, and buy books and music and movies and apps from you.
Jean-Louis Gassée / Monday Note:
Behind RIM's $485M Write-off  —  On December 5th, three days ago, RIM announced a $485M write-off “related to its inventory valuation of BlackBerry PlayBook tablets”.  Wall Street didn't like the news and dumped the stock, it went down 9.7% in one session.  One of the last analysts supporting RIM …
RELATED:
John Paczkowski / AllThingsD:   RIM Blindsided by Kindle Fire Pricing
Sam Oliver / AppleInsider:
Apple television rumored to come in 3 sizes, including 32" and 55"  —  Apple's full-fledged television set will arrive at the end of 2012 in three screen sizes, maxing out at 55 inches, a new rumor claims.  —  Citing sources in Japan, Australia's SmartHouse reported this week …
Christian Zibreg / 9to5Mac:
Consumer Reports rates AT&T the worst among U.S. carriers (again), Verizon is the best  —  Consumer Reports, a U.S. monthly influencing purchasing decisions with its reviews and comparisons of consumer products, announced today that it rated AT&T the worst among wireless operators in the United States.
Chris Velazco / TechCrunch:
Is HTC's 20% Revenue Dip Last Month A Sign Of Things To Come?  —  Even though HTC has just come off of a record-breaking third quarter, it seems like some of the company's mobile momentum is evaporating.  The Taiwanese company recently cut their Q4 sales forecasts by more than 20% …
Date By Categories / Nmap Hackers:
C|Net Download.Com is now bundling Nmap with malware!  —  Hi Folks.  I've just discovered that C|Net's Download.Com site has started wrapping their Nmap downloads (as well as other free software like VLC) in a trojan installer which does things like installing a sketchy “StartNow” toolbar …
Jennifer Van Grove / VentureBeat:
Starbucks apps account for 26M mobile payments and $110M in card reloads  —  The Starbucks brand may be synonymous with pricey lattes, but the coffee conglomerate has pushed a number of mobile initiatives in 2011 to make its name also stand for digital innovation.
Stephen Shankland / CNET News:
Don't write off Mozilla-Google revenue deal as dead  —  Mozilla and Google are renegotiating a deal by which Google shares ad revenue that results from searches the browser drives to its site.  —  The partnership, which Mozilla renewed in 2008 for three more year, was set to expire in November.
Zack Whittaker / Between the Lines Blog:
Facebook flaw allows access to private photos  —  Summary: A flaw in Facebook allows users to access private photos that are hidden from view, through no less than the social network's own image reporting tool.  —  Reporting features in Facebook apparently can allow users to access personal …
Zach Honig / Engadget:
Verizon lights one candle for LTE, confirms Xyboard Droid tablet name, December launch  —  Today marks one full year after Verizon first flipped the switch on LTE, with 365 days of 4G speeds for customers in 39 markets.  By the end of next week, Big Red will light up a few more cities …
Chris Morran / The Consumerist:
PayPal Rains On Regretsy's Secret Santa Campaign Over Use Of Wrong Button  —  Accepting charitable donations online through a third party can be a tricky business.  It often requires that you provide reams of documentation to this third party that you are a non-profit or that the money is going directly to a non-profit.
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Zynga, Vostu Settle Copyright Lawsuit; Brazilian Gaming Company To Pay Up  —  Zynga and Vostu has settled their copyright lawsuits, according to a representative for Vostu.  Vostu has paid Zynga an undisclosed sum as part of the settlement and made changes to its games.
Barb Darrow / GigaOM:
New Node.js blocked by Great Firewall of China  —  Chinese Internet censors are preventing local programmers from accessing the newest version of the popular Node.js programming framework.  —  The problem is that the version number — .6.4 — corresponds to the date of the June fourth incident …
Discussion: The Next Web
Julia Angwin / Digits:
WikiLeaks Associates Seek Injunction on Twitter Data  —  Three WikiLeaks associates are appealing a court order that would force Twitter Inc. to hand over information from their accounts without a search warrant.  —  The WikiLeaks associates - Jacob Appelbaum, Rop Gonggrijp, and Birgitta Jonsdottir …
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
The Nerdy Address Of Facebook's New Headquarters?  1 Hacker Way  —  Apple has 1 Infinite Loop, Genentech has 1 DNA Way, and now Facebook has its own vanity headquarters address: 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, 94025.  Seen here on a brand new business card of a Facebook employee …
Anne-Gabrielle Dauba Pantanacce / European Public …:
Inaugurating our new French headquarters  —  Last year, our Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt promised to open a research and development and culture centre in France.  Today, Eric returned to Paris to inaugurate our new 10,000-square meter office in a refurbished 19th century Second Empire building near the St. Lazare Train Station.
Discussion: Larry Page
Matt Burns / TechCrunch:
Asus: Netbooks Outsold Tablets Nearly 3 To 1 In 2011, Big Things In Store For 2012  —  Netbooks are still big business for Asustek.  So much so that the hotness from 2009 outsold Asus tablets in 2011.  Per numbers released at the company's global sales meeting (and relayed by Digitimes) …
Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
The Rise of Google, the Ascent of Facebook and the Decline of Everyone Else  —  If you pay the slightest bit of attention to Internet advertising, you know this.  But it's always good to see it spelled out: Look how ginormous Google is!  —  This exclamation point comes courtesy of Zenith Optimedia …
 
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 More Items: 
Roger Cheng / CNET News:
Sprint says 4G LTE devices coming in second half of next year
Liz Gannes / AllThingsD:
Longtime Google Policy Guy Andrew McLaughlin Headed to Tumblr
Lauren Goode / AllThingsD:
Move Over, Picasso: Smartphone Photos Become Works of Art
Matt Lynley / Business Insider:
You'll Never Guess Which Venture Capital Firms Won The IPO Battle This Year
Amir Efrati / Wall Street Journal:
Yahoo Battles Brain Drain
 Earlier Items: 
Felix Salmon:
Why Apple's cheap
Tom Simonite / Technology Review:
IBM Makes Revolutionary Racetrack Memory Using Existing Tools
Discussion: The Register and Electronista
Dan Rosenberg / It's Bugs All the Way Down:
CarrierIQ: The Real Story
 

 
From Mediagazer:

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”

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

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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