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9:50 AM ET, December 8, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Larry Hryb / Xbox Live's Major Nelson:
Introducing the official Xbox LIVE iOS App  —  Xbox LIVE has released the official Xbox LIVE app for iOS owners.  This is a universal app that is designed for all iOS devices.  —  This free app will allow you to say connected to the Xbox LIVE community when you are away from you console.
RELATED:
Ben Kuchera / Ars Technica:
Xbox 360 update: new media features, no right to sue Microsoft
Discussion: BetaNews
Chris Jaffe / The Official Netflix Blog:
Netflix Unveils New Xbox Experience
Discussion: VentureBeat
John Paczkowski / AllThingsD:
Acer CEO: We're Going to Stop Selling Cheap, Unprofitable Crap  —  Acer CEO J.T. Wang has settled on a turnaround strategy for the company, one that will return it to profitability after two consecutive quarters of net losses.  Acer is going to pin its hopes on the ultrabook.
RELATED:
Liz Gannes / AllThingsD:
Exclusive: Facebook Does A Major Reorg Around Key Products  —  Facebook has done a major corporate reorganization in an effort to be more nimble, sources said.  —  The new structure integrates design, product and engineering teams around key product areas such as privacy and communication.
RELATED:
Jeff Roberts / paidContent:   Facebook Countersues Timelines.com
Brian Caulfield / Shiny Objects:
Apple's New Campus Will Put On A Spectacular Show Every Year, Starting On Steve Jobs' Birthday  —  The City of Cupertino published more details on Apple's enormous new circular headquarters Tuesday.  And if you're looking for ‘one last thing,’ that final flourish Apple Chief Steve Jobs was known for …
Discussion: Gizmodo and PhoneArena
Jeff Atwood / Coding Horror:
Fast Approximate Anti-Aliasing (FXAA)  —  Anti-aliasing has an intimidating name, but what it does for our computer displays is rather fundamental.  Think of it this way — a line has infinite resolution, but our digital displays do not.  So when we “snap” a line to the pixel grid on our display …
Discussion: VizWorld.com
John Cook / GeekWire:
Retail association pissed about Amazon.com's Price Check app  —  The Retail Industry Leaders Association isn't too happy about Amazon.com's Price Check app and a new promotion that the Seattle online retailer is unveiling this Saturday.  —  The company announced this week that shoppers who perform a …
Discussion: IntoMobile
Matt Burns / TechCrunch:
HP Is Reviving The $99 TouchPad Firesale!  Refurb Models To Hit HP's Ebay Store On 12/11  —  Get your clicking fingers ready!  These boys are going to go fast.  —  Starting Sunday, December 11th at 6:00 p.m. Central time, 16GB and 32GB Touchpads will be available on HP's ebay store.
Walter S. Mossberg / AllThingsD:
Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime Review  —  One of the biggest things that deters people from relying on tablets is the lack of a convenient physical keyboard.  Now, Taiwan-based Asus is attacking this issue with a new Android-based tablet and accompanying keyboard dock, due on store shelves in the U.S. on Dec. 15.
Discussion: 9to5Google and @waltmossberg
Jessica Vascellaro / Wall Street Journal:
Start-Ups Aim to Teach Coding  —  With computer programmers in demand, new start-ups that aim to train people in coding skills are also becoming hot properties.  —  Ventures that teach computer programming, design and other once-nerdy skills to the masses are surfacing nationwide and drawing interest from Bay Area investors.
Richard Lawler / Engadget:
Apple TV updates stream purchased TV shows to Australia, Canada and the UK  —  Apple TV users (the hockey puck, not the pie in the sky rumored flat panel with magic fairy dust inside and an extra unaired season of Firefly) in Canada, Australia and the UK were gifted a download today …
Electronista:
Nokia may drop Vertu luxury phones altogether  —  Company said to be selling off Vertu division  —  Nokia is reportedly attempting to step away from the luxury market, which it had engaged for more than a decade through the Vertu brand.  The Finnish phone maker is said to be seeking a buyer …
Rick Broida / CNET Reviews:
Hands-on with the $19-per-month Republic Wireless Android phone  —  If you can live with some modest restrictions, you can get a contract-free Android smartphone for just $19 monthly.  —  Last month, Republic Wireless made waves when it announced an Android phone with “unlimited” service for just $19 per month, no contract required.
Keith Peiris / Facebook Blog:
A Faster Facebook for Android  —  Today we're launching an updated Facebook app for Android.  It's now quicker and easier to view photos, get messages and navigate around the app.  —  Photos get better  —  Photos and albums are up to two times faster than the previous Android app.
Robert Andrews / paidContent:
Schmidt Reckons Most TVs Will Have Google TV By Mid-2012  —  What with self-driving cars and such, Eric Schmidt is not averse to some blue-sky thinking.  But one new prediction may be a moonshot too far. … The whole connected TV space will explode in 2012, as more new TVs ship with internet connectivity …
Jeff Roberts / paidContent:
The E-book Investigations: Are Publishers And Apple Breaking The Law?  —  It's been a week to forget for publishers after both the Justice Department and the European Commission announced investigations into e-book pricing tactics.  Meanwhile, dozens of law firms are steaming ahead …
Stephen Shankland / CNET News:
Instagram photo app for Android is under way  —  Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom speaking at LeWeb.  —  PARIS—Instagram has risen to popularity in the photo-sharing realm just with an iPhone app, but Chief Executive Kevin Systrom today said an Android version is on the way.
Kevin Michaluk / CrackBerry.com:
Exclusive: First Image of BlackBerry Milan - next generation BlackBerry 10 slider!!  —  Well that didn't take long.  Last week we posted our BBX (now BlackBerry 10) Roadmap Preview for 2012, where we dropped a number of new codenames into the mix beyond the already photographed BlackBerry London.
John Paczkowski / AllThingsD:
What if Apple Television Is an iMac?  —  Here's a novel theory: The Internet-connected HDTV that Apple is rumored to have in the pipeline will be preceded by another device, which will pave the way for it:  —  A new iMac with integrated TV functionality.  —  That's the latest speculation …
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Microsoft and GE creating new health care company in Seattle region, employing 750 to start  —  Updated with additional details from Microsoft.  —  In a surprise joint venture between two corporate giants, Microsoft and General Electric plan to form a new health-care technology company …
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Publishing To Facebook Subscribers Shouldn't Make Us Spam Our Friends  —  I have one major gripe with Facebook's Subscribe feature: I have to publish to all my friends to reach my Subscribers.  In September, Facebook launched Subscribe, its Twitter-esque option that lets people receive …
Frederic Lardinois / SiliconFilter:
Marissa Mayer at LeWeb: Google+ Was a Pleasant Surprise  —  Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president for local, as well as maps and location services, was interviewed by Crunchfund's MG Siegler on stage at the LeWeb conference in Paris this morning.  This wide-ranging interview touched upon everything …
Reuters:
Alibaba seeks $4 billion in financing for Yahoo stake: sources  —  (Reuters) - Alibaba Group is seeking up to $4 billion in debt financing, sources said on Thursday, in a deal expected to help the Chinese e-commerce giant buy back a 40 percent stake in the company owned by Yahoo Inc.
Discussion: TechCrunch and AllThingsD
Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:
French court denies Samsung request for iPhone 4S ban  —  Via Twitter I just learned that the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris, the first-instance court for all French patent lawsuits, has denied Samsung's request for a preliminary injunction against the iPhone 4S.
Discussion: 9to5Google
Liz Gannes / AllThingsD:
Coming Soon: Twitter to Show Off What It's Building, in Its New Building  —  Twitter invited press, including AllThingsD, to come to an event this morning in San Francisco in order “to come see what we're building.”  —  Does that mean new products?  Probably — but with this company you never know.
Dan Frommer / SplatF:
Is Verizon even allowed to discriminate against NFC apps like Google Wallet?  —  Verizon Wireless has been careful to point out that it is not technically blocking the Google Wallet app/service from the new Galaxy Nexus phone, and that it is still negotiating with Google.
Mkoidin / Read It Later Blog:
Who Are the ‘Most-Read’ Authors?  —  Saving a story for later can tell us a lot about loyalty, longevity and quality—and it changes the way we think about the most popular stories on the web  —  If we're to believe Woody Allen, “80 percent of success is showing up.”
Discussion: paidContent
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Greylock And Benchmark Lead $15M Round In Social Collaboration Platform For Classrooms Edmodo  —  Edmodo, an online social learning and communications network for teachers and students in K through 12 schools, has raised $15 million in Series B funding led by Greylock Partners and Benchmark Capital.
 
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 More Items: 
Daniel Rubino / wpcentral:
T-Mobile Nokia Lumia 710 - confirmed through FCC manual
Eric Eldon / TechCrunch:
With Growth Accelerating, Socialcam's Mobile Video App Passes 3 Million Downloads
Alison Gregor / New York Times:
Square Feet: CityMaps Shows Where Businesses Are, Block by Block
Robert Andrews / paidContent:
UltraViolet's First Web Channels Are Now Live, Now It's Going Global
Discussion: Softpedia News and The Register
Jamie Heller / Deal Journal:
AT&T's Breakup Fee Less Taxing?
Discussion: DSLreports and Reuters
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Groupon Buys OpenCal, Launches Online Appointment Booking Service ‘Scheduler’
Discussion: Business Wire, VentureBeat and Pulse2
 Earlier Items: 
Royal Pingdom:
The mobile web in numbers
Ellis Hamburger / Business Insider:
OnLive's Mind Blowing New App Lets You Play Xbox And Playstation Games On Your iPad
Sean Murphy / CNET Download.com:
A note from Sean regarding the Download.com Installer