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1:15 AM ET, January 4, 2012

Techmeme

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RELATED:
Guardian:
Wendi Deng Twitter account is a fake  —  If the news that Wendi Deng had joined her husband Rupert Murdoch on Twitter and promptly engaged in flirtatious banter with the likes of Ricky Gervais seemed too good to be true, that's because it was.  Despite an official verified “tick” …
Sacha Greif:
How I Designed CodeYear.com in 1 Hour  —  Code Year is a great initiative by the folks behind Codecademy.  The concept is simple: sign up to Code Year, and each week you'll receive a new coding exercise.  By the end of the year, you'll be well on your way to becoming a coder.
Evan Blass / pocketnow.com:
More Nokia Lumia 900 “Ace” Details Revealed  —  We've gotten some more information on the upcoming Nokia Ace for AT&T — whose codename for the device is Eloko — including confirmation that it is indeed the Lumia 900 which will be sold globally as Nokia's flagship Windows Phone.
RELATED:
Ed Oswald / BetaNews:
Windows Phone partners bet $100M on Nokia Ace  —  The importance of the Nokia Ace to Microsoft's mobile plans is apparent as sources tell BetaNews of a major marketing push for the smartphone in the second quarter of this year.  The Ace will launch in late March, sources confirm …
Discussion: Electronista and WMPoweruser
Larry Downes / Forbes:
Why Best Buy is Going out of Business...Gradually  —  Electronics retailer Best Buy is headed for the exits.  I can't say when exactly, but my guess is that it's only a matter of time, maybe a few more years.  —  Consider a few key metrics.  Despite the disappearance of competitors including Circuit City …
Financial Post:
RIM leaning toward new chairman: sources  —  Under intense pressure from a group of shareholders, Research in Motion Ltd. is preparing to unveil a corporate shakeup at the beleaguered BlackBerry maker that could see co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie relinquish their titles as co-chairmen of the board, according to sources.
RELATED:
Felix Salmon:
Uber and the cognitive zone of discomfort  —  If you spend a fair amount of time among privileged dot-com types, you'll probably be familiar with Uber, a kind of luxury car service for the smartphone era.  The idea is that you pull out your iPhone, punch a couple of buttons …
RELATED:
Matt Lynley / Business Insider:   Uber Is Refunding Some Customers After Charging Them An Arm And A Leg On New Year's Eve
Rocky Agrawal / VentureBeat:   Car service Uber passes economics test, fails marketing
Fraser Speirs:
Misconceptions About iOS Multitasking  —  There is one iOS “tip” that I keep hearing and it is wrong.  Worse, I keep hearing it from supposedly authoritative sources.  I have even heard it from the lips of Apple “Geniuses” in stores.  —  Here is the advice - and remember it is wrong: … Wrong.
Discussion: Macgasm
Bill Slawski / SEO by the Sea:
IBM Assigns 217 More Patent Filings to Google including Wireless Phones and Javascript Widgets  —  Looks like Google and IBM are working together again to build up Google's patent portfolio, from an update at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) patent assignment database.
Reuters:
Verizon CEO cancels CES appearance  —  (Reuters) - The chief executive of Verizon Communications has canceled his appearance in a keynote panel at the 2012 Consumer Electronics show, the telephone company said on Tuesday.  —  The company said that a schedule change is preventing CEO Lowell McAdam …
Discussion: The Verge and PhoneArena
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Google requiring default ‘Holo’ theme in Android 4.0 devices for Android Market access  —  When Google unveiled the SDK for Android 4.0, the first thing we noted about Ice Cream Sandwich is that the default “Holo” theme would be baked right in at the OS level.
John Paczkowski / AllThingsD:
Kindle Fire Nibbles at iPad Holiday Sales  —  Apple may have sold as many as two million fewer iPads than expected this holiday season, and Amazon's new Kindle Fire tablet may be to blame.  —  Morgan Keegan analyst Tavis McCourt pruned his forecast for Apple's fiscal first quarter today …
Adrian Chen / Gawker:
Reddit Has Gone Mad with Power  —  The past few weeks have seen an impressive burst of political activism from nerd hive Reddit.  Now they're talking about “destroying” senators.  Oh jesus, this does not bode well.  —  It started in late December, when the domain registrar company GoDaddy voiced …
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
New Microsoft patent: Walking directions that avoid crime-ridden neighborhoods  —  Microsoft was issued a patent today on a computer system for “pedestrian route production” — better known as walking directions — that automatically adjusts the route for the unique conditions encountered by a person going from place to place on foot.
Discussion: VentureBeat and GottaBeMobile, Thanks:johnhcook
Karen Gullo / Bloomberg:
Apple Loses Bid to Keep Software Information Under Seal in Psystar Case  —  Apple Inc. (AAPL) failed to convince a judge that information about its software in court filings that's already available on the Internet and in print is “'trade secrets” that should remain sealed from public view.
Discussion: CNET and Electronista
Anil Dash:
Foursquare: Today's best-executing startup  —  About two years ago, Fred Wilson and I were talking about which startups we found interesting and I mentioned offhandedly that Foursquare was far and away the one that I thought had the most potential to be a huge, meaningful business.
Roger Capriotti / The Windows Blog:
The US Says Goodbye to IE6  —  Time to pop open the champagne because, based on the latest data from Net Applications, IE6 usage in the US has now officially dropped below 1%!  —  IE6 has been the punch line of browser jokes for a while, and we've been as eager as anyone to see it go away.
Liz Gannes / AllThingsD:
Klout Confirms Mega Funding Round  —  Klout confirmed today that it has raised Series C funding — a round that actually closed back in November and had been a bit of an open secret in tech circles for the past couple months.  —  Klout CEO Joe Fernandez said Kleiner Perkins lead the round, with Chi-Hua Chien joining the Klout board.
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
January Apple event to focus on two ‘large projects’ relating to education, iTunes  —  Following multiple reports claiming that Apple is holding an event later this month to discuss new media-related services, Clayton Morris shared some tidbits that he has heard from sources.
Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:
$215MM: TiVo cashes in on AT&T settlement  —  TiVo is going to get $215 million over the next seven years from AT&T thanks to a settlement of the two companies' DVR lawsuit.  TiVo had sued AT&T in 2009, alleging that the phone company's DVR violated some of TiVo's patents.
Rajat Agrawal / BGR India:
Spot the difference: Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus Vs Apple iPhone 3G  —  Ever since Samsung announced the Galaxy Ace Plus a few hours ago, I have not been able to help but think how similar it looks to a phone launched in June of 2008.  The iPhone 3G that is.  It has been bugging me so much that I dug …
Discussion: BGR and CNET, Thanks:rajatagr
RELATED:
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
Some 6.5 Million People Found Angry Birds in Their Stockings  —  Buoyed by a flurry of smartphone activations, Rovio said it saw a record 6.5 million Christmas Day downloads for its Angry Birds franchise of games.  —  That's nearly the number of total smartphone activations estimated to have happened over Christmas.
 
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 More Items: 
Mikael Ricknäs / PC World:
Nokia: Phone Charging Using Solar Power Comes With Many Challenges
Discussion: Nokia Conversations and Slashdot
Eric Eldon / TechCrunch:
CrunchBase Reveals: The Average Successful Startup Raises $25.3 Million, Sells For $196.8 Million
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
On The Day Of The Iowa Caucus, Barack Obama Joins Instagram
Discussion: Instagram and Black Web 2.0
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Amazon's Silk Browser ported from Kindle Fire to other Android devices
Discussion: The Android Soul
Josh Ong / AppleInsider:
Rumor: Apple, Google may bid on English Premier League TV rights
Discussion: Daily Mail and MacRumors
Paul Venezia / InfoWorld:
Mobile app developers to get their own professional organization
Paula Rooney / Open Source Blog:
Mozilla rings in new year with 2.0 license overhaul
Dan Tynan / ITworld:
Privacy been violated? Call the PRC
Discussion: Mercury News
 Earlier Items: 
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Google's Chrome Page No Longer Ranks For “Browser” After Sponsored Post Penalty
Dion Almaer / techno.blog:
The rise and fall of webOS is an epic tale; webOS != Web OS
Greg Lamm / TechFlash:
Microsoft patent could signal Xbox digital video recorder
Dan Graziano / BGR:
Transformer Prime to get Android 4.0 on January 12, official bootloader unlock tool soon
Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:
Ziff Davis Acquires IT Networking Site Toolbox.com
 

 
From Mediagazer:

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

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”

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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