Techmeme
February 14, 2012, 7:55 PM

Top News

Nick Wingfield / Bits:
Apple Chief Unveils a New Product: Himself  —  When he was alive, Steven P. Jobs, Apple's former chief executive, treated investors as if they were biohazards, rarely deigning to meet with them.  The disdain was not mutual, as an Apple stock chart for the last ten years shows.
Erica Ogg / GigaOM:
Tim Cook's vision for Apple, and its cash  —  At Goldman Sachs' investor conference Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook gave some rare color on how he views not only his own job as Steve Jobs' successor, but also his views on the company's $98 billion cash pile.  While he did not make investors …
Wall Street Journal:
Apple, Suppliers Test Tablet With Smaller Screen  —  TAIPEI-Apple Inc. is working with component suppliers in Asia to test a new tablet computer with a smaller screen, people familiar with the situation said, as it looks to broaden its product pipeline amid intensifying competition and maintain its dominant market share.
Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:
Exclusive: Yahoo Asia Deal Talks Off for Now  —  According to sources close to the situation, the discussions between Yahoo and its Asian partners have hit a potentially deal-breaking impasse over the efficacy of the centerpiece of the complex negotiations — a cash-rich split-off — and several other issues.
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Zynga beats earnings estimates for its first-ever quarterly report as a public company  —  Zynga reported a modest profit for the fourth-quarter in its first-ever quarter financial report today.  —  The non-GAAP earnings per share were five cents, or $37.1 million, for the quarter.
Evan Blass / pocketnow.com:
Motorola's First, Intel-Powered Ice Cream Sandwich Revealed (Images)  —  We've just gotten some imagery and a few details pertaining to a phone that will allegedly be Motorola's first Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich-powered handset.  What's more, this unnamed device will also be one of Motorola's …
Kunur Patel / AdAge:
Apple Slashes iAd Pricing Again as Mobile Ad Share Declines  —  Reacting From Competition From Google, and Realities of Mobile Ad Market  —  Apple is once again slashing the minimum amount it charges advertisers to run a campaign on its iAd mobile ad system, as well as boosting the amount …
Tatsuo Nomura / Google LatLong:
An easy way to access directions and locations you care about  —  If you're anything like me, you might use Google Maps to look up the same places and directions more than once, like the location of your hotel while you're on vacation, or directions to a friend's house that you've visited before.
Kim-Mai Cutler / Inside Mobile Apps:
Download bots were the “well-known secret” of the app ecosystem  —  It's remarkable how widely-known the phenomenon of fraudulent download bots was throughout the iOS developer community.  Essentially, bots or automated programs have been used for well over a year to download apps until …
John Paczkowski / AllThingsD:
Worry About an Apple Television?  Don't Make Samsung Laugh.  —  Smug complacency.  —  That seems to be the standard TV industry response to rumors of an Apple HDTV.  Back in December, Sharp's Kozo Takahashi dismissed the potential threat Apple might pose to the TV market …
Italovignoli / The Document Foundation Blog:
The Document Foundation announces LibreOffice 3.5: “the best free office suite ever”  —  Berlin, February 14, 2012 - The Document Foundation announces LibreOffice 3.5, the third major release of “the best free office suite ever”, which shows to end users the improvements derived …
Adrianne Jeffries / Betabeat:
Did Google Just Disable Privacy-Friendly Scroogle?  [UPDATED]  —  A satirical image from Scroogle, reflecting the search engine's tendentious position on Google's privacy policy.  (scroogle.org)  —  UPDATE: Google says it did not target Scroogle specifically.
Sam Byford / The Verge:
Sony developing authenticating power outlets: pay-to-charge on the way?  —  Sony is developing power outlet technology that uses IC chips to determine a user's identity or permissions.  Possible use case scenarios include managing energy usage in large buildings, device theft prevention …
Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
Did the AP just declare war on news aggregators?  —  Like virtually every other traditional news entity, the Associated Press newswire has been under pressure for some time from digital media — but this disruption has been even worse for AP and its ilk because they are primarily distributors …
Bloomberg:
Proview Asks China Customs to Stop IPad Imports, Exports  —  Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) — Proview International Holdings Ltd., which claims ownership of the iPad trademark in China, is asking the nation's customs bureau to block imports and exports of Apple Inc.'s tablet computer.

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More News

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