Techmeme: James Murdoch Steps Down as Executive Chair of News International (Paul Sonne/Wall Street Journal)

February 29, 2012, 11:15 AM

Top News

Introducing Windows 8 Consumer Preview — Moments ago in Barcelona, we announced the release of Windows 8 Consumer Preview, available to download now for anyone interested in trying it out. We've been hard at work for many months now, and while we still have lots more to do …

More: The Verge, msnbc.com, BetaNews, Bits, MSDN Blogs, MSDN Blogs, blog.chron.com, Lifehacker, Bink.nu, Techland, TechNet Blogs, Liliputing, Neowin.net and Seattle Times. Tweets: @joannastern

Tim Stevens / Engadget:

Microsoft Windows 8 Consumer Preview detailed impressions — The early days of Windows were inauspicious ones. Sitting on top of DOS, it was hardly a revolution in personal computing — instead it felt like a disjointed platform perched uncomfortably atop a command prompt, ready to come crashing down at any moment.

More: The Verge, BGR, The Ed Bott Report Blog, ABCNEWS, TechCrunch, GeekWire, Gizmodo, LAPTOP Magazine, The Verge and netbooknews.com. Tweets: @dannysullivan

Chris Ziegler / The Verge:

Live from Microsoft's Windows 8 Consumer Preview event — 7:36 pm Windows head Steven Sinofsky just cruised through and worked the crowd a little. He's looking happy. 7:35 pm 7:35 pm They're all loaded to the max with Metro icons — a far cry from the more spare Metro homescreens Microsoft's been showing off up until now.

More: The Seattle Times, AllThingsD, Softpedia News, PhoneArena, Electronista, Gotta Be Mobile, Engadget, WinBeta and BGR

Sebastian Anthony / ExtremeTech:

Windows 8 Consumer Preview now available to download (updated with hands-on impressions) — At an event in Barcelona, to coincide with Mobile World Congress 2012, an ever-so-slightly-manic Steven Sinofsky has announced the immediate availability of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview …

More: VentureBeat, Ars Technica, Hardware 2.0 Blog, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, BGR, Engadget, Business Insider, DailyTech, Technically Personal!, The Next Web and Redmond Pie

Tweets: @drpizza and @longzheng

Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:

It's Windows 8 download day: Here's what we know — Summary: Here's my ‘live’ FAQ with all the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, Windows Server 8 beta and Visual Studio “11″ tidbits from my contacts and around the Web. — I'm not in Barcelona — where Microsoft is launching the Consumer Preview (beta) of Windows 8 today.

More: Gizmodo, VentureBeat, Computerworld, Mashable!, The Verge, Seattle Times and New York Times

Ina Fried / AllThingsD:

Microsoft Won't Support Some Business Features on ARM, But Will Offer “Windows to Go” — While Windows for ARM-based processors will offer many of the same features as the version for traditional PC chips, the list of differences is growing. — Microsoft disclosed on Wednesday that Windows …

More: The Verge, CNET, Between the Lines Blog, VentureBeat, ZDNet, The Verge, Neowin.net and Softpedia News

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Facebook Opens Timeline To All Biz Pages, Mandatory After 30 Days Of Curation — Facebook Pages around the world can now upgrade to Timeline, allowing businesses to express themselves more visually through a redesign consistent with what was pushed to user profiles this fall.

More: CNET, The New Persuaders, All Facebook, Betabeat, GigaOM, VentureBeat, Mashable!, The Next Web, WebProNews, newsroom.fb.com and Marketing Pilgrim. Thanks:@joshconstine

Brittany Darwell / Inside Facebook:

Timeline for Facebook pages: a complete overview of new features

Michael Arrington / Uncrunched:

Helpful Tips For Keeping Your Job As Editor Of Techcrunch — I rarely get writers block, but I've aborted multiple attempts to write about the leadership change at TechCrunch yesterday. So I'm going to keep it simple. — I'm exceptionally bummed that so many people have left TechCrunch.

More: TechCrunch. Tweets: @hnshah. Thanks:@bobcaswell

Erick Schonfeld / TechStream:

PostCrunch

Tweets: @erickschonfeld and @hunterwalk

Richard Lawler / Engadget:

Raspberry Pi credit-card sized Linux PCs are on sale now, $25 Model A gets a RAM bump — The good news is that Raspberry Pi's highly anticipated teeny-tiny Linux computers are on sale now, just barely making the promised February launch window (good thing it's a leap year).

More: Ars Technica, Techland, Mashable!, The Verge, Inquirer, BBC, Cult of Mac, GigaOM, TechEye, TeleRead, Softpedia News, Electronista and Guardian

JP Mangalindan / Fortune:

Google's Susan Wojcicki: Where we're heading — Nearly all the company's revenues come from her products. Now, Google's Susan Wojcicki weighs in on what's next for advertising and what the search giant stands to learn from Google+. — FORTUNE — It's been said before, but it's worth saying again …

Nick Bilton / Bits:

Apple Loophole Gives Developers Access to Photos — Developers of applications for Apple's mobile devices, and Apple itself, came under scrutiny this month after reports that some apps were taking people's address book information without their knowledge. — As it turns out, address books are not the only things up for grabs.

More: The Register, msnbc.com, Mashable!, IntoMobile, iPhone, Dice Blog Network, ITProPortal, Digital Trends, Neowin.net, everythingiCafe, PadGadget, Computerworld, Redmond Pie, ReadWriteWeb, Business Insider, BGR, GigaOM, SlashGear, Macgasm, The Next Web, iClarified, CNET and App Advice. Tweets: @9to5mac

Joshua Topolsky / The Verge:

iOS loophole gives developers access to photos, sources say a fix is coming

More: PhoneArena, SlashGear and Phones Review

Austin Carr / Fast Company:

Spotify Exec Ken Parks On “Windowing”: Mind-Boggling, Very Bad, Hostile — The biggest threat right now to subscription-based music services isn't coming from consumers or record labels—with millions of customers paying for monthly plans to Spotify and Rhapsody, all four majors see the services as major new sources of revenue.

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Sources: New Apple TV launching in March, near-immediate availability hinted for new iPads — iPads and Apple TVs work together for innovative AirPlay features — Reliable sources familiar with Apple's upcoming product release have said that the company is in fact launching a new Apple TV alongside the next-generation iPad.

Josh Lowensohn / CNET:

eBay's iPad trade-ins up 10-fold from same time last year — eBay says 10 times the number of people traded in their iPads during February than did during the same time year. — Stack of iPads are piled up at the San Francisco Apple Store at the 2010 launch.

More: IntoMobile, USA Today, Techland, PhoneArena and Gotta Be Mobile

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:

Feature: How Red Hat killed its core product—and became a billion-dollar business — A decade ago, Linux developer Red Hat faced a decision that would make or break the company: whether to stop producing the very product that gave Red Hat its name. The company was built on Red Hat Linux …

Thanks:@jbrodkin

Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:

Scoop: Less than 1M Google TV devices in use — It's widely known Google TV hasn't exactly been a success story. Early CE partner Logitech lost millions on the device, and consumer feedback was mostly negative after the first devices reached the market in late 2010.

More: DSLreports, fierceonlinevideo.com …, Softpedia News, SlashGear, Electronista and Business Insider

Joshua Topolsky / The Verge:

HP lays off 275 employees from webOS division — We've just received word that HP has laid off more than 270 employees from its webOS division as it “no longer needs many of the engineering and other related positions that it required before.” This follows just behind the departure …

More: SiliconANGLE, webOS Nation, Inquirer, PC World, Macworld, ITProPortal, The Register, Gizmodo, Phones Review, The Tech Herald Technology …, VentureBeat, CNET, The Next Web, netbooknews.com, Between the Lines Blog and Engadget

Seth Weintraub / 9to5Mac:

SprintTV comes to iPhone bringing ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN, Disney, MTV and Comedy Central with it — Click to view slideshow. — Lucky iPhone owners on Sprint's network (yeah we tried others) can now download Sprint TV and watch some pretty awesome programming. … The app is free. — Sprint via SprintFeed

More: The Verge, Sprint Community, IntoMobile, The Next Web, iClarified, Gizmodo, Pulse2 Technology … and Softpedia News

Nancy Gohring / ITworld.com:

Google once considered issuing currency — After discovering legal hurdles, it ditched the idea of ‘Google Bucks’ — Google once considered issuing its own currency, to be called Google Bucks, company Chairman Eric Schmidt said on stage in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress Tuesday.

More: Computerworld, InfoWorld, Geek.com, IntoMobile, Business Insider, Inquirer, SiliconFilter, PC World, Gizmodo, dailywireless.org and Interactioned

Adam Ostrow / Mashable!:

Track Who's Tracking You With Mozilla Collusion — LONG BEACH, Calif. — Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs took the TED stage Tuesday morning to introduce Collusion, a Firefox browser add-on that lets you track who's tracking you across the web for behavioral targeting purposes.

More: Marketing Pilgrim, WebProNews, Wired, Softpedia News, Gizmodo, SlashGear, VizWorld.com and Network World

Enigmax / TorrentFreak:

Megaupload Founder Defeats US Govt Attempts To Put Him Back In Prison — On February 22nd, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom was released on bail by North Shore District Court Judge Nevin Dawson. — Dotcom had been held in custody since an anti-terrorist police squad raided his Coatesville mansion …

More: Reuters, Associated Press, Inquirer, Computerworld, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal and Stuff.co.nz

David Saleh Rauf / Politico:

More feds ditch BlackBerrys — The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is planning to start the process of ditching Research in Motion's signature BlackBerry wireless phone largely in favor of the iPhone, the agency's top tech official told POLITICO.

More: The Verge, Guardian, Electronista, TUAW, The Tech Trade and 9to5Mac. See also Mediagazer

Ian Simpson / Reuters:

Wired world to be boon, bane for Generation Y: survey — (Reuters) - There is a good chance young people growing up in today's always-wired world will eventually become bright, nimble decision makers - if they don't wind up intellectual lightweights unable to concentrate long enough to chew over a good book.

More: Los Angeles Times and Pew Internet

Paul Sonne / Wall Street Journal:

James Murdoch Steps Down as Executive Chair of News International — LONDON—News Corp. said Deputy Chief Operating Officer James Murdoch is stepping down as executive chairman of the company's beleaguered U.K. newspaper unit, a move that comes as he relocates to New York in the role of deputy chief operating officer.

More: The Register, paidContent, AllThingsD, VentureBeat and The Next Web. See also Mediagazer

Emil Protalinski / Friending Facebook Blog:

Facebook claims you're playing games you aren't playing — Summary: Facebook recommends games to you based on what your friends are playing. Unfortunately, the Discover New Games module is lying: it often claims your friends are playing games they aren't. — Facebook's “Discover New Games” algorithm is broken.

Thanks:@emilprotalinski

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Facebook Pitches Advertisers on a New Ad Model — Facebook sold $3 billion worth of ads last year, but it's still feeling its way around the ad business. — And the ad business still isn't sure what to make of Facebook: Grand new marketing paradigm, or a collection of 800 million people …

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