Techmeme
May 2, 2012, 6:15 PM

Top News

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Exclusive: $99 Xbox 360 + Kinect bundle launching next week with two-year subscription  —  Microsoft is planning to launch a $99 Xbox console package with a monthly subscription as early as next week, according to our sources.  The software giant will offer the 4GB console with a Kinect sensor …
Ross Miller / The Verge:
It's official: Target will phase out all Kindle-branded products this spring  —  Last night we reported on Target's plans to discontinue sale of the Kindle due to “conflict of interest,” and now the company has confirmed to us that it will, indeed, discontinue sale.
Wil Wheaton / WWdN: In Exile:
Google is making a huge and annoying mistake.  —  I like Google Plus.  Some of the smartest people I've ever read are on Google Plus, and the Hangout is amazing.  —  But Google is doing everything it can to force Google Plus on everyone, and it's pissing me off.  —  Yesterday, I tried to like a video on YouTube.
Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
Amazon Gets Into the Sitcom Business  —  Amazon has been stocking up its Web-video offering with lots of old TV shows.  Now it's going to start making some of its own.  —  The company is pulling back the covers (a bit) on its plans to produce kids' shows and sitcoms via its “Amazon Studios” …
Kim-Mai Cutler / TechCrunch:
Yelp's Post-IPO Earnings: $27.4M in Revenue, Up 66% From A Year Earlier, But Net Loss Triples  —  In its first ever earnings report as a publicly-traded company, Yelp said it earned $27.4 million in revenue, up 66 percent from the $16.5 million it made in the same time a year ago.
Jessica Dolcourt / CNET:
Verizon's LTE-powered in-home broadband goes national  —  While Sprint and T-Mobile are struggling to launch their 4G LTE networks, Verizon apparently has enough LTE to power your devices at home.  —  Starting Thursday, Verizon's HomeFusion Broadband service will bring LTE-powered Internet access nationwide.
Stuart Dredge / Guardian:
The dark side of in-app purchases  —  Decision to make music game unplayable is controversial, but it's not the only example  —  The glory days of guitar-based music games may be firmly in the past, yet there are plenty of people still firing up Rock Band or Guitar Hero on their consoles for a nostalgic glow.
Enigmax / TorrentFreak:
Pirate Bay Enjoys 12 Million Traffic Boost, Shares Unblocking Tips  —  Last Friday the UK High Court ruled that several of country's leading ISPs must censor The Pirate Bay website having ruled in February that the site and its users breach copyright on a grand scale.
Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
Spotify (Finally) Shows Up on the iPad  —  You wanted a Spotify iPad app?  You've got a Spotify iPad app.  —  It's pretty, and it takes advantage of the tablet's bigger screen to showcase artist artwork and other cool stuff.  Just like you'd expect from an iPad app.  —  Demo video is at the bottom of this post.
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
OS X Mountain Lion update adds helpful ‘Do Not Disturb’ option for notifications  —  Apple's update to OS X Lion Preview 3 adds a very helpful new “Do Not Disturb” feature for notifications.  The feature is a toggle accessible at the top of Notification Center that allows users to block incoming alerts and banners.
Jon Russell / The Next Web:
Google introduces ‘VC Office Hours’, Google+ hangouts with top Silicon Valley figures  —  Google+ is often lamented for failing to capture the attention of mainstream social network users and, almost in response to that accusation, Google is launching an interesting initiative that will see top figures …
Paul Sloan / CNET:
Frustrated advertisers to Facebook: Take our money — please!  —  With the social network's huge IPO getting nearer, this is the sort of news that Mark Zuckerberg doesn't need to hear just now.  With a reach approaching 15 percent of the world's population, Facebook is a thriving media business.
Ryan Kim / GigaOM:
Pebble smartwatch gets its first app partner: RunKeeper  —  When I talked to the man behind the Pebble smartwatch, which has become the biggest Kickstarter project ever, he said what excited him about all the success was the ability to turn Pebble into an app platform.
Jennifer Baker / PC World:
Programming Languages Not Copyrightable Rules Top EU Court  —  Europe's top court ruled on Wednesday that the functionality of a computer program and the programming language it is written in cannot be protected by copyright.  —  The European Court of Justice made the decision in relation …
David Cohen / AllFacebook:
Facebook Introduces Open Graph Action Links  —  Allfacebook Marketing Conference AllFacebook.de SocialTimes Send an anonymous tip  —  Move over, action verbs, and make way for action links, which Facebook introduced today as a way for users to interact directly with timeline applications.
Mary Jo Foley / CNET:
Microsoft to drop Windows Live branding with Windows 8  —  Microsoft's perpetually confusing Windows Live branding is about to get a long-overdue clean up.  —  Microsoft is doing away with the Windows Live brand, according to a May 2 post on the Building Windows 8 blog.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Down, Not Out: Nokia Goes On The Offensive With 11 Lawsuits Against HTC, RIM And ViewSonic Covering 45 Patents  —  As Nokia continues to try to turn itself around as a mobile phone business, it is also playing on the offense in the legal game: today it announced that it has filed fresh round …
Kevin J. O'Brien / New York Times:
European Regulators May Reopen Street View Inquiries  —  BERLIN — Privacy regulators in Britain, Germany and France said Wednesday that they may reopen or expand their investigations into Google's illegal collection of Internet data for its Street View service following revelations …
Jennifer Van Grove / VentureBeat:
Prezi zooms past 10M users, releases PowerPoint import tool  —  In building an intuitive and fluid alternative to PowerPoint, startup Prezi is helping presenters reimagine their productions.  Tuesday, the company announced that it surpassed 10 million users, and released a PowerPoint import tool …
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google Updates Google Docs With 450 New Fonts, 60 New Templates And More  —  Google today announced that it is bringing web fonts to Google Docs.  Thanks to this update, you can now use 450 new fonts in your Google documents.  These are the same 450 fonts Google already features on its Web Fonts site for web designers.
Motoko Rich / Economix:
The Declining Role of Start-Ups  —  Business leaders and politicians often laud the United States for its entrepreneurial culture, but the pace of start-up activity has been declining since the 1980s, a decline that - not surprisingly - accelerated during the most recent recession and its aftermath.
Tweets: @eldon
Arik Hesseldahl / AllThingsD:
After Testifying in Oracle-Google Trial, Scott McNealy Speaks Out  —  Having testified in the Oracle-Google trial with a decidedly different viewpoint from that of his successor, former Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy took to Bloomberg TV yesterday to talk a little about Java, and licensing of its APIs, and other matters yesterday.

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