Techmeme
June 19, 2012, 10:30 PM

Top News

Ashlee Vance / Business Week:
Why Microsoft's Surface Tablet Should Shame the PC Industry  —  On June 18, Microsoft (MSFT) beckoned 200 or so members of the media to an industrial, grimy part of Hollywood for what it described as a can't miss affair.  The dutiful reporters met at the appointed hour—3:30 p.m. …
More: PC World and ZDNetTweets: @maryjofoley and @valleyhack
Jesus Diaz / Gizmodo:
Microsoft Surface Just Made the MacBook Air and the iPad Look Obsolete  —  Microsoft has guts.  It's what you get when you're the underdog; either that or you curl into a RIM and die.  Microsoft is the underdog because no matter how many hundreds of millions of people use its software, the cool and the future belong to Apple.
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Memo: Ballmer rallies troops around Surface, hints at Office, Windows Phone news  —  Yesterday was a big moment in Microsoft's history, as the company unveiled its own tablet computer, Surface, moving into the PC hardware business for the first time.  —  After unveiling the tablet on stage in Hollywood …
Joshua Topolsky / The Verge:
With the Surface, Microsoft just started writing its next chapter  —  I first met Steven Bathiche when I took a trip to Microsoft's campus to check out what the company had been doing in the research and development department.  Microsoft PR had sworn to me that I would be blown away by the …
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Microsoft Surface tablets: Reading the fine print  —  Summary: Here are a few more hidden tidbits about Microsoft's new Surface tablets, launched in Los Angeles on June 18.  —  Yesterday Microsoft announced it would be making two Windows tablets of its own — one Windows8-based and another Windows RT-based.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
A Redesigned, Slicker PayPal Is Coming Tomorrow; Some Seeing New Look Today  —  PayPal, the eBay-owned online payments service that is making significant inroads into mobile, is giving its website an overhaul to make it easier for its 100 million+ users to pay and get paid, find help …
More: CNET and VentureBeat
Enigmax / TorrentFreak:
Google Threatens To Sue Huge YouTube MP3 Conversion Site  —  YouTube is without doubt the biggest free resource of videos and music available online today.  It can be enjoyed on the site itself, embedded in any webpage, or accessed via YouTube's Application Programming Interface.
Robert Kim / Google Mobile Blog:
Google Offers app now available on iPhone  —  Today we're announcing the new Google Offers app for iPhone.  Now, iPhone users can discover, buy and redeem Google Offers, as well as deals from our partners, on-the-go.  Some of the features of the new Google Offers app for iPhone include:
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
WWDC 2012 session videos go live for developers  —  As promised, Apple has quickly posted videos of many of the WWDC 2012 developer sessions.  There are currently 113 videos of sessions live on Apple's developer website.  Sessions for both iOS and OS X application development are available …
Kim-Mai Cutler / TechCrunch:
Facebook Adds Subscription Billing For App Developers, Backs Away From Credits As Primary Currency  —  Facebook is adding subscription billing for app developers, in what should help gaming and media companies earn more revenue from their most loyal users.  Starting next month …
Rip Empson / TechCrunch:
Ex-Googlers Launch MightyText, An iMessage For Android Users  —  During their lengthy careers at Google in both senior technical and product management roles, Maneesh Arora and Amit Sangani were able to geek out on products like AdSense, AdWords, and the now-defunct Google Health.
Michael Larabel / Phoronix:
NVIDIA PR Responds To Torvalds' Harsh Words  —  NVIDIA's PR department has issued a statement following the harsh comments by Linus Torvalds last week where he referred to the graphics company as the single worst company they have ever dealt with, called them out on not supporting Optimus, and other issues.
Jun Yang / Bloomberg:
LG To Sideline Tablet Development To Focus On Smaller Devices  —  LG Electronics Inc. (066570), the world's No. 4 mobile-phone maker, will sideline tablet computer development to focus more on smaller devices rather than compete head-on with Apple Inc.'s iPad.
Spencer Ackerman / Wired:
NSA: It Would Violate Your Privacy to Say if We Spied on You  —  Gen. Keith Alexander, center, the head of the National Security Agency, visits Afghanistan, 2010.  Photo: ISAF  —  The surveillance experts at the National Security Agency won't tell two powerful United States Senators …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Formspring Relaunches As An Interest-Based Social Network  —  Q&A site Formspring is today announcing what the company says is its biggest news since its original launch back in 2009.  Yes, Formspring has been overhauled.  The company is shifting its focus from social Q&A …
Vlad Savov / The Verge:
New Gmail custom themes let you set your own background image  —  For those of us still staying true to Gmail's web interface and resisting the lure of dedicated clients like Sparrow, Google is today rolling out a pair of custom theme options.  Using the basic Light and Dark Theme presets …
Jeff John Roberts / GigaOM:
LinkedIn sued over hacking incident that exposed six million passwords  —  LinkedIn will get to connect with a federal judge after an embarrassing security breach in early June.  The social network for professionals has been hit with a class action seeking at least $5 million over an incident that exposed millions of user passwords.
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
Microsoft's Phone Efforts Move Into the Spotlight Wednesday  —  While Monday was a huge day for Microsoft, thanks to the Surface tablet, Wednesday is also shaping up as a pretty important milestone.  —  The company is set to meet with developers to talk about the future of Windows Phone …
Joseph Volpe / Engadget:
BlackBerry 10 hands-on (video)  —  Like any good show pony, BlackBerry 10's been trotting around the world, strutting the fairly limited elements of its known UI in an effort to court developers.  The platform, without question the nail upon which RIM's fate and fortune hangs …
Drew Olanoff / The Next Web:
Google now offers support to developers during office hours with “Developers Live”  —  If you're wondering about how serious Google is when it comes to strengthening its developer ecosystem, today's announcement should answer that.  —  The company has launched “Google Developers Live” …
Mikael Ricknas / PC World:
Chinese Operators Hope to Standardize a Segmented Internet  —  A technology draft written by employees at China Mobile and China Telecom and submitted to the Internet Engineering Task Force describes how the Internet could be split into several parts using the Domain Name System …
Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:
VHX Raises $1.25 Million From Lerer Ventures And Angels To Democratize Video Distribution Online  —  For years, independent video producers have waited for the time when it would finally make economic sense for them to cut out the middle man and distribute their content directly to their fans.
Daniel Cooper / Engadget:
Google's Project Glass trackpad gets swaddled in patent protection  —  Remember when Sergey Brin was on The Gavin Newsom Show showing off Project Glass' right-sided physical trackpad?  Today, that element of the tech was given the official thumbs-up by the US patent and trademark office.

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More News

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Earlier Picks

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