Techmeme
June 20, 2012, 11:20 AM

Top News

Reuters:
Microsoft kept PC partners in dark about Surface  —  (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp kept its personal computer partners largely in the dark about its plans to launch a competing tablet computer, with some long-time collaborators learning of the new gadget only days before its unveiling, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Mary Branscombe / TechRadar.com:
What's unique about Microsoft's Surface tablet Touch Cover?  —  We look at the technology behind the Surface tablet  —  There's an awful lot of tech going on in the Surface tablet  —  With eyebrows raised following the decision to launch its own hardware, what's inside Microsoft's Surface tablet that makes it worth considering?
Walt Mossberg / AllThingsD:
Galaxy Quest: One Phone Aimed at All Networks  —  While smartphones based on Google's Android operating system collectively outsell Apple's iPhone, no single Android phone has risen to become a giant hit the way the iPhone has.  Instead, there has been a profusion of often-confusing models …
Thomas Ricker / The Verge:
Samsung owed compensation from Apple after winning 3G patent ruling in The Hague  —  The Hague District Court has ruled in Samsung's favor regarding a 3G patent asserted against Apple.  As reported by AllAboutPhones, Samsung has already issued a press release ahead of the decision's publication:
Washington Post:
U.S., Israel developed Flame computer virus to slow Iranian nuclear efforts, officials say  —  View Photo Gallery — Stuxnet and other big worms and viruses: The computer virus is growing in popularity as the weapon-of-choice in the Middle East.  Here's a look at some of the more notable viruses and worms.
Michael Sippey / Twitter Blog:
A new way to experience profiles: with or without replies  —  When you visit a Twitter user's profile, you may want to see his or her original Tweets rather than their conversations.  Then again, you may enjoy seeing the back-and-forth exchanges they have with other Twitter users.
Kim-Mai Cutler / TechCrunch:
Peter Thiel Launches Mithril: A New $402 Million Late-Stage Fund  —  Peter Thiel may be best known for his angel investments, most notably, his legendary call with Facebook.  But now he's got something for companies that sit just on the cusp between public and private markets.
Dan Levine / Reuters:
Apple, Google to face off in key smartphone hearing  —  (Reuters) - Apple Inc will try to salvage a high-profile lawsuit against Google Inc's Motorola Mobility unit on Wednesday at a crucial hearing in the smartphone patent wars between the two tech companies.
Mark Milian / Bloomberg:
New Incubators Focus on Hardware  —  Arye Barnehama had an idea for a headband that could measure a person's level of focus.  So last year, he recruited people with the know-how to design software and arrange circuit boards to help build it.  —  “We had a really great foundation for the company,” he said.
Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land:
Bing Ties Yellow Pages Sites For Most Accurate Local Data  —  In April I wrote about a local data accuracy study preformed by a company called Implied Intelligence.  The company offers data services to publishers and developers.  In April the company found that yellow pages site Superpages bested Google Maps …
Nick Turner / Bloomberg:
RIM's Job Cuts Under Way as Company Seeks $1B in Savings  —  Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), the struggling maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, is cutting jobs as part of a broad cost-saving effort aimed at trimming $1 billion in operating expenses.  —  “RIM has committed to achieving …
Matt Brian / The Next Web:
Google Mail no more: German users can switch to a Gmail.com email address today  —  Nearly seven years after it had to rebrand its Gmail service as Google Mail in Germany, Google has today announced that users in the country will now be able to use a gmail.com email address from today.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
WPP Doubles Down On Digital, Buys Leading Agency AKQA At $550M Valuation  —  WPP today has announced a major development in its strategy to have 40 percent of its business coming from digital in the next five years: it is buying AKQA, one of the biggest — and independent — digital agencies around.
Wall Street Journal:
Coke, Ford Offer Support for Facebook  —  Ford, Coke Separately Offer Endorsements for Marketing on the Social Network Amid Challenges to Its Effectiveness  —  Facebook Inc. is getting support from two big-name advertisers after tough questions over the effectiveness of its ads.
Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:
Chinese online censorship targets “collective action” posts  —  A Harvard team finds that China's Internet policy allows more than most realize.  —  We all know that China and the Internet aren't exactly BFFs.  The Great Firewall of China has been around for over 15 years now, and it shows no sign of crumbling.
Ryan Paul / Ars Technica:
First look at the curved tabs in Firefox's new Australis design  —  A Mozilla developer published a Firefox build that shows the new tab style.  —  A screenshot of the custom Firefox build with the Australis tab style.  —  Earlier this year, we reported on Mozilla's effort to unify the look …
Liz Gannes / AllThingsD:
Greplin Recasts Itself as Cue, an Intelligent Personal Assistant App  —  Greplin, the personal search start-up, is trying to become more helpful and more mainstream with the launch of a new personal assistant app called Cue.  —  Cue is an app that processes users' emails, contacts and files.
BBC:
UK waterways to become active routes on Google Maps  —  At the moment, waterways in England and Wales are not listed as routes on Google Maps  —  Google Maps users may soon find it easier to plan a trip on one of UK's waterways.  —  The US search engine has teamed up with the Canal and River Trust …
Sean Ludwig / VentureBeat:
Bitcasa's ‘infinite’ cloud storage wins $7M from Pelion, Horizons, others  —  Cloud storage startup Bitcasa has nabbed $7 million in its first round of funding to realize its vision of giving consumers “infinite storage” for all of their devices for $10 a month.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Mobile Ads Are An Ugly Nightmare.  955 Dreams...Of A World Where They're Beautiful  —  “I don't want to talk about whether ads are good or bad.  I just want to make good ads.  Good for apps, good for users.”  That's from Kiran Belubbi, founder and CEO of 955 Dreams which today added …
Robin Wauters / The Next Web:
Berlin startup Moped lands $1m from top investors, launches messaging app for iOS and Web  —  Moped, a Berlin startup that is ‘rethinking messages from the ground up’, has raised $1 million in seed funding from Germany's Earlybird Ventures and high-profile U.S. investors like Lerer Ventures, SV Angel and Betaworks.
Ben Popper / The Verge:
After Facebook's IPO flub, value of tech startups falls back to earth  —  A string quartet played a medley of pop radio hits as several hundreds startup founders, Goldman Sachs bankers, and venture capital investors, chatted over drinks inside a gleaming neon temple of Angel Orensanz in lower Manhattan.

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Kim-Mai Cutler / TechCrunch: