Techmeme
October 17, 2012, 11:15 AM

Top News

Josh Lowensohn / CNET:
Apple snaps up celebrity-backed Web app firm Particle  —  Apple has bought a San Francisco-based HTML5 Web and Web app design firm backed by Justin Timberlake.  —  Call it an “acqui-hire.”  —  Apple has snapped up Particle, a San Francisco-based creative consulting company that specializes …
Walter S. Mossberg / AllThingsD:
Windows 8 Review  —  Microsoft is giving Windows its most radical overhaul since 1995 and even its most devoted users won't recognize the venerable computer operating system in this new incarnation, called Windows 8, when it appears Oct. 26.  —  [ See post to watch video ]
Adrian Chen / Gawker:
Reddit CEO Speaks Out On Violentacrez In Leaked Memo: ‘We Stand for Free Speech’  —  Reddit has been rocked by our expose of its most powerful creep, Texas programmer Michael Brutsch aka Violentacrez.  Brutsch has been defending himself on Reddit, and is even going to be interviewed by CNN.
Ken / Popehat:
A Few Words On Reddit, Gawker, and Anonymity  —  Perhaps you've heard of neither Gawker nor Reddit.  That would make you (a) isolated from internet culture and (b) quite arguably lucky.  —  But if you've heard of either of them, then you've probably heard about the internet-drama swirling around them in the last week.
More: Forbes
Sam Byford / The Verge:
HTC J Butterfly preview: a stunning 5-inch 1080p phone for Japan (video)  —  440ppi Super LCD 3 sets the new standard in smartphone displays  —  The rumors were true: HTC has been working on a new flagship phone with a 5-inch 1080p display, and we got to see it in Tokyo today.
Dhanya Skariachan / Reuters:
Best Buy to price its own Android tablet at $239-$259 -source  —  (Reuters) - Best Buy Co Inc is planning to price its own Android tablet “Insignia Flex” at $239 to $259, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.  —  The tablet will compete with Apple's iPad and Amazon's Kindle.
Marcus Wohlsen / Wired:
Retail: Amazon's Next Big Business Is Selling You  —  Facebook knows who your friends are.  Google knows what you're interested in finding on the internet.  Amazon knows what you've bought, and has a pretty good idea of what you might want to buy next.  —  If you were an advertiser, which company's data sounds most valuable to you?
Nathan Ingraham / The Verge:
Samsung confirms US Galaxy S III handsets will get Android 4.1 ‘in the coming months’  —  Galaxy S III owners, your wait for Jelly Bean might be nearing and end.  Samsung just confirmed that all US variants of its flagship Android phone will receive an update to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean …
Steven Levy / Wired:
Google Throws Open Doors to Its Top-Secret Data Center  —  If you're looking for the beating heart of the digital age — a physical location where the scope, grandeur, and geekiness of the kingdom of bits become manifest—you could do a lot worse than Lenoir, North Carolina.
Marcus Wohlsen / Wired:
Data: MasterCard Is Selling Your Data Just in Time for the Holidays  —  Image: Håkan Dahlström via photopin cc  —  Credit card companies make money by taking a cut every time you swipe your plastic at the checkout counter.  Now MasterCard has found a way to make those swipes pay over and over again.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Mobile Milestone: The Number Of Smartphones In Use Passed 1 Billion In Q3, Says Strategy Analytics  —  We are just getting into reporting season, where some (but not all) handset makers tell us how many handsets they've sold in the last three months, but Strategy Analytics has taken a punt …
Jack Purcher / Patently Apple:
Apple Wins Patents for Camera & NFC Alternative Technologies  —  The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of thirty-two newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today.  In our final granted patent report of the day we focus on Apple's new NFC Alternative technology …
Matt Brian / The Next Web:
UK retailer Argos confirms Google to offer 32GB Nexus 7, available for £199.99  —  With Apple all but certain to introduce a new, smaller iPad at its San Jose launch event next week, Google appears to have plans of its own to make its popular Nexus 7 more attractive to consumers by offering …
Graham Spencer / MacStories:
Mapping The Entertainment Ecosystems of Apple, Microsoft, Google & Amazon  —  The choice of what phone or tablet to buy is one that often involves many considerations, chief amongst those is the physical device and the operating system that it runs.  But I think there is a third fundamental consideration …
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Google Launches Disavow Links Tool  —  Google has launched a new and widely anticipated “disavow links” tool.  The tool was announced by the head of Google's web spam team Matt Cutts, when speaking during a keynote at the Pubcon conference today.  —  The tool is live and can be found here.
John Cook / GeekWire:
Charts: VC deals rise in Q3, but investment totals shrink  —  U.S. venture capital totals show an upsurge in deals, but a dip in investing.  —  Venture capitalists are investing in more seed-stage startups, leading to a flurry of deal activity not seen since the dot-com boom era.
Élyse Betters / 9to5Mac:
Foxconn official says iPhone 5 supply shortages caused by complicated design, productivity improving  —  The Wall Street Journal spoke with an unnamed Hon Hai executive today about why the iPhone 5 is experiencing supply shortages, and the Taiwanese manufacturer, also known as Foxconn …
Justin Lafferty / AllFacebook:
STUDY: Pinterest Tops Facebook In Shopping Engagement  —  As Facebook enters the e-commerce game, a new study shows that it still has work to do to catch up with Pinterest.  According to statistics from Bizrate Insights, 69 percent of online consumers who visit Pinterest have found …

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Earlier Picks

Arik Hesseldahl / AllThingsD:
Eugene Kaspersky / Nota Bene: