Techmeme
December 7, 2012, 4:20 PM

Top News

Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:
U.S. patent office declares ‘the Steve Jobs patent’ entirely invalid on non-final basis  —  For the second time in less than two months, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a first Office action tentatively declaring a key Apple multitouch patent invalid.
More: CNET, MacRumors and Engadget
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Dropbox Hires Away Google's Guido Van Rossum, The Father Of Python  —  The original open source software “Benevolent Dictator For Life” and author of Python, Guido van Rossum, is leaving Google to join Dropbox, the startup will announce later today.  Van Rossum was a software engineer at Google since 2005 …
Amir Efrati / Wall Street Journal:
Quentin Hardy / NYT Bits:
Planning His Legacy, Cisco Chief Maps an Expansion  —  SAN JOSE, Calif. — John T. Chambers has readied his last great act as the leader of Cisco Systems, fearing major changes in the technology business that could doom his company.  —  In an interview at Cisco headquarters this week …
Vlad Savov / The Verge:
Google SVP Vic Gundotra was told to stop tweeting after infamous ‘two turkeys’ taunt  —  Shortly after the launch of Google+ in June last year, Google Senior VP Vic Gundotra went silent on Twitter.  The logical assumption was that he was showing his faith in the nascent G+ product …
Matt McGee / Marketing Land:
Graham Spencer / MacStories:
Mapping Apple's Retail Expansion  —  Apple opened its first retail stores on May 19, 2001 - one in Virginia and the other in California.  In the Steve Jobs biography, author Walter Isaacson wrote how Jobs had wanted Apple to have its own stores so that their iMacs didn't have to …
More: The Loop
China Real Time Report:
Besides Scalpers, Few Turn Out for iPad Mini Launch in Beijing … The release of Apple Inc.'s iPad Mini on Friday at its flagship store in Beijing was missing the massive and unruly crowds reminiscent of some the company's previous product launches in China, but scalpers were still …
Richard Lawler / Engadget:
Galaxy S III ‘Premium Suite’ features detailed: Multi-Window, Page Buddy and more (video)  —  Samsung started pushing a new Jelly Bean update to its Galaxy S III phones yesterday, and it's posted a video breaking down some of the features.  Many of the “Premium Suite” upgrades are cribbed …
Bloomberg:
Sprint Is Said to Suggest Dish Partnership  —  Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) has approached Dish Network Corp. (DISH) about a partnership that would allow the satellite-TV company to offer mobile-phone service over the carrier's network, two people familiar with the matter said.
More: The Verge and BGR
Paul Elias / Associated Press:
Judge May Trim Apple's $1 Billion Patent Verdict  —  SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday appeared ready to reduce a $1.05 billion jury verdict Apple Inc. won over Samsung Electronics.  —  During a hearing in a San Jose federal courtroom, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh told lawyers …
Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:
Facebook in Talks to Buy Microsoft's Atlas Ad Platform  —  According to sources close to the situation, Facebook is looking seriously at purchasing Microsoft's Atlas Solutions ad-serving platform.  —  Sources said the social networking giant has been conducting due diligence …
John Ribeiro / Computerworld:
AMD cuts chip orders to GlobalFoundries as PC market slumps  —  Advanced Micro Devices has cut orders to contract chip manufacturer GlobalFoundries, expecting a “choppy demand environment” in the next few quarters.  —  Advanced Micro Devices has cut orders to contract chip manufacturer GlobalFoundries …
Rock Center with Brian Williams:
Apple CEO on challenge of keeping company cutting edge  —  Steve Jobs' hand-picked successor, current Apple CEO Tim Cook, talks exclusively to Rock Center Anchor and Managing Editor Brian Williams about Apple's battle with Samsung, glitches with their maps app, the prospect of Apple TV and the challenge of keeping Apple cutting edge.

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Featured Podcasts

The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'A Naughty Citizen', With Quinn Nelson
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
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Channels with Peter Kafka:
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Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
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Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
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Earlier Picks

Keach Hagey / Wall Street Journal:
Jennifer Martinez / Hillicon Valley: