Techmeme
December 12, 2012, 11:35 AM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Apple Tests Designs for TV  —  TAIPEI—Apple Inc. is working with component suppliers in Asia to test several TV-set designs, people familiar with the situation said, suggesting the U.S. company is moving closer to expanding its offerings for the living room.
Nick Bilton / NYT Bits:
Facebook Changes Privacy Settings, Again  —  Stop me if you've heard this one before: Facebook is making changes to its privacy settings.  —  First, it is improving some privacy protections.  The company is adding a new top-level control, called Privacy Shortcuts, that will allow people …
Facebook Newsroom:
Facebook Year in Review 2012  —  Today we're releasing Facebook's Year in Review, a look back at the people, moments and things that created the most buzz in 2012 among the billion people around the world on Facebook.  —  We took the pulse of the global community on Facebook in 2012 to assemble …
Matt Brian / The Next Web:
Yahoo launches Instagram-inspired Flickr iPhone app update, adds simple sign-ins, 16 filters and more  —  Confirming Marissa Mayer's commitment to a mobile-first strategy, Yahoo has announced the second major overhaul of one of its apps in as many days (following its Yahoo Mail refresh) …
Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
The Redbox Verizon Movie Service Is Almost Ready to Take On Netflix  —  Here comes the next video service that wants to take on Netflix: Redbox and Verizon are finally ready to launch their long-awaited joint venture.  —  Well, almost ready: “Redbox Instant by Verizon” …
Microsoft:
Microsoft Increases Production and Expands Retail Distribution for Microsoft Surface With Windows RT  —  Makes Surface available at additional retailers, extends successful Microsoft holiday stores into new year.  —  Microsoft Corp. today announced plans to make Microsoft Surface available …
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
Verizon Determined to Expose BitTorrent Copyright Trolls  —  Two weeks ago a group of adult movie companies sued Verizon for failing to hand over the personal details of alleged BitTorrent pirates.  —  The Internet provider had ignored court orders and Malibu Media, Patrick Collins …
Om Malik / GigaOM:
A question that Twitter needs to ask itself  —  Yesterday, Twitter announced that it was launching its own version of photo filters and photo editing tools.  And like all news around social networks — Facebook, Instagram and Twitter — it got the treatment normally reserved for the Kardashians.
John Paczkowski / AllThingsD:
Exclusive: Microsoft Pressing Apple to Take a Smaller Cut on Sales Inside Office for iOS  —  Apple has indeed rejected — not merely delayed — an update to Microsoft's SkyDrive app for iOS following a disagreement over whether it is owed the 30 percent cut of in-app purchases it typically demands.
Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:
The LeWeb Conference Sold to Reed Midem  —  Reed Midem, an international trade show organizer, has bought a majority stake in the well-known European Internet conference, LeWeb.  —  The event, which now has two annual events, recently attracted 3,500 people in Paris, hosting …
AppleInsider:
iTunes now selling and renting movies in 42 newly-opened stores  —  Apple on Wednesday activated iTunes movie sales for a bulk of the countries in which the online media storefront launched earlier in December, though film selection and availability is somewhat limited and varies from region to region.
Brendan Sasso / Hillicon Valley:
Apple, Samsung, RIM push Congress for more airwaves  —  A coalition of technology companies sent a letter to key lawmakers on Tuesday, calling for Congress to provide more airwaves for smartphones and tablet computers.  —  The letter was signed by Alcatel-Lucent, Apple, Cisco, Ericsson …
Om Malik / GigaOM:
SnapChat is getting funded.  By Instagram backer Benchmark  —  Yesterday, Dan Primack pointed out that like Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures, Matt Cohler, who backed Instagram for Benchmark Capital, hasn't done a deal in 2012.  Well, that is all set to change, for Benchmark is very likely …
Lukas I. Alpert / Wall Street Journal:
In War of Smartphones, The Russians Are Coming  —  MOSCOW—In a country whose best known contribution to global technology may well be the Kalashnikov rifle, a new mobile-phone company once tied to Russia's state-run defense corporation hopes it will have as deep an impact on the world's next generation of smartphones.
Alex Williams / TechCrunch:
Costanoa Venture Capital: A $100M Fund For Startups That Develop Cloud Services For Business And Consumer Markets  —  Sutter Hill Ventures Greg Sands has left the firm to launch a $100 million fund to invest in early stage, cloud services for businesses and consumers that leverage data and analytics.
Kevin Clark / Wall Street Journal:
San Francisco 49ers Raid Silicon Valley, Hiring Former Facebook, YouTube Talent  —  San Francisco 49ers Aim to Change the NFL by Poaching Talent From Tech; ‘Open Source’ Scouting?  —  San Francisco  —  The San Francisco 49ers have a long tradition of borrowing ideas from Silicon Valley.
Humayun Khan / BetaKit:
With $2.5M in Funding, Koozoo Launching to Be Google Street View for Video  —  San Francisco-based startup Koozoo wants to help its users answers questions like ‘how big is the lineup at my favorite restaurant?’ or ‘how crowded is the beach?’ by crowdsourcing live video feeds of the world's public places.
More: TechCrunch and GigaOM
Josh Hudgins / Google Drive Blog:
Introducing the Save to Drive extension, plus enhancements to images  —  The new Save to Drive Chrome extension gives you a few new ways to capture content from anywhere on the web and store it neatly in Drive.  After you install the extension, you can click on the Drive extension icon to save:

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Cecilia Kang / Washington Post: