Techmeme
December 13, 2012, 12:00 AM

Top News

Daniel Graf / The Official Google Blog:
Google Maps is now available for iPhone  —  People around the world have been asking for Google Maps on iPhone.  Starting today, we're pleased to announce that Google Maps is here—rolling out across the world in the Apple App Store.  It's designed from the ground up to combine the comprehensiveness …
Brian Womack / Bloomberg:
Google Chairman Says Android Winning Mobile War With Apple: Tech  —  Google Inc. (GOOG)'s Android is extending its lead over Apple Inc. (AAPL) in the mobile-software market at a rate that compares with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)'s expansion in desktop software in the 1990s, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said.
Dan Worth / V3.co.uk:
Google rules out Gmail and Drive apps for Windows 8  —  Google has revealed that it has no plans to develop dedicated apps for Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8 for its business app products such as Gmail or Drive.  —  Speaking to V3, the firm's product management director at Google Apps …
Casey Newton / CNET:
Google tweaks image search to make porn harder to find  —  The company says the move is designed to ensure adult content is shown only to those who explicitly request it.  —  Search for porn using Google Image Search today and you might come up empty-handed.
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 …
Reuters:
Guatemala deporting software pioneer McAfee to U.S  —  (Reuters) - Guatemala said on Wednesday it would deport to the United States software pioneer John McAfee, a former Silicon Valley millionaire who is wanted for questioning in Belize over the murder of a fellow American.
Stephen Gandel / Fortune:
Marc Andreessen: We're in a tech depression  —  Netscape founder says tech stocks are cheap.  —  FORTUNE — Marc Andreessen, co-head of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and founder of Netscape, says the slump in technology stocks is as bad as he has ever seen it.  And now might be the time to buy in.
More: Betabeat, Business Insider and GeekWireTweets: @qthrul
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
This Year, NORAD Tracks Santa With Microsoft & Bing, Not Google  —  Google has been helping the popular NORAD Tracks Santa site locate Santa Claus on Christmas Eve since 2007.  But this year, Jolly St. Nick will be tracked on Bing Maps, not Google.  NORAD is also pushing an official Windows 8 app.
Dan Frommer / SplatF:
Announcing City Notes, A New Mobile Travel Startup By... Me!  —  Short version: I just launched a new company, City Notes, which I've been working on for several months.  We are making what we hope will be the best and most interesting travel guides for iPhones and iPads.
More: TechCrunch
Lucian Parfeni / Softpedia News:
The Google Homepage Is Now Built into Chrome - Screenshots  —  Google is making it official, search engines are coming to the new tab page.  The only surprise is that it's not just Google, the team devised a new API which should enable any search engine to integrate with the Chrome new tab page to any degree it wants.
Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:
Google tests new Flight Explorer service to help you buy the perfect plane ticket  —  Google appears to be testing a new service called Flight Explorer.  The company has not announced it, nor is there any documentation available via any of Google's help pages.  It doesn't even have a typical Google beta tag.
Matt Flegenheimer / New York Times:
Yellow Cab Hails via Smartphone Apps May Be Tried in New York City  —  With some board members still skeptical about authorizing smartphone apps to hail yellow cabs, the chairman of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission said this week that the panel might instead consider a pilot program …
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google's New Data Highlighter Lets You Add Structured Data To Your Sites Without Touching Any Code  —  Google wants website owners to add as much structured data to their sites as possible in order to improve its search results and Knowledge Graph boxes with rich snippets like event listings, reviews and other information.
Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:
Dropbox buys Audiogalaxy: next up, a cloud music service?  —  Dropbox has acquired Seattle-based music startup Audiogalaxy, according to a post on the Audiogalaxy blog.  Details of the transaction haven't been released, but it looks like an acqui-hire that could get the Dropbox team some serious media smarts.
Tricia Duryee / AllThingsD:
Zynga Bringing Free Slots to Facebook First Before Gambling Takes Hold  —  Casino games, like poker and slots, make up one of the most popular categories on Facebook — even though players never get to cash out their winnings.  —  Today, Zynga is announcing that it will soon launch its newest casino title, Elite Slots, on Facebook.
Stacey Higginbotham / GigaOM:
Juniper to buy SDN startup Contrail in deal worth $176M  —  Juniperannounced plans to purchase stealthy networking startup Contrail Systems for $176 million in stock and cash.  The deal, which Juniper disclosed in an SEC filing, and tiny blog post, was struck last week and should close before the end of this year.
Rip Empson / TechCrunch:
Crowdtilt Launches Crowdfunding API To Give Developers Easy Access To Group Payments & Social Fundraising  —  Since launching in February, Y Combinator grad Crowdtilt has been on a mission to become the easiest way for friends and groups of people to raise money for any cause.
Jack Purcher / Patently Apple:
Apple's Classic Mac Startup Chime is now a Registered Trademark  —  Over the years Apple has filed for a wide variety of trademarks so as to protect their distinct imagery and/or marketing strategies.  Beyond the normal trademarks such as the iMac or iPhone, they also trademarked some pretty odd ones too.
Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:
FreedomPop launches free home wireless to compete with low-end DSL  —  FreedomPop's new Hub Burst will begin shipping in January 2013.  —  FreedomPop  —  Just over three months after launching its free portable hotspot, FreedomPop now says its ready for the second phase of its expansion plan—a free home wireless connection.
David Pierce / The Verge:
Barnes & Noble Nook HD+ review  —  The bookseller-turned-manufacturer takes on the goliaths of the tablet market  —  Barnes & Noble picked a tough time to revamp its lineup of tablets.  On the one hand, the 7-inch market is both more crowded and more mature than ever thanks to the Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD, and iPad mini.
Barb Darrow / GigaOM:
EMC follows VMware, rest of world into OpenStack  —  EMC has joined the OpenStack open-source cloud effort.  The news hits three months after VMware — 80 percent owned by EMC — signaled its intention to back the initiative.  EMC joins as a corporate-level member while VMware is a higher-level gold member.
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 …
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google Revamps Its Currents Mobile Newsreader App To Make It Smarter And More Scannable  —  Google just launched an update to Google Currents, the company's Flipboard competitor, that makes it easier to scan through categories and editions from Google publisher partners like The Guardian and Forbes in the app.

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