Techmeme
December 17, 2012, 11:15 AM

Top News

Apple:
iPhone 5 First Weekend Sales in China Top Two Million  —  Apple® today announced it has sold over two million of its new iPhone® 5 in China, just three days after its launch on December 14. iPhone 5 will be available in more than 100 countries by the end of December, making it the fastest iPhone rollout ever.
Horace Dediu / asymco:
Calibrating launch performance for the iPhone in China  —  When the iPhone 5 launched Apple promised availability in 100 countries before the end of year.  This was a very aggressive plan given the gradual release of previous products.  Last year the iPhone 4S only arrived in China (along with 21 additional countries) on January 13th.
More: Fortune and GadgeTell
Mike Isaac / AllThingsD:
Facebook to Launch Its Own Snapchat Competitor App  —  Facebook is currently testing its own built-in-house version of a “Snapchat-like” application, a messaging app that allows users to send impermanent photo messages to one another, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Tim Culpan / Bloomberg:
HTC Said to Halt Larger Windows Phone on Display Resolution  —  HTC Corp. (2498) scrapped plans to produce a large-screen smartphone using Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)'s operating system because the screen would have had lower resolution than competing models, according to a person familiar with the project.
Eben Upton / Raspberry Pi:
Introducing the Pi Store  —  We've been amazed by the variety of software that people have written for, or ported to, the Raspberry Pi.  Today, together with our friends at IndieCity and Velocix, we're launching the Pi Store to make it easier for developers of all ages to share their games …
Sprint Newsroom:
Sprint to Acquire 100 Percent Ownership of Clearwire for $2.97 per Share  — Transaction strengthens Sprint's position and increases competitiveness in the U.S. wireless industry  — Interim funding allows Clearwire to continue LTE build-out and complement Sprint's LTE deployment
Steve Dent / Engadget:
French reporters infiltrate Foxconn iPhone 5 factory, find few of the vaunted changes (updated)  —  Envoyé Spécial, a 60 Minutes-like program from public TV station France 2, went undercover at the Zhengzhou iPhone 5 Foxconn factory recently (within the past two months) …
Bloomberg:
Cisco Said to Hire Barclays to Sell Linksys Division  —  Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), the largest maker of equipment for computer networks, has hired Barclays Plc (BARC) to find a buyer for Linksys, which makes routers for home wireless access, said people with knowledge of the situation.
Amy Thomson / Bloomberg:
Apple Drops Below $500 for First Time Since February  —  Apple Inc. (AAPL) shares dropped below $500 for the first time since February after Citigroup Inc. (C) reduced its rating for the stock on concern that demand for the iPhone 5 is slowing.  —  Apple fell to $499 at 6:55 a.m. New York …
Jessica Roy / Betabeat:
Anonymous Attacks Westboro Baptist Church Over Plans to Picket Sandy Hook Funerals  —  The Westboro Baptist Church, widely reviled for its homophobic beliefs and protests of veteran funerals, announced on Saturday that it would picket at Sandy Hook Elementary School following the tragic shooting …
Barb Darrow / GigaOM:
Real “touch” screens and tasteful computers: IBM predicts the future  —  What if a computer could let us “feel” the texture of a fabric before we buy clothes online?  Or gives us a whiff — or even a taste — of a meal we're thinking of preparing?  That's pretty game-changing stuff.
Jenna Wortham / New York Times:
New Apps Recall the Details of Your Online Past  —  THE holiday season of 2011 was a hive of activity for me.  One week in early December, I managed to attend a party at the Bowery Ballroom, a movie premiere and a Justin Bieber-themed dinner event.  A few days later, in a single afternoon …
John Davidson / Financial Review:
Microsoft urged to ditch Windows brand by Dell  —  Top Dell executives warned Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer against sticking with the Windows brand for its new tablet operating system Reuters  —  A top Dell executive warned Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer not to call its new tablet operating system …
Charles Arthur / Guardian:
China tightens ‘Great Firewall’ internet control with new technology  —  Companies and individuals affected by new system thought to ‘learn, discover and block’ encrypted communications  —  China appears to be tightening its control of internet services that are able to burrow secretly through …
More: CNET and Boing Boing
Nick Bilton / NYT Bits:
Disruptions: Instagram Testimony Doesn't Add Up  —  SAN FRANCISCO — On a late August morning, Kevin Systrom, chief executive of Instagram, took an oath before testifying at a hearing of the California Corporations Department, which sought to determine if Facebook's acquisition …

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Emil Protalinski / The Next Web: