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December 21, 2012, 9:00 PM
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Facebook Newsroom:
Introducing Poke for Mobile  —  Today we're announcing Poke, an iPhone app that makes it fun and easy to say hello to friends wherever you are.  The poke feature has been a part of Facebook since 2004.  Now we're excited to share a new poke experience for mobile.
Amir Efrati / Wall Street Journal:
Google Designing ‘X Phone’ to Rival Apple, Samsung  —  Engineers at Motorola are hard at work on a sophisticated handset, to be released next year, that parent Google Inc. hopes will provide more potent competition for devices like Apple Inc.'s iPhone, said people familiar with the matter.
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
Apple lifts block on combo 30-pin+Lightning charging accessories  —  The POP station from Kickstarter aimed to combine Lightning and 30-pin connectors into a single charging device.  —  The Kickstarter campaign that was “shut down” by Apple for creating a charging station that had both Lightning …
Reuters:
Steve Jobs superyacht impounded over unpaid Starck designer bill  —  (Reuters) - A superyacht built for Apple Inc's late co-founder Steve Jobs has been impounded in Amsterdam because of a dispute over an unpaid bill to designer Philippe Starck, a lawyer said on Friday.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Apple Reaches Highest-Ever U.S. Smartphone Sales Share At 53.3%; Android Consolidates In Europe  —  Apple's shares, as you may have seen, have been sliding in the market on the back of strong competition from Android device makers.  Today, some new figures on recent smartphone sales …
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Why the Instagram debacle just taught every tech company to be shadier than ever  —  Last night Instagram announced that it was retracting a controversial terms of service change that was widely and inaccurately interpreted to mean that the company would be selling user photos.
Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
Google Poaches a Partner's Top Marketer: Samsung Exec Brian Wallace Goes to Motorola  —  Samsung has done a very good job selling its brand of Google's Android phones.  And apparently Google has paid attention: It is bringing over the guy who headed up Samsung's marketing to do the same job at its Motorola unit.
More: Engadget, The Verge and Business Insider.  Tweets: @pkafka
Nokia:
Nokia and RIM enter into new patent license agreement  —  RIM payments to Nokia settle all legal actions between the companies  —  Espoo, Finland - Nokia has entered into a new patent license agreement with Research In Motion.  The agreement will result in settlement of all existing patent …
Nielsen Wire:
Nielsen Tops of 2012: Digital  —  Smartphone owners became the majority of mobile phone users for the first time this year, growing from 49 percent of mobile subscribers in Q1 2012, to 56 percent by Q3 2012.  Mobile app usage also continued to grow.  Among the top 10 mobile apps …
Matt Brian / The Next Web:
Merry Christmas from Google: Employees get to choose from a free Chromebook, Motorola RAZR M or Nexus 7  —  Every year, just before the company closes for the festive period, Google likes to give its employees a little something for Christmas, just to say thank you for all their hard work.
Christina Bonnington / Wired:
Apple's Passbook Is a Surprise Success for Developers  —  Apple's Passbook feature of iOS 6 has become a surprise hit for developers.  —  Passbook is virtual file folder for all those bits of paper you accumulate in your wallet: tickets, boarding passes, coupons and so forth.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Groupon Buys CommerceInterface To Improve How Vendors Sell On Groupon Goods  —  Groupon wants to be the king of local commerce, but with Groupon Goods it has a platform for online sales that compete with the likes of Amazon to sell goods from everyone everywhere.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Zynga Confirms It Will Close Its Japan Operation At The End Of January As Consolidation Continues To Bite The Social Gaming Company  —  Social gaming giant Zynga has now confirmed that it will be closing down its Japan operation, as it continues to consolidate its operations and cut less profitable parts of its business.
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:
Adobe Acquired Portfolio Service Behance For More Than $150 Million In Cash And Stock  —  Adobe announced yesterday that it had acquired New York-based company Behance.  With 1 million members, the startup developed a LinkedIn for artists, allowing users to showcase their visual work.
Reuters:
EU charges Samsung with abusing vital telecoms patent  —  (Reuters) - The European Commission charged Samsung Electronics on Friday with abusing its dominant position in seeking to bar rival Apple from using a patent deemed essential to mobile phone use.  —  The Commission sent a …
Ken Yeung / The Next Web:
YouTube launches its native Player API for Android, enabling in-app video plays, ad support, more  —  At Google I/O 2012, YouTube announced that it was releasing a native Player API for Android.  Six months later, it has finally arrived, although it's still being treated as an experiment.
Phil Muncaster / The Register:
Apple shifts iTunes to HTTPS, sidesteps China's censors  —  Great Firewall foiled ... for now  —  Apple has adopted HTTPS for searches and downloads on the version of iTunes used in China.  The move comes at a time when China's government prepares to step up regulation of online app stores and continues its crackdown on VPNs.

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From Mediagazer

Isabella Simonetti / Wall Street Journal:
Vanity Fair and Olivia Nuzzi agree to part ways and let her contract expire at the end of the year, following new allegations about her affair with RFK Jr.

Alexandra Steigrad / New York Post:
Sources: Forbes has cut ties with dozens of contributing writers; one exec said Forbes needs to ensure the contributor model is “financially sound”

Oliver Darcy / Status:
Sources: David Ellison's interference in WBD's failed summer talks to extend HBO Max's South Park licensing deal left David Zaslav distrustful of Ellison

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