Techmeme: Life and Death Online: Who Controls a Digital Legacy? (Geoffrey A. Fowler/Wall Street Journal)

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January 6, 2013, 11:20 AM

Top News

Alex Wilhelm / The Next Web:

Google says Maps redirect on Windows Phone was a product decision, and will be removed — Today, a Google spokesperson provided The Next Web with a statement indicating that the company intends to remove the redirect that it has in place for Windows Phone users who attempt to access the Google Maps product …

Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:

The Strange Explanation Of Why Windows Phone Users Lost Access To Google Maps — On Friday, Windows Phone users supposedly found themselves unable to access Google Maps. But Google said it made no sudden change on its end to cause this. What happened? It seems likely many people simple noticed …

More: WMPoweruser, Tim Anderson's ITWriting, TechPinions and TECHGEEK.com.au. Tweets: @fxshaw

Paul Thurrott / SuperSite for Windows:

Explaining Windows 8 PC Sales Over the Holidays — It's time to stop denying that Windows 8 is off to a slow start — At some point, the cheerleaders—and yes, amazingly, they're out there—are going to have to face reality: Windows 8 is selling slowly. More slowly than Windows 7 at launch …

More: PC World, Business Insider, CNET, NPD Group, Newsome.Org, The Verge, parislemon, VentureBeat, LAPTOP Magazine, The Next Web, Neowin and The Verge

Tweets: @ihnatko, @marxculture and @olebegemann

MG Siegler / TechCrunch:

The Fifth Horseman: Samsung — We all know the “four horsemen” of tech: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. These are the companies that pretty much everyone agrees will shape the foreseeable future of the tech sector. In some circles, that list makes waves for who is not included: Microsoft.

More: The Loop, Ars Technica and Edible Apple

Tweets: @valaafshar, @efeng, @lessien, @carnage4life and @joshconstine

David Beren / TmoNews:

T-Mobile's Unlimited Data Plan Coming Soon To Monthly4G — Some good news for Monthly4G customers as your opportunity to take advantage of T-Mobile's Unlimited 4G data plan finally arrives on January 9th. T-Mobile's Unlimited Nationwide 4G Data plan is “Perfect for video chat …

More: SlashGear, Mobile & Apps, The Verge, Engadget and Android Police

Geoffrey A. Fowler / Wall Street Journal:

Life and Death Online: Who Controls a Digital Legacy? — Alison Atkins died on July 27 at age 16. Online, her family is losing its hold on her memory. Three days after the Toronto teen lost a long battle with a colon disease, her sister Jaclyn Atkins had a technician crack Alison's password-protected MacBook Pro.

More: Digits. Tweets: @geoffreyfowler

Dana Wollman / Engadget:

Vizio debuts its first Windows 8 tablet, an 11.6-inch slate with a 1080p display, AMD processor — After breaking into the PC market last year, it was only a matter of time before Vizio released its first Windows 8 tablet. The company just announced the Vizio Tablet PC …

More: LAPTOP Magazine, The Verge, Neowin, Inquirer and Digits

Agence France Presse:

Iran designing software for controlled social media access — TEHRAN — Iran is designing “intelligent software” that would give citizens restricted and controlled access to banned social networking sites, local media on Sunday quoted police chief Esmaeil Ahmadi Moghadam as saying.

More: The Next Web and Associated Press

Ken Yeung / The Next Web:

Unreasonable at Sea to set sail on 100-day accelerator cruise with 11 startups and Desmond Tutu — A first of its kind type of accelerator is preparing to hoist anchor and set off on a unbelievable journey. Unreasonable at Sea, the startup accelerator taking place entirely on a boat …

More: PandoDaily and digitaltrends.com

Iljitsch van Beijnum / Ars Technica:

IPv6 takes one step forward, IPv4 two steps back in 2012 — IPv6 rollout is still inefficient with problems ahead, but there is slow progress. … “Hi, I'd like to sign up for Internet service at my new apartment.” — “That's great! We have the highest speeds at the best prices, you won't be disappointed.

Jolie O'Dell / VentureBeat:

Cult app Cheddar up for sale, solo hacker explains why — Cheddar, a cult classic among hackers and Mac die-hards, is up for sale. — The elegant app is a simple task manager, but it really took off because of creator (and former Hipstamatic and Scribd engineer) Sam Soffes' code.

Tweets: @soffes

Mike Isaac / AllThingsD:

Welcome to CES: A Trade Show, Not a Tastemaker — This week, most of the developed world will stagger halfheartedly back to the office, attempting to work after two weeks of twinkling lights, post-nog hangovers, and watching bad TV sprawled across couches inside the houses we grew up in.

More: The Verge, Business Insider and dailywireless.org

Tweets: @davepell, @waltmossberg and @caseynewton

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