Techmeme: Microsoft hopes to patent an ‘inconspicuous mode’ for phones (Jon Fingas/Engadget)

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January 11, 2013, 6:30 AM

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Matthew Panzarino / The Next Web:

Schiller: Despite popularity of cheap smartphones, they won't be the future of Apple's products — Apple SVP of Worldwide marketing Phil Schiller gave an interesting interview to Chinese newspaper Shanghai Evening News yesterday. In the interview, he directly addresses the rumors surrounding …

Eric Slivka / MacRumors:

Phil Schiller Says Apple Wouldn't Sacrifice Quality for Market Share in a Cheaper iPhone — Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller is accompanying CEO Tim Cook on his trip to China, and the Shanghai Evening News has published an interview [Google translation] with Schiller in which he addresses recent rumors of a cheaper iPhone.

More: Guardian, Softpedia News, 9.blog, LAPTOP Magazine, bizjournals and PhoneArena

John Herrman / BuzzFeed:

Every Tech Journalist's Worst Nightmare — Editors at CNET were forced to rescind a product award after their parent company stepped in. The perils of reporting on yourself.At 4:05 PM on Wednesday, Dish Networks notified its Twitter followers that it had been chosen as a finalist for CNET's …

Tweets: @pkafka. See also Mediagazer

Tim Carmody / The Verge:

CNET parent CBS bans Dish products from CES awards, further coverage — CNET disqualifies Hopper DVR due to CBS lawsuit; no products of companies in litigation with parent will be reviewed — Chalk it up to the conflicts of being a giant media company. CNET made Dish Network's acclaimed …

More: CNET, Business Wire, paidContent, AllThingsD, Bloomberg Tech Blog, Forbes, Reuters and Digits

Tweets: @leolaporte, @cnet, @tomkrazit, @dannysullivan, @panzer and @panzer

See also Mediagazer

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Beats' Jimmy Iovine on Steve Jobs, Spotify and Why He Can Make Subscriptions Work — Beats Electronics has done a very good job at making expensive headphones a mass-market item. And that's what makes them a good candidate to crack open the music subscription business, says CEO Jimmy Iovine.

More: TechEye, AppleInsider, iDownloadBlog.com, The Verge, MacRumors, Lucas Gonze's blog, 9to5Mac and iClarified. Tweets: @pkafka

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Beats' New Music Subscription Service Gets a New Boss: Topspin's Ian Rogers — There are a ton of digital music services out there, with more on the way. — So how will Beats Electronics, the headphone maker, stand out when it rolls out its own version this year? — The company won't spell that out quite yet.

More: FISTFULAYEN, DIY, Digital Media Wire, VentureBeat, The Verge, Engadget, App Advice, The Next Web, Music Ally and Digits. Tweets: @qthrul. See also Mediagazer

David Meyer / GigaOM:

Nokia: Yes, we decrypt your HTTPS data, but don't worry about it — Nokia has confirmed reports that its Xpress Browser decrypts data that flows through HTTPS connections - that includes the connections set up for banking sessions, encrypted email and more.

More: Gizmodo, TechWeekEurope UK, SlashGear, The Register, IntoMobile, Pocketnow, Techie Buzz, DSLreports, ZDNet and HotHardware.com News

Brendan Sasso / The Hill:

Obama signs bill to let Facebook users share Netflix videos — President Obama signed a bill on Thursday to allow users of Facebook and other social media sites to opt in to automatically share which videos they have watched on sites like Netflix. — Facebook users could already choose …

More: Gizmodo, The Verge, CNET, Engadget, Forbes, VentureBeat, PhoneArena and WebProNews

Jon Fingas / Engadget:

Microsoft hopes to patent an ‘inconspicuous mode’ for phones — We've all seen That Person in the movie theater: the one whose compulsive texting guarantees a distraction for everyone through the bright screen. Microsoft might not change that disruptive behavior, but it could save us from noticing through a new patent application.

More: ZDNet, Neowin and SlashGear

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Windows RT Jailbreak tool released, opening up the door for a Microsoft Surface homebrew community — Earlier this week, reports surfaced that the Windows RT operating system had been jailbroken to allow for the execution of unsigned ARM desktop applications.

More: The Verge, PhoneArena and Engadget

Alex Wilhelm / The Next Web:

Rebound: Groupon's share price has doubled since its record lows, rising 99% in 58 days — Groupon has recently been a quiet tear, doubling its share price since its record low in the middle of November last year, with its market capitalization rising towards the $3.5 billion mark.

Gary Ng / iPhone in Canada Blog:

Apple Has Won a Technology & Engineering Emmy Award for 2012 — Apple will receive an Emmy Engineering Award tonight (via The Loop) at CES 2013 for winning in the following category: … Launched in 1948, the awards honour “development and innovation in broadcast technology and recognize companies …

More: The Loop, CES Technology …, PadGadget, Softpedia News, MacNN, MacDailyNews, iClarified and App Advice

Steven Millward / Tech in Asia:

Now China's WeChat App is Censoring Its Users Globally — We've written a lot about the progress of the world's biggest messaging app, the China-made WeChat, which is fast approaching 300 million registered users and enjoying some level of global success with it.

More: The Register, The Next Web and TechPresident

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:

Microsoft updates Skype for Windows with Outlook integration — Summary: A new version of Skype for Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP adds Outlook integration, among other features and fixes. — Microsoft's Skype division rolled out a new version of Skype for Windows (version 6.1) on January 10.

More: Skype Garage, BetaNews, The Microsoft Office Blog, The Next Web, SlashGear, SuperSite for Windows, InfoWorld, The Verge, WebProNews, Engadget and TechNet Blogs

Bill Rigby / Reuters:

Holiday PC sales dip for first time in five years — (Reuters) - Holiday-season sales of personal computers fell for the first time in more than five years, according to tech industry tracker IDC, as Microsoft Corp's new Windows 8 operating system failed to excite buyers and many instead opted for tablet devices and smartphones.

More: IDC, GigaOM, NYT Bits, CNET, The Verge, Electronista, Bloomberg, ZDNet, Ars Technica, The Next Web and ITworld.com

Yahoo! Search Blog:

Yahoo! Image Search - now with Flickr photos — Today, we're making it easier than ever to find and share photos on the web and mobile devices. Using Yahoo! Image Search, you can now easily find photos from Flickr that are available for re-use or re-posting under Creative Commons terms.

More: The Next Web and Softpedia News

David J. Hill / Singularity Hub:

Exclusive Interview With Ray Kurzweil On Future AI Project At Google — In an exclusive with Singularity Hub, Ray Kurzweil gave one of his first interviews since the December announcement that he joined Google full time as Director of Engineering. Speaking with Singularity Hub Founder Keith Kleiner …

More: The Verge, CNET and PhoneArena

Zachary M. Seward / Quartz:

In the future of television, the set-top box is king — The television industry is changing so rapidly on all fronts—hardware, software, and the content we call “TV”—that consumers are rightfully cautious about investing in any new technology that might be obsolete by next year. (3D televisions, anyone?)

Alex Fitzpatrick / Mashable!:

Redditors Accuse BuzzFeed of Photo Theft — thread at the top of Reddit's most popular photography group, r/photography, accuses BuzzFeed of “stealing people's long exposure pics ... without any permission” for a sponsored post advertising a camera on the site.

Tweets: @alexjamesfitz and @rsingel

Kim-Mai Cutler / TechCrunch:

Former Google Wallet Team Members Ready Their New Startup, Index, For Launch — Almost a year ago, an exodus on the Google Wallet team sent former members running away to companies like Square and other stealth projects. We wrote about one such stealth startup called Tappmo …

More: NextBigWhat

Steve Lohr / NYT Bits:

The 2012 Patent Rankings: IBM on Top (Again), Google and Apple Surging — In the yearly count of patents granted in the United States, the corporate front-runner for 2012 is scarcely a surprise. — I.B.M. was granted more patents in 2012 than any other company, the 20th consecutive year in the top spot …

Dan Seifert / The Verge:

Samsung won't launch Windows RT tablets in the US, blames confusion and weak demand — Samsung's line of Windows RT Ativ tablets was announced just this past fall, but it doesn't look like the company will be bringing it to the US any time soon. Speaking to CNET, Samsung executive Mike Abary …

More: CNET, TechCrunch, The Next Web, Pocketnow, Engadget, Neowin and GigaOM

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Google launches Chrome Beta channel for Android 4.0+ phones and tablets, releases version 25 — Mere hours after releasing Chrome 24 for Windows, Mac, and Linux, Google on Thursday announced it is introducing a new Chrome beta channel for phones and tablets running Android 4.0 or higher.

More: BetaNews, TechCrunch, Google Chrome Releases, chrome.blogspot.ca, Softpedia News, The Verge, IntoMobile and MobileSyrup.com

Kevin Kwang / ZDNet:

Lenovo confirms Windows Phone 8 handset plans — Summary: JD Howard, vice president of Lenovo's Mobile Internet and Digital Home unit, confirms it is planning for a Windows Phone 8 device and, if approved, there's a “good chance” of a 2013 release. — Kevin Kwang

More: Softpedia News, All About Windows Phone, IntoMobile, Mobile Geeks and Computerworld

Nathan Ingraham / The Verge:

Delicious bookmarking service tries yet again with renewed focus on speed and discovery — Social bookmarking service Delicious is not what it once was, but since getting out from under Yahoo the service has been working to restore its features and win back users.

Alex Wilhelm / The Next Web:

The Xbox 360 holds onto its sales crown for 24 consecutive months, moving 1.4 million units in December — Today Microsoft announced that its Xbox 360 console was the best-selling console in December, moving 1.4 million units. That made it the best-selling console for the 24th consecutive month, according to the NPD Group.

More: The Official Microsoft Blog, Engadget, AllThingsD, SlashGear, VentureBeat, Softpedia News, WinBeta, Neowin and The Verge

Nick Heath / ZDNet:

EU privacy laws to spell an end to Facebook for free? — Summary: A lawyer has warned that proposed EU privacy laws would make Facebook and other ad-supported online services unsustainable if they make it into law. — Nick Heath — Facebook, Gmail and other ad-supported online services …

More: TechCrunch and AllFacebook

Robin Wauters / The Next Web:

New Digg owners claim the “Digg effect is back”, user base doubled in 5 months — The new owners of once red-hot social news sharing service Digg have taken to their blog to reveal that they're ... ‘thinking about monetization’ and experimenting with several ways to make money, including a ‘sponsored app’ section on the website.

More: Digg Blog, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, The Verge, Mashable! and Marketing Land. See also Mediagazer

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