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January 17, 2013, 11:20 AM

Top News

Ellis Hamburger / The Verge:
Facebook launches free calling for all iPhone users in the US  —  In early January, Facebook began testing free calling over Wi-Fi and cellular data for all Messenger for iPhone users in Canada, and said that a US launch could be coming soon.  Apparently, the test went well — a new free calling button has appeared in the app.
Steven Levy / Wired:
Google's Larry Page on Why Moon Shots Matter  —  Larry Page lives by the gospel of 10x.  Most companies would be happy to improve a product by 10 percent.  Not the CEO and cofounder of Google.  The way Page sees it, a 10 percent improvement means that you're basically doing the same thing as everybody else.
More: iDownloadBlog.comTweets: @stevenlevy
Wall Street Journal:
AT&T Stalking Europe for Mergers  —  AT&T Inc. is once again starting up its deal machine.  —  The telecommunications giant is considering buying a counterpart in Europe, a bet that it can best escape constraints on growth at home by getting into a new wireless market where it can upgrade technology …
Steve Cheney / steve's blog:
Graph Search's False Promise and the Con of the Facebook “Like”  —  We all know that the pressure for Facebook to monetize is massive and growing.  Yesterday Zuckerberg fulfilled the promise he dropped at TC Disrupt to release a product that will finally compete with Google.
Matt Brian / The Next Web:
Amazon looks to reduce Apple's hold on music sales with launch of MP3 web store for iPhone and iPod touch  —  Amazon has taken another step at reducing Apple's hold over on-device music sales, today announcing the launch of its HTML5 MP3 web store specifically for iPhone and iPod touch …
Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:
Exclusive: SurveyMonkey Raises $850 Million in Debt and Equity for Tender Offer — Including New Investment From Google's New Late-Stage Unit  —  SurveyMonkey has raised a massive $800 million in debt and additional equity funding, which it plans to distribute in a tender offer, said sources with knowledge of the situation.
More: Fortune, Deal Journal and ValueWalkTweets: @pkedrosky
Royal Pingdom:
Internet 2012 in numbers  —  There is so much happening on the Internet during a year that it's impossible to capture it all in a blog post, but we're going to give it a shot anyway.  How many emails were sent during 2012?  How many domains are there?  What's the most popular web browser?
Galen Moore / Boston Business Journal:
U.S. Attorney breaks silence, defends prosecution of Aaron Swartz … U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, under fire for the prosecution of Internet entrepreneur and activist Aaron Swartz, on Wednesday issued her first statement responding to the controversy that has followed Swartz's suicide.
Eva Dou / Wall Street Journal:
Asustek in Talks to Offer Windows 8 Phones  —  TAIPEI—Taiwanese PC maker Asustek Computer Inc. is in talks with Microsoft Corp. on a licensing deal to offer Windows 8 mobile phones, an executive said, making it the latest Asian computer maker eyeing the new operating system.
Brooke Crothers / CNET:
Google Nexus 7 tops iPad in Japan: Is this a trend?  —  Google's Nexus 7 is making serious market-share headway against Apple in Japan, according to Nikkei.  —  Google's Nexus 7 is gaining market share in Japan and topped Apple's iPad in one survey.  —  Japanese digital device consumers are some of the savviest in the world.
Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
YouTube Is Ready to Invest in Vevo, but the Deal Isn't Done  —  YouTube is set to make another big investment in a content partner.  This time around it's Vevo, the music video site.  —  YouTube and its owner Google have agreed to buy a minority stake in Vevo, according to people familiar with the deal, which hasn't been finalized.
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Microsoft Office 2013: What to expect on the pricing front  —  Summary: Microsoft's Office 2013/new Office should be launching soon.  Here's what we know so far about prices and packages.  —  As expected, Microsoft is pricing its next-generation Office 2013 line-up in a way to try …
More: Neowin and The Next Web
Patrick Temple-West / Reuters:
Amazon fighting $234 million tax deficiency in Tax Court : filing  —  (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc. is challenging a $234 million U.S. tax bill, contesting Internal Revenue Service tax calculations for cash transfers between the parent company and its European subsidiaries, according to a court filing.
Lee Mathews / Geek.com:
Demo shows how easily malicious extensions can infect Firefox  —  Firefox is widely regarded as a very secure web browser, and that's a reputation that Mozilla has worked tirelessly to build over the past eight years — blacklisting extensions, shutting down insecure plug-ins, revoking certificates …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Nokia Cuts 300 Jobs, Outsources Up To 820 More To HCL And Tata To ‘Align IT With Its Business Focus’  —  Here's the cloud to Nokia's silver lining statement the other day of better than expected handset sales: it is cutting IT 300 jobs, and outsourcing 820 more, with Indian outsourcing giants HCL …
Hugo Miller / Bloomberg:
RIM BlackBerry 10 Training Program Attracts 1,600 Busines  —  Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), which is preparing to unveil its BlackBerry 10 phones later this month, said more than 1,600 North American businesses have registered for a training program for the new handsets and software.
Matt Brian / The Next Web:
Yelp begins adding restaurant inspection scores to listings, starting in San Francisco and New York  —  Giving its users more information on the restaurants within its listings, Yelp has today added a new metric to restaurant listings — hygiene scores — providing businesses with a way of advertising …
Sarah Mitroff / Wired:
Does Facebook Praise Kill Self-Control?  —  One hateful Facebook comment might reduce you to tears, but a recent study found that the “likes” prompted by your status updates and photo posts might also have a negative impact, especially on your waistline and pocketbook.
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Microsoft Launches HelpBridge For iOS, Windows Phone And Android, Lets You Alert Friends And Family When Disasters Strike  —  When a disaster happens, chances are you want to get in touch with your loved ones as soon as possible, either to tell them that you're fine or to make sure they are.
Cade Metz / Wired:
Facebook Shatters the Computer Server Into Tiny Pieces  —  MENLO PARK, California — Since you last saw Frank Frankovsky, his beard has grown to epic lengths.  And it suits him.  —  As the man at the center of Facebook's Open Compute Project, Frankovsky spent the last two years rethinking …
Jeff John Roberts / GigaOM:
UK fines Playboy for underage website visitors; age verification less pressing in US  —  British regulators fined Playboy nearly $160,000 after finding the publisher didn't do enough to prevent minors from visiting its website.  In a statement issued on Wednesday, the agency Ofcom said Playboy's …
More: CNET and Ofcom
Colleen Taylor / TechCrunch:
StumbleUpon Lays Off 30% Of Staff As It Restructures Company Into A Profitable State  —  StumbleUpon today laid off 30 percent of its staff, the company has confirmed to TechCrunch.  The move, which brings StumbleUpon's employee count from 110 to 75, is part of a larger restructuring plan …

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