Techmeme
January 21, 2013, 7:50 AM

Top News

Chris Dixon:
Samsung's predicament  —  In the past year, Samsung went from being a moderately successful electronics manufacturer to the leading non-iOS mobile device maker.  Together, Apple and Samsung earn 98% of the profits in the smartphone market.  MG Siegler echoed a common sentiment when he wrote …
Tweets: @jinyk and @adrianblake
Ben Fritz / Los Angeles Times:
Atari U.S. operation files for bankruptcy  —  The U.S. operations of pioneering video game company Atari Inc. is seeking to break free from French parent Atari S.A. and in the next few months find a buyer to take the company private.  (Strong National Museum of Play / January 20, 2013)
Richard Lai / Engadget:
Sony's Xperia Tablet Z announced: 1.5GHz quad-core, 10.1-inch 1,920 x 1,200 screen and 6.9mm thickness  —  Announced bright and early in Japan today is the Sony Xperia Tablet Z that we've been hearing about.  As you'd expect, this 10.1-inch Android 4.1 tablet features the same design language …
Ethan Cox / National Post:
Youth expelled from Montreal college after finding ‘sloppy coding’ that compromised security of 250,000 students personal data  —  A student has been expelled from Montreal's Dawson College after he discovered a flaw in the computer system used by most Quebec CEGEPs, one which compromised …
Benedict Evans:
What does Google need from Android?  —  The ‘Android has problems’ narrative is very clearly established (as established, of course, as the ‘Android is selling in vast numbers’ narrative).  There's the fragmentation by OS version, the fragmentation by hardware, the consistently lower engagement …
Tweets: @gassee
Eric Pfanner / New York Times:
France Proposes an Internet Tax  —  PARIS — France, seeking fresh ways to raise funds and frustrated that American technology companies that dominate its digital economy are largely beyond the reach of French fiscal authorities, has proposed a new levy: an Internet tax on the collection of personal data.
Nick Bilton / NYT Bits:
Immediacy of Digital Media Helps Drive Spending  —  I was tallying my spending of the last year, and much to my surprise, I spent $2,403 in one category.  No, that wasn't on clothes.  It wasn't on my most recent vacation, either.  And it wasn't the total of all my parking tickets (though that did feel as if it came close).
More: atmasphericTweets: @heatherwetzler
Mike Isaac / AllThingsD:
New Yahoo COO Henrique De Castro Hints at the Future of the Web Portal (Pro Tip: Get Personal!)  —  Hubert Burda Media/DLD Yahoo COO Henrique De Castro, right, in conversation at the DLD Munich conference.  —  Yahoo's problem: It's a king of the portal age of the Web, in a time where we're shifting away …
Tim Carmody / The Verge:
Wikileaks claims Aaron Swartz was an ally and possible source, breaking anonymity  —  Unsubstantiated statements implicate US Secret Service in Swartz's prosecution and break Wikileaks' own ‘doxxing’ rules  —  Aaron Swartz died a week ago.  A public memorial service in New York City will be held later today.

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