Techmeme: Google Benefits as Priceline Outspends Expedia on Web Ads: Tech (Bloomberg)

March 12, 2013, 8:20 PM

Top News

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget:

Alleged Google Now for iOS video leaks on YouTube, is promptly pulled — iOS fans jealous of Jelly Bean's creepy Google Now might finally have something to get excited about. An October update to the Google Search app finally delivered an updated voice recognition experience to Apple's platform …

More: The Verge, CNET, MacRumors, TechCrunch, Business Insider, The Next Web, Gizmodo, 9to5Mac, everythingiCafe, MacStories, MobileSyrup.com, TUAW, iDownloadBlog.com, IntoMobile, Pocket-lint and TodaysiPhone.com. Tweets: @markgurman

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Nokia Lumia 928 to launch on Verizon in April with aluminum body and Xenon flash — Microsoft is gearing up to market Nokia's upcoming Verizon flagship heavily. Sources familiar with Nokia's plans have revealed to The Verge that the company plans to launch its Lumia 928 handset in April on Verizon.

More: The Droid Guy, IntoMobile, WP7forum.ru, LAPTOP Magazine, Phones Review, Maati, MobileSyrup.com, Pocket-lint, ValueWalk, WMPoweruser and Gotta Be Mobile

Tom Warren / The Verge:

A look at Microsoft's top-secret Surface prototypes — From concept to reality: how Redmond's iPad competitor came to be — Microsoft made a bold bet to build its own hardware, competing directly with Apple's iPad, but it was never an easy task to create something new and unique.

More: Engadget, TechSpot, BetaNews, Neowin, CNET and WinBeta. Tweets: @riptari

Tao Tao / Oh, How Pinteresting!:

Introducing Pinterest Web Analytics — Bloggers, businesses, and organizations often ask us, “what are people pinning from my websites?” These website owners help create the content on Pinterest and we wanted to help them understand which pieces of content people find most interesting.

More: TechHive, LAPTOP Magazine, PC Magazine, CNET, Wired, Reuters, Techie Buzz, TechCrunch, WebProNews, VentureBeat, The Verge and AdAge

Noel Randewich / Reuters:

Apple's iPads to fall behind Android tablets this year: IDC — (Reuters) - Shipments of Apple Inc's iPads will fall behind the growing variety of tablets running Google Inc's Android platform for the first time this year as smaller-sized devices catch on with more consumers, research firm International Data Corp (IDC) said on Tuesday.

More: IDC, eWeek, CNET, Reuters, AllThingsD, Computerworld, Daring Fireball, MacRumors, Investor's Business Daily, 9to5Mac, I4U News, SlashGear, App Advice, PadGadget, The Full Signal, GeekWire, GigaOM, BGR, Macgasm and Bloomberg

Paul Sloan / CNET:

Spotify: Growing like mad, yet so far to go — The digital music service has added another 1 million subscribers since December, bringing its global total of paying customers to 6 million. — AUSTIN, Texas — It's not a bluegrass jam on the legendary Austin City Limits stage …

More: TechCrunch, paidContent, The Next Web, Pocket-lint, VentureBeat, The Verge, IntoMobile and TodaysiPhone.com. See also Mediagazer

Russell Brandom / The Verge:

Automatic's iPhone app makes your dumb car feel a little smarter — Automatic handles everything from fuel efficiency to to crash response — Cars have been equipped with onboard computers for decades now, but as they get smarter, they remain stubbornly closed off.

More: LAPTOP Magazine, MacStories, Engadget, BetaKit, digitaltrends.com, 9to5Mac, iPhone Hacks, iDownloadBlog.com, TodaysiPhone.com and TechCrunch

Kim Zetter / Wired:

Retailer Sues Visa Over $13 Million ‘Fine’ for Being Hacked — A sports apparel retailer is fighting back against the arbitrary multi-million-dollar penalties that credit card companies impose on banks and merchants for data breaches by filing a first-of-its-kind $13 million lawsuit against Visa.

More: The Register, Softpedia News and Securosis Highlights

Joseph Czikk / Techvibes:

Google Acquires University of Toronto Research Startup DNNresearch — The University of Toronto computer science department confirmed today that Google has acquired one of their startups lead by professor Geoffrey Hinton. DNNresearch Inc. was incorporated in 2012 and includes …

More: The Next Web, University of Toronto …, VentureBeat and CNET

Alex Wilhelm / The Next Web:

Dropbox refreshes its desktop client for improved file sharing, real-time notifications for incoming folders — Today Dropbox announced upgrades to its desktop client to allow for quick sharing of files with others, and improved updates that will help users keep up with the service.

More: The Dropbox Blog, Macworld, Ars Technica, MacRumors, InfoWorld, ZDNet, 9to5Mac, CNET, The Verge, TechCrunch and Gizmodo

Gina Chon / Quartz:

Apple's plan for its cash: stock buyback or more dividends likely coming this spring — Apple is leaning toward additional dividends or a share buyback program as part of its effort to return more cash to investors, according to sources. The US tech company could announce the move this spring …

More: ReadWrite, MacRumors, Business Insider, TodaysiPhone.com, Daring Fireball and AppleInsider

Matt Brian / The Verge:

Google Now confirmed for Chrome OS and Windows, beta browser reveals — Google Now integration may soon become available in Google's Windows browser and Chrome OS platform in the near future, after engineers added a new reference to the feature in the latest Chromium release.

More: TechCrunch, Venture Chronicles, digitaltrends.com, CNET, BetaNews, Marketing Land, SlashGear, Macgasm, Softpedia News, The Tech Report, Redmond Pie, MobileBurn.com and The Next Web

Don Clark / Digits:

Stealthy Startup Unveils Bold Router Attack — Not many entrepreneurs would take on mighty Cisco Systems in its stronghold of router hardware. A startup called Compass-EOS has been secretly planning that very attack for six years, with investors that include Cisco itself.

More: Venture Capital Dispatch

Casey Newton / CNET:

Google reaches $7 million settlement with states over Street View case — The settlement with 37 states bans unauthorized data collection and requires Google to train employees on privacy issues. — The long-running Google Street View privacy case was settled today, as the company reached …

More: CT.gov Portal, Search Engine Watch, AllThingsD, Hillicon Valley, epic.org, ZDNet, Reuters, Engadget, The Verge, Search Engine Land, Good Morning Silicon Valley, Electronista and WebProNews. Tweets: @tomwarren

David Jolly / New York Times:

Is Skype a Telephone Operator? France to Investigate — PARIS — French regulators said Tuesday that they had asked prosecutors to investigate Microsoft's Skype unit over its failure to register as a telecommunications operator in accordance with local law, raising the question of what constitutes …

More: arcep.fr, The Register, Ars Technica, Rude Baguette, The Next Web, SiliconANGLE, CNET and Engadget

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Google confirms Project Glass will support prescriptions ‘later this year,’ but not in its Explorer Edition — A prescription version of Google Glass is coming in 2013. Google's project Glass is a pair of glasses at the end of the day, so it follows that you'll be able to order a pair personalized to your prescription preferences.

More: Google+, The Verge, LAPTOP Magazine, PC Magazine, BGR, SlashGear, CNET, Engadget and TechSpot

Alexei Oreskovic / Reuters:

Yahoo's Mayer gets internal flak for more rigorous hiring — (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc Chief Executive Marissa Mayer was asked at an all-staff meeting several weeks ago whether her rigorous hiring practices had caused the company to miss out on top engineering talent in Silicon Valley's hyper-competitive job market.

John Cook / GeekWire:

Google to double size of engineering center in Microsoft's backyard — Google will expand into this planned development next to its existing Kirkland campus, significantly boosting its presence in the Seattle region. (Credit: Google, SRM Development and DLR Group.)

More: CNET. Thanks:@toddbishop

Bryan Bishop / The Verge:

T-Mobile and MetroPCS merger approved by the FCC — We knew things were moving forward, and now the Federal Communications Commission has approved the merger between T-Mobile and MetroPCS. In a statement released today, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski says that the allowing the two companies …

Christina Farr / VentureBeat:

Evolv pulls in $15M to prevent the ‘wrong person ending up in the wrong job’ — Imagine using data to pinpoint the most high-performing employees and keep them satisfied? — A startup called Evolv is building technology to make that possible, and it has raised $15 million in a fourth funding roundl led by Vantage Point Capital.

More: AllThingsD and bizjournals

Eric Slivka / MacRumors:

A5 Chip in Tweaked Apple TV Still Manufactured by Samsung at 32nm — Earlier this week, we opened up the newly tweaked Apple TV to find a remarkably small A5 chip inside rather than an A5X as had been suspected from the device's software posted by Apple over a month ago.

More: chipworks.com, iDownloadBlog.com, iPhone Hacks, iClarified and Ars Technica

Jim Dalrymple / The Loop:

Apple's Maps being updated often and significantly — There is no doubt that Apple is working hard on improving its iOS Maps application in the past few months. The results can be seen in an update to the app this week in Japan, but Apple has been steadily releasing updates for countries and cities from around the world.

More: MacRumors

Jon Fingas / Engadget:

Acer now selling C7 Chromebook with more battery life and memory for $280 — When we got our hands on Acer's initial C7 Chromebook, our chief gripe was its frankly disappointing 4-hour battery life. We now know that Acer had its ear to the ground after launch.

More: AllThingsD, 9to5Google, GigaOM, Market Wire, Forbes, Geek.com and TG Daily

Bloomberg:

Google Benefits as Priceline Outspends Expedia on Web Ads: Tech — Priceline.com Inc. (PCLN) has boosted annual ad spending to more than $1 billion for the first time, extending its lead over Expedia Inc. (EXPE) in the hotel-booking market and stepping up a rivalry that's benefiting Google Inc. (GOOG)

Tom Gara / Corporate Intelligence:

Paid Tweeters Beware: The FTC is Watching — In 2000, when regulators at the Federal Trade Commission last took a look at how its consumer protection rules should be applied online, the internet lived almost exclusively in browser windows, social networks didn't exist, and tweeting was what birds did on sunny afternoons.

More: Federal Trade Commission, Los Angeles Times, PandoDaily, The Verge, AllThingsD, Adweek, Bloomberg and Multichannel News

Roger Cheng / CNET:

HTC One faces shipment delays, may hit stores in April — The company said it would start fulfilling pre-orders by the end of the month, with a rollout to more markets in April. — It looks like there's more bad news down the pike for HTC and its One flagship phone.

More: Clove Technology's Blog, Engadget, SlashGear, Business Insider, Engadget, 9to5Google, The Verge and Pocketnow

Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:

Major glitch in Bitcoin network sparks sell-off; price temporarily falls 23% — A technical glitch in the core Bitcoin software forced developers to call for a temporary halt to Bitcoin transactions, sparking a sharp sell-off. The currency's value briefly fell 23 percent to $37 before regaining much of its value later in the evening.

More: Quartz, Bitcoin Magazine, Web Host Industry Review and VentureBeat

Devindra Hardawar / VentureBeat:

Dragon Mobile Assistant for Android gets smarter: Now it can share your location and dial into scheduled calls — With Apple's Siri and Google Now leading the way, the race is on to create the perfect mobile virtual assistant. — Nuance, whose Dragon voice recognition technology powers Siri …

More: Engadget

Sean Ludwig / VentureBeat:

Now with over 20M users, presentation startup Prezi adds long-awaited audio features — Zooming presentation startup Prezi has just crossed the 20-million-registered user mark. To celebrate the new milestone, it has added audio capabilities to presentations.

More: The Next Web, TechCrunch, Business Insider, Forbes and MarketWatch

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Static.com Adds Hadoop Support for Cloud Foundry — In this guest post, Jake Farrell, CTO for Static.com, explains how the major shift in the hosting industry towards platforms for high developer productivity …

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