Techmeme: Western Digital investing $51M in solid-state storage maker Skyera (Rachel King/ZDNet)

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March 12, 2013, 11:00 PM

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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: Wired, CNET, MacRumors, TechCrunch, Network World, Business Insider, Gizmodo, The Next Web, SlashGear, Gotta Be Mobile, PhoneArena, everythingiCafe, 9to5Mac, iDownloadBlog.com, TUAW, IntoMobile, MobileSyrup.com, Pocket-lint and MacStories. 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, LAPTOP Magazine, Phones Review, Maati, Pocket-lint, ValueWalk, WMPoweruser, Gotta Be Mobile, The Nokia Blog, Pocketnow, IntoMobile, Softpedia News, MobileSyrup.com and Neowin

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: ZDNet, BetaNews, Engadget, TechSpot, CNET, WinBeta and WebProNews

Tweets: @riptari and @maryjofoley

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. Tweets: @jbrodkin

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: VentureBeat and Venture Capital Dispatch

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, 9to5Mac, SlashGear, App Advice, PadGadget, The Full Signal, GeekWire, MacRumors, GigaOM, BGR, Investor's Business Daily, Macgasm, I4U News and Bloomberg. Tweets: @panzer

Owen Thomas / Business Insider:

Amazon Has An Estimated 10 Million Members For Its Surprisingly Profitable Prime Club — Amazon hasn't disclosed how many people have signed up for its Prime program, which offers free two-day shipping, a Netflix-like video service, and other perks for a $79 annual fee.

More: BGR, GeekWire, CNET and VatorNews

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, AppleInsider, Business Insider, TodaysiPhone.com and MacRumors

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, Securosis Highlights, Softpedia News and ZDNet

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

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: New York Times and CNET. Thanks:@toddbishop

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

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, CNET, PC Magazine, LAPTOP Magazine, Techie Buzz, Wired, The Verge, AdAge, Mashable!, Search Engine Journal and TechCrunch

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: BGR, TechCrunch, Venture Chronicles, BetaNews, The Tech Report, digitaltrends.com, Redmond Pie, Marketing Land, SlashGear and Softpedia News

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

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, CNET, The Verge, ZDNet, TechCrunch, Macworld, MacRumors, InfoWorld, 9to5Mac, SlashGear and Ars Technica

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, New York Times, AllThingsD, Hillicon Valley, Search Engine Watch, epic.org, Reuters, The Verge, ZDNet, Search Engine Land, Good Morning Silicon Valley, Electronista, WebProNews, Engadget and Inquirer. Tweets: @tomwarren

Rachel King / ZDNet:

Western Digital investing $51M in solid-state storage maker Skyera — Summary: Western Digital's investment arm has made a significant strategic investment in enterprise solid-state storage provider, Skyera. — Western Digital Capital, the investment arm of the hard drive giant …

More: TechCrunch, PR Newswire, Softpedia News and socalTECH.com

Brian X. Chen / NYT Bits:

Eye-Tracking Tech Will Be Open to iPhones and Other Devices — Samsung Electronics won't be the only company that gets a fancy eye-tracking feature. A start-up company called uMoove, which has been developing this type of technology for three years, says it will offer eye- and head-tracking to anyone …

More: BGR, Apple Bitch and Redmond Pie. Thanks:@hilzfuld

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, iPhone Hacks, iDownloadBlog.com, iClarified, Ars Technica and MacNN

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

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 …

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)

Rik Henderson / Pocket-lint:

Steve Jobs to be manga hero in official Japanese comic series — To appear in Kiss magazine for girls — The life story of Steve Jobs is to be made into a manga comic book series in Japan and the first illustration from artist? Mari Yamazaki has appeared online.

More: CNET, The Verge, MacRumors, PhoneArena and Kotaku

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, Mobile Marketing Watch, Reuters, The Verge, PandoDaily, AllThingsD, Adweek, Bloomberg and Multichannel News

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

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: TechHive, SlashGear, The Verge, CNET, Engadget, LAPTOP Magazine, PC Magazine, BGR, Softpedia News and TechCrunch

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:

Microsoft shutters its WebSiteSpark developer program — Summary: Microsoft is discontinuing a program it launched three years ago aimed at getting more Web developers to use its Expression and other development tools. — Unsurprisingly, Microsoft is phasing out its WebSiteSpark Web developer program …

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