Techmeme
May 16, 2013, 12:50 PM

Top News

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
Microsoft's Anti-Google Campaign Gets a Boost, From Google  —  For the last few months, Microsoft has been running a pointed PR and ad campaign against Google, where it accuses the search giant of screwing over its customers.  —  You gotta hand it to Microsoft: Yesterday they got Google to help promote their message for them.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Google demands Microsoft removes YouTube Windows Phone app, cites lack of ads  —  Microsoft updated its own YouTube application for Windows Phone just over a week ago and Google isn't impressed.  The Verge has obtained a copy of a cease and desist letter that Google has sent to Microsoft recently …
Quentin Hardy / NYT Bits:
Google Buys a Quantum Computer  —  Google and NASA are forming a laboratory to study artificial intelligence by means of computers that use the unusual properties of quantum physics.  Their quantum computer, which performs complex calculations thousands of times faster than existing supercomputers …
Nick Hide / Crave:
Samsung changes mind, will look at storage on Galaxy S4 … Samsung has backed down on the Galaxy S4's limited storage after the phone appeared on the BBC's Watchdog, saying it will try to squeeze its myriad features into a smaller space, freeing up more memory for apps.
John Paczkowski / AllThingsD:
Here's That Steve Jobs E-Book Email to James Murdoch  —  “Throw in with Apple and see if we can all make a go of this to create a real mainstream e-books market at $12.99 and $14.99.”  —  That's an excerpt from an email sent by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs to James Murdoch of News Corporation …
Nick Summers / The Next Web:
Android and iOS accounted for 92% of Q1 2013 smartphone shipments, as Windows Phone passes BlackBerry  —  Android and iOS accounted for 92.3 percent of all smartphones shipped during the first quarter of 2013, according to new figures published today by the International Data Corporation (IDC).
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Google Versus  —  Larry Page, on stage at I/O today: … Google fans seem to eat this kumbaya stuff up, to really believe it.  But Google is the company that built Android after the iPhone, Google Plus after Facebook, and now a subscription music service after Spotify.
Jason Wilson / VentureBeat:
EA kills its controversial Online Pass program  —  EA is doing away with its Online Pass program from this point forward, a decision the video game publisher says is partially based on player response.  —  “Yes, we're discontinuing Online Pass,” EA senior director of corporate communications …
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Google adopts Bluetooth Smart, hints of a new Android version within two months  —  According to a just-issued press release from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), Google has committed to updating Android with support for Bluetooth Smart (also known as Bluetooth Low Energy) “in the coming months.”
Stephen Shankland / CNET:
Microsoft building touch-screen feature into Chrome  —  To try to spread its flexible Pointer Events interface beyond Windows 8 and IE10, Microsoft programmers are trying to build support into Google's browser.  —  Through the peculiar dynamics of Web standard politics and the open-source …
Kevin Bostic / AppleInsider:
Apple plans to move flagship San Francisco store to Union Square  —  Apple has submitted plans for a new retail location in San Francisco's Union Square that would replace the Apple Store currently at Stockton and Ellis.  —  Plans for the new store emerged on Thursday, according to SFGate.
Reuters:
Senators struggle with tech industry concerns on U.S. immigration bill  —  (Reuters) - Senate supporters of a broad U.S. immigration bill struggled on Wednesday to satisfy technology companies that want greater leeway to hire high-skilled foreign workers.  —  Democratic Senator Charles Schumer …
Keach Hagey / Wall Street Journal:
USA Network's Dividing Line With Twitter  —  Several television companies have announced deals with Twitter Inc. in recent weeks, looking to take advantage of the popularity of tweeting while watching shows.  But not all TV companies believe tying up with the social-media site is such a great idea.
Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:
Yahoo partners with Twitter to bring tweets directly into its US homepage newsfeed on the desktop and mobile Web  —  Yahoo on Thursday announced a new partnership with Twitter that will see tweets brought directly into the company's homepage newsfeed.  The new integration will be rolling out …
Matt Brian / The Verge:
Google Play Books enables user ebook uploads, Google Drive support  —  Google has updated its Play Books e-reader apps for iOS and Android to include support for EPUB and PDF files from outside the Play Store.  The new feature has been enabled as part of Google's strategy to unite its cloud services …
Robin Wauters / The Next Web:
That settles it: Opera drops its $3.4m lawsuit against ex-employee Trond Hansen  —  A little over two weeks ago, word got out about Opera filing a rather nasty lawsuit against a former longtime employee and contractor, designer and musician Trond Werner Hansen.
Guardian:
Amazon faces tough questions over UK tax  —  Exclusive: Guardian investigation shows key role of British-based staff in pushing tax rulebook to its limits  —  MPs are ready to haul Amazon back to parliament to answer new questions about its tax status in Britain after a Guardian investigation's …
More: ZDNet and The Register
Robert McMillan / Wired:
Is It Wrong to Use Data From the World's First ‘Nice’ Botnet?  —  When Morgan Marquis-Boire heard about the Internet Census 2012, he was excited.  —  Marquis-Boire, a Google engineer by day, spends his spare time looking for state-sponsored spyware, and here was something new that he could use.
Tweets: @wired
Trey Ratcliff / Stuck in Customs:
Why the new Google server farm could displace Adobe Lightroom  —  Are you taking more photos per week in 2013 than 2012?  How about 2010?  My guess is yes.  And it doesn't matter if you're a pro or just a casual photographer — it's really crazy how much visual data we are all generating.
Don Reisinger / CNET:
One-third of all smartphone sales were prepaid in Q1  —  That's the word from The NPD Group, which found that 21 percent of purchased smartphones were prepaid last year.  —  Prepaid smartphone sales are starting to become more popular, according to new data from research firm The NPD Group.

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Travis Green / Google Commerce: