Techmeme
June 5, 2013, 12:20 PM

Top News

The White House:
Fact Sheet: White House Task Force on High-Tech Patent Issues  —  Today the White House announced major steps to improve incentives for future innovation in high tech patents, a key driver of economic growth and good paying American jobs.  The White House issued five executive actions …
Christopher Mims / Quartz:
Why patent trolls will laugh in the face of the US government's weak attempts to fight them  —  The White House today introduced an executive order intended to combat “patent trolling,” in which companies buy up patents and use them to sue “infringing” companies that actually make things.
Edward Wyatt / New York Times:
Obama Orders Regulators to Root Out ‘Patent Trolls’  —  WASHINGTON — One company threatened to sue 8,000 coffee shops, hotels and retailers for patent infringement because they had set up Wi-Fi networks for their customers.  Another claimed that hundreds of small businesses were violating …
Chris Schneider / The Microsoft Office Blog:
Outlook 2013 RT Coming to Windows RT Tablets as part of Windows 8.1 Update  —  Today at Computex 2013, Tami Reller, CFO and CMO of Microsoft's Windows Division, announced that Outlook 2013 RT will be available on Windows RT tablets as part of the free Windows 8.1 update coming later this year.
James Trew / Engadget:
HTC One ‘mini’ leaks showing 4.3-inch 720p display and UltraPixel camera  —  HTC One mini?  HTC M4?  Whichever moniker you want to give it, that appears to be what we see above.  Shown in a bunch of photos on Estonian site forte.delfi.ee the 4.3-inch device seems to corroborate much of what we've heard already.
Jeff Blagdon / The Verge:
Samsung Galaxy S4 Active offers a more rugged, waterproof variant of Android bestseller  —  Today, Samsung is announcing a new variant of its Galaxy S4 more suited to the great outdoors.  The phone has a high degree of dust and water protection (IP67), allowing it to be submerged in water up to a meter …
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Pandora Launches New HTML5-Based TV Experience, Starting With Xbox 360 and PS3  —  Pandora today launched a new browser-based interface for TVs that it hopes will help set the standard for using the service in the living room.  The first devices to support this new HTML5-based interface …
Gerry Smith / The Huffington Post:
Apple, Samsung Face Grilling Over Stolen Smartphone Epidemic  —  New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has summoned representatives of the four largest smartphone makers to a summit next week where he plans to press them on their failure to address soaring thefts of their products.
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
FreedomPop Expands Its Free Service to Voice  —  While there are lots of discount cellphone plans out there, alternative carrier FreedomPop is trying to introduce a new price tier — free.  —  This summer, the company plans to offer a plan with various Android phones that gives customers …
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Land:
Yahoo Officially Rolls Out New Yahoo Search Results Design  —  Yahoo has officially announced the redesign they've been testing for the past couple weeks is now live.  —  The new design boasts a faster load time, search results higher up on the page, a new navigation bar at the top, and a more consistent look with the Yahoo homepage.
Chris Davies / SlashGear:
Windows 8.1 shares highlights in video walkthrough  —  Windows 8.1 is a big deal for Microsoft, the first significant update for the OS, and the opportunity to address some of the lingering user frustrations: not just add in the Start button.  The company has shared a new video …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Sony unveils Haswell-based Vaio laptops that can be converted into tablets  —  Sony is unveiling a new line of Vaio Pro and Vaio Duo laptops with new Intel Haswell-based microprocessors.  —  Sony Duo 13  —  The Vaio Pro is a touch-enabled Ultrabook laptop that runs Windows 8.
Kevin Fitchard / GigaOM:
T-Mobile's plan to supercharge LTE: A whole lot of antennas  —  T-Mobile USA has been talking some smack lately about how its brand-spanking-new LTE network gives it an edge over the competition.  Being the last major U.S. carrier to launch LTE means T-Mobile is using the most up-to-date radio access gear …
Thanks:@kfitchard
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Mozilla Readies Major Firefox Redesign As It Ponders What The Browser Of The Future Should Look Like  —  “Maybe we shouldn't even call it a browser anymore,” Mozilla's VP of Firefox engineering Jonathan Nightingale told me a few days ago.  “'Browser' is really an antiquated word.
Larry Dignan / ZDNet:
Dell to investors: Icahn's deal dicey, business stinks  —  Summary: A special committee argues that Dell shareholders should take the cash and run and that Carl Icahn's leveraged buyout plan will hamper the company too much.  —  Dell's special committee to evaluate the company's plan …
Michelle Ma / University of Washington:
Wi-Fi signals enable gesture recognition throughout entire home  —  Forget to turn off the lights before leaving the apartment?  No problem.  Just raise your hand, finger-swipe the air, and your lights will power down.  Want to change the song playing on your music system in the other room?
David Barboza / New York Times:
Lei Jun Builds His Xiaomi Empire by Aping Apple and Steve Jobs  —  BEIJING — China is notorious for its knockoffs.  But now comes a knockoff of one of the gods of American ingenuity: Steven P. Jobs.  —  In a country where products like iPhones are made but rarely invented, Lei Jun …
More: Quartz
Andy / TorrentFreak:
UK Police Launch Campaign to Shut Down Torrent Sites  —  Authorities and entertainment industry companies in the UK are working together on a new initiative which targets sites said to be offering copyrighted material without permission, TorrentFreak has learned.
Terril Yue Jones / Reuters:
China has ‘mountains of data’ about U.S. cyber attacks: official  —  (Reuters) - China's top Internet security official says he has “mountains of data” pointing to extensive U.S. hacking aimed at China, but it would be irresponsible to blame Washington for such attacks, and called for greater cooperation to fight hacking.
Adrianne Jeffries / The Verge:
Airbnb will fight regulators in New York City on behalf of host who was fined $2,400  —  After initial hesitation, the company hired a prestigious law firm and is ‘in it for the long haul’  —  The popular vacation rental service Airbnb is starting to clash with regulators in New York City …

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