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3:40 PM ET, July 21, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land:
Yahoo's New Homepage Gets Personal, Tests Search Filters  —  When I heard about the call with Yahoo yesterday, which was to feature “a significant announcement,” I thought: “Bing, here it is.”  When it turned out the call was about a formal announcement of the new Yahoo homepage I was disappointed; it seemed anti-climactic.
RELATED:
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Yahoo Finally Rolls Out New Homepage to the Masses-and, Drum Roll, It's Good (Plus Screenshots)  —  Although it's not news that Yahoo has been readying a new version of its homepage and has spent a lot of time doing so-in fact, it's gone all Handy Manny with a whole lot of test renovations …
Clint Boulton / eWeek:
Is Yahoo Home Page Refresh Timed to Temper Tepid Earnings?
Discussion: Inside Facebook, PC World and digg.com
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
What's Up Next For Yahoo? …
Discussion: Seeking Alpha
Eric Eldon / VentureBeat:
iPhone prototype goes missing; Chinese worker investigated, commits suicide  —  Updated  —  Last Thursday, 25 year-old Sun Danyong committed suicide after a fourth-generation iPhone prototype he was responsible for went missing.  It's a story, from what tech-industry friends in China tell me …
RELATED:
Jim Dalrymple / CNET News:
Apple confirms death of iPhone worker in China  —  Update at 10:15 a.m. PDT: Comment from Apple added.  —  Apple confirmed on Tuesday the death of a man who worked at an iPhone plant in China.  —  According to various Chinese media reports, the worker at Chinese manufacturer Foxconn committed suicide …
Eliot Van Buskirk / Epicenter:
Apple Preparing iPod Touch With Camera, Microphone: Source  —  Rumors have swirled about Apple readying a new version of the iPod Touch with a camera and microphone, which, combined with a Skype account, would pretty much obviate the need for a home phone line once and for all.
RELATED:
Ben Thompson / BBC:
UAE Blackberry update was spyware  —  Middle East business reporter, BBC News, Dubai  —  An update for Blackberry users in the United Arab Emirates could allow unauthorised access to private information and e-mails.  —  The update was prompted by a text from UAE telecoms firm Etisalat, suggesting it would improve performance.
Discussion: RIMarkable, Techgeist, Engadget and TechVi
RELATED:
Ben Rometsch / Solid State Group:
Google Wave - First Impressions  —  First Thoughts on Google Wave  —  Yesterday I was given my Developer Preview account by the Google Wave team.  To say I have been eager to try Wave out since watching the original video is something of an understatement!
Paul Boutin / Wired News:
Laid Off?  It's Good for You and Good for the Tech Industry  —  Here in Silicon Valley, the recession has a different face than in Manhattan or Detroit.  Our panic is more genteel, softened by balmy California weather, a laid-back attitude, and, OK, the fact that we haven't had a local industry completely implode.
Discussion: Between the Lines and digg.com
Zach Epstein / Boy Genius Report:
More pics of Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 surface; announcement imminent?  —  Historically speaking, an increased frequency in live shots generally indicates that an official announcement isn't far off.  Sony Ericsson fans can only hope that's the case as a new round of pics bubble up to show off …
JBC / Nokia Conversations:
Nokia 6760 Slide unveiled  —  GLOBAL - Finger tappers everywhere will soon have new buttons to press as the Nokia 6760 slide messaging device is coming to Europe.  The Nokia 6760 slide shares many (but not all) traits with its US sibling, the Nokia Surge, announced in the US last week.
Brooke Crothers / CNET News:
Intel boosts speed, cuts prices of solid-state drives  —  Intel is introducing new solid-state drives with increased performance as these devices find a more welcome home in Windows 7.  —  Intel said Tuesday it is moving to a more advanced 34-nanometer manufacturing process for its X series of solid-state drives (SSDs).
Msav / ai.rs blog:
HTC Leo specs  —  ai.rs blog Exclusive  —  We are pleased to announce exclusive specifications of the upcoming HTC Leo.  It is expected that this name will change since it is temporary.  We are not certain about a release date yet, but we suppose HTC won't miss the chance to have it before the holidays - so we tip Q4/2009.
Fred Vogelstein / Wired News:
Why Is Obama's Top Antitrust Cop Gunning for Google?  —  “I think you are going to see a repeat of Microsoft.”  —  Christine Varney's blunt assessment sent a buzz through the audience at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.  Varney, a partner at Hogan & Hartson and one of the country's …
Sydney Morning Herald:
The great WiFi robbery: police to patrol down your street  —  The Queensland Police fraud squad says it will be the first police force in the world to go on “wardriving” missions to warn homes and businesses if their wireless networks are not secure.  —  Detective Superintendent Brian Hay …
Diane Bartz / Reuters:
Rural U.S. carriers unimpressed with Verizon offer  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Rural Cellular Association, whose members include about 100 small and medium-sized carriers, said on Tuesday it was encouraged by Verizon Wireless's offer to limit new exclusive handset deals but the offer was inadequate.
Discussion: MobileCrunch and Phone Scoop
Douglas Quenqua / Wired News:
Hotseat: The Creator of Facebook's Most Annoying App Explains Himself  —  By now, you probably know your Facebook friends' five favorite albums, TV stars, and sodas.  Blame Tim O'Shaughnessy, creator of LivingSocial, the site's most-used and most-annoying application ever.  We asked him to explain himself.
Discussion: PC World and digg.com
Toby Sterling / Associated Press:
Would-be buyer of Pirate Bay backpedals in court  —  AMSTERDAM—The would-be buyer of Web site The Pirate Bay backpedaled in a Dutch court Tuesday, saying that it is uncertain whether the purchase will ever be completed.  —  Lawyer Ricardo Dijkstra said Sweden's Global Gaming Factory X …
John Paczkowski / Digital Daily:
Barnes & Noble to Amazon: Mine Is Bigger Than Yours  —  Six years after shuttering its first e-book effort, Barnes & Noble has embarked on a new one.  Monday afternoon, the bookseller announced what it describes as “the world's largest eBookstore,” an online storefront that boasts 700,000 titles.
Elizabeth Woyke / Forbes:
Qualcomm Ramping Up With Android  —  Wireless tech giant is expected to report healthy third-quarter earnings Wednesday and benefit from Google Android products.  —  It's no secret that the semiconductor industry spies rosier days ahead.  Intel sparked optimism last week with its strong second-quarter results.
Nancy Gohring / Network World:
Zer01's mobile offer may be too good to be true  —  As the company enlists sales agents in a multilevel marketing effort, its service remains elusive  —  Imagine downloading a two-hour HD movie in three minutes to your new cell phone, then plugging the phone into your TV to watch the film.
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Adobe Unveils New Open Source Initiatives Targeted Towards Media Companies  —  Adobe has rolled out two new open source initiatives aimed specifically towards developers for media companies and publishers.  Adobe's Open Source Media Framework lets developers build more robust …
Rebecca Buckman / Forbes:
Khosla Bucks VC Fundraising Drought  —  He's set to close $1 billion in new funds—though some new deals may pass through a “conflicts committee.”  —  BURLINGAME, Calif. — It's a tough time to raise a venture-capital fund.  But not if you're superstar investor Vinod Khosla …
Arik Hesseldahl / Business Week:
Apple: Augur of Recovery?  —  Strong Mac and iPhone sales may lift Apple's third quarter, making it the latest harbinger of a tech spending rebound  —  Apple could join the ranks of companies whose results portend a comeback in technology buying.  —  Apple's (AAPL) fiscal third-quarter earnings report …
Discussion: Macworld, DailyFinance and TUAW
Mark Hachman / PC Magazine:
802.11n Should Be Finalized By September  —  By Sept. 11, it's probable that the 802.11n standard will finally be approved.  —  On Friday, Bob Heile, the chairman of the IEEE 802.15 working group on Personal Area Networks, sent an email confirming that the IEEE 802.11n draft standard …
CNET News:
Microsoft closing YouTube rival  —  Last month, Microsoft told CNET News it planned to significantly scale back Soapbox.  Now it turns out Soapbox will be scaled all the way down to nothing.  —  “We have decided to shut down the Soapbox feature,” said Microsoft Vice President and MSN leader Erik Jorgensen in an e-mail.
Discussion: TechCrunch and TechFlash
Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:
Photo Tagger: Facial Recognition for Auto-Tagging Facebook Photos  —  We have invites, click through to get yours!  —  Earlier this year, a company called Face.com brought facial recognition technology to Facebook by way of an application called Photo Finder which scanned through untagged photos and identified the people within them.
 
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 More Items: 
Daniel Abadi / DBMS Musings:
Announcing release of HadoopDB (longer version)
Discussion: IDG News Service and Slashdot
Thord Daniel Hedengren / The Blog Herald:
WordPress Switches to Hourly Pinging, Tells No One
John Biggs / CrunchGear:
iPhone Push problem broadcasts your AIMs to random recipients …
Business Wire:
SlideRocket Raises $5 Million in Series B Funding and Announces New CEO
Discussion: Contentinople and VentureBeat
Clint Boulton / eWeek:
Zoho Takes Aim at Google, Salesforce.com with Mail-CRM Integration
Discussion: Zoho Blogs and ReadWriteWeb
Milo Yiannopoulos / TechCrunch Europe:
Spotify strikes deal with IODA, adds 2 million more tracks
Andrew Chen / Futuristic Play:
Social design explosion: Polls, quizzes, reviews, forums, chat …
 Earlier Items: 
ABCNEWS:
Looking to Score Legal Marijuana? Check Your iPhone
Discussion: AppScout
Michael Masnick / Techdirt:
From Closed To Open: iPhone App Developer Skepticism Highlights Platform Trajectory
Discussion: Marco.org
John Markoff / New York Times:
New Technology to Make Digital Data Self-Destruct
Discussion: Elias Bizannes and AppScout
Joe Sharkey / New York Times:
A Race to Provide Wi-Fi (but Not the Voice Part)
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
WBD sues the NBA over the league's “unjustified” decision to sell a package of media rights to Amazon, to which WBD claims to have a “contractual right”

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
Mail Online, The Independent, Daily Mirror, and Daily Express roll out “consent or pay” walls charging users £1.99 to £4 per month for cookie-less access

Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
Charter lost 393K residential pay TV subscribers in Q2, compared to a loss of 189K in Q2 2023; overall video customers were 13.3M, down 9.5% YoY

 
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