Techmeme: Friendly, The Hugely Successful Unofficial Facebook iPad App, Goes Free (MG Siegler/TechCrunch)

5:05 PM ET, December 4, 2010

Top Items:

Fred / A VC:

Invest In The Mess — There's a front page story in the NY Times today about the hyperactivity in web startupland. They quote from a few posts I've made on this blog and I think Jenna and Evelyn did a nice job with the story. The thing that's clear from reading the story is the hyperactivity …

Discussion: Newsweek

DealBook:
A Silicon Bubble Shows Signs Of Reinflating

Discussion: SAI, msnbc.com and Pitos Blog

Melissa Harris / Chicago Breaking Business:

Sources: Groupon rejects Google's offer; will stay independent — The deal didn't tip after all. Chicago-based Groupon Inc. has eschewed an acquisition offer from Google Inc. and is staying independent, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation.

Kara Swisher / BoomTown:

Groupon Annual Revenues Actually $2 Billion — According to sources close to the situation, Groupon's actual run rate for this year is clocking in at $2 billion in revenue, rather than the widely quoted $500 million. — Who knew hawking spas treatments and stripper pole lessons could be so lucrative?

Discussion: Fortune, Tech Trader Daily, AttentionMax, Techie Buzz, Androinica, Examiner, The Blog Herald, Search Engine Journal, TechCrunch, CNNMoney.com, Screenwerk, SAI and The Next Web

MG Siegler / TechCrunch:

Google's Possible “+1″ iPhone App, Facebook Similarities, And Social “Loop” Groups — Since we broke the news a couple days ago that Google's secret social project, formerly known as “Emerald Sea”, is now being called “Google +1″, we've gotten more confirmation about the naming.

Discussion: Electronista and WebProNews

Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:

Facebook Director Of Monetization Tim Kendall Steps Down — Tim Kendall, Facebook's Director of Monetization, has left the company. This is particularly noteworthy because Kendall first joined Facebook nearly five years ago, in June 2006. He architected all of the company's early monetization strategies …

Discussion: All Facebook

Joanna Stern / Engadget:

This is the Google Chrome OS netbook keyboard — It's just a Chrome OS sorta day, isn't it? To catch you up here, we told you earlier that Google is planning to announce its own Chrome OS netbook this coming Tuesday, and well, now we're peering at a supposed picture of that very machine's keyboard.

Discussion: PC World, Examiner, Digital Trends, VentureBeat, GottaBeMobile, Laptops and Desktops Blog, TG Daily, eWeek, Fortune, Softpedia News, Go Rumors, Epicenter, Liliputing, The Next Web, MobileBurn.com, internetnews.com and Electronista

MG Siegler / TechCrunch:

Friendly, The Hugely Successful Unofficial Facebook iPad App, Goes Free — As we're all well aware, Facebook doesn't offer an iPad app. Well, maybe we're not all so aware of that. Because Friendly, an unofficial app made by Oecoway, has been a massive hit on the platform.

Zach Epstein / BGR:

RadioShack takes $50 off Apple's iPhone 4 and 3GS — RadioShack announced a limited-time promotion on Friday that offers a $50 discount on Apple's iPhone 4 or iPhone 3GS. The promotion applies to brand new devices — not refurbished phones — and there are no tricky terms and conditions to be afraid of.

Discussion: Examiner, AppleInsider, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Gizmodo, Engadget, App Advice, Phones Review, everythingiCafe, SlashPhone, Go Rumors, GigaOM, Electronista, iLounge, Apple Gazette and iClarified

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

Skype Staffing Up For A Big Push To The Cloud — As Skype prepares for an IPO in the next year, the VoIP company has been looking for new ways to expand its business both in terms of revenue and product development. One avenue the company is exploring to bring in more revenue …

Discussion: BGR and VoIP Watch

Joseph Galante / Bloomberg:

PayPal Cuts WikiLeaks' Access to Funds Amid Global Scrutiny — Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) — PayPal Inc., the payment processor owned by EBay Inc., cut access today to the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.org for violating its acceptable use policy. — PayPal suspended the account after the U.S …

Discussion: Examiner, The Next Web, ReadWriteWeb, Mashable!, Go Rumors, SAI, The PayPal Blog and Guardian

Paul Miller / Engadget:

PlayStation Phone ‘Zeus Z1’ caught on video again, this time you can actually see it (update) — Wow guys, we just spotted a new video of the PlayStation Phone, codenamed Zeus Z1, and this time we get a long, loving look at the entire device — a refreshing contrast to last time's blurry tease.

New York Times:

Cables Discuss Vast Hacking by a China That Fears the Web — As China ratcheted up the pressure on Google to censor its Internet searches last year, the American Embassy sent a secret cable to Washington detailing why top Chinese leaders had become so obsessed with the Internet search company: they were Googling themselves.

Discussion: Guardian and Runnin' Scared

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