Top Items:
Wall Street Journal:
Apple, Google Collect User Data — Apple Inc.'s iPhones and Google Inc.'s Android smartphones regularly transmit their locations back to Apple and Google, respectively, according to data and documents analyzed by The Wall Street Journal—intensifying concerns over privacy and the widening trade in personal data.
Discussion:
Gadget Lab, Appolicious Advisor, TechCrunch, SlashGear, Pocket-lint and msnbc.com
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Pete Warden / O'Reilly Radar:
iPhone tracking: The day after — I don't think either of us were expecting to see this story strike such a nerve. There's been some amazing detective work from researchers across the web, and so here's a selection of the most interesting immediate reactions.
Discussion:
Computerworld, Zero Percent Idle, willclarke.net, The Not-So Private Parts, CNN, ITworld.com and blogs.chron.com
David Sarno / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Apple location tracker file: Congressman asks Steve Jobs to explain by May 12 — Following widespread attention drawn by a file embedded on Apple iPhones and iPads that keeps a detailed log of the devices' location, Congressman Ed Markey (D-Mass.) has sent Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs …
Discussion:
TechEye, CNET News, Live in The Future …, New York Times, BGR, AppleInsider, @percival, eWeek, @falsestevejobs, SAI, The Register, Slashdot, Reuters and 9 to 5 Mac
Keith Smith / GeekWire:
Amazon.com's real problem isn't the outage, it's the communication — Guest Commentary: Like many companies running on Amazon's Web Services, BigDoor has been affected by the AWS outage today. And like most startups, we are braced for bad stuff to happen, and we do our best to learn from the painful stuff.
Discussion:
Roman Stanek's Push …
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Alex Williams / ReadWriteWeb:
Amazon Web Services Starting to Come Back Online but Problems Persist and Questions Unfold — Amazon Web Services disruption issues are now in a second day as engineers work to get the last of the availability zones restored. — Meanwhile, the customers affected spent the day talking …
Discussion:
Twilio Cloud Communications, Mashable!, Techie Buzz and InfoQ
Sharon Gaudin / Computerworld:
Amazon gets ‘black eye’ from cloud outage — Analysts say downtime hurts Amazon, and cloud computing (see video below) — Computerworld - For a company that's known as the dominant player in the cloud market, Amazon's troubles on Thursday means a black eye for the company and for the cloud in general.
Discussion:
@reddit
Arik Hesseldahl / NewEnterprise:
Amazon's Cloud Crashed Overnight, And Brought Several Other Companies Down Too
Discussion:
Clay Loveless, James Cohen, internetnews.com, The Register, Bits, ProgrammableWeb, Gartner, CNET News, @joestump, Data Center Knowledge, Datamation, Computerworld, Profectio, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Social Media & Technology, SlashGear, The Next Web, CNNMoney.com, InfoWorld, @richardhenry, All about Microsoft Blog, VentureBeat, Poynter, Betabeat, @spolsky, Electronista, Government Technology News, Business Wire, BetaNews and Tech Trader Daily
Jon Brodkin / Network World:
Amazon EC2 outage calls ‘availability zones’ into question
Discussion:
blog.dotcloud.com, justinsb's posterous, Assembla Blog, eWeek and Gartner
Yinka Adegoke / Reuters:
Exclusive: Apple to beat Google on cloud music storage: sources — NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc has completed work on an online music storage service and is set to launch it ahead of Google Inc, whose own music efforts have stalled, according to several people familiar with both companies' plans.
Discussion:
Gadgetell, hypebot, Neowin.net, Edible Apple, Yahoo! News, IntoMobile, App Advice, MediaFile, T3.com News, Ars Technica, GottaBeMobile, TechSpot, TiPb, The Next Web, Android Phone Fans, GigaOM, TUAW, SAI, Engadget, Gizmodo Australia, AppleInsider, MacRumors, BGR, The Loop, MacStories and Electronista
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Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
One Difference Between Apple's Music Locker and Amazon's: Label Deals
Discussion:
9 to 5 Mac, MacRumors, O'Grady's PowerPage, Apple Bitch, AppleInsider and Electronista
Miyoung Kim / Reuters:
Samsung files patent suits vs Apple in Korea, Japan, Germany — (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co said on Friday it had filed patent lawsuits against Apple in South Korea, Japan and Germany, a week after the world's top technology company claimed Samsung's smartphones and tablets “slavishly” copied its products.
Discussion:
Fortune, Guardian, CNET News, Digital Trends, Fast Company, BGR, Agence France Presse, paidContent, TechEye, SAMSUNG TOMORROW, Wall Street Journal, 9 to 5 Mac, Mobilized, FOSS Patents, MacStories, Softpedia News, Bloomberg, Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, SlashGear, Android Community, Electronista, VentureBeat, AppleInsider, Network World, Engadget, Phones Review and MacRumors
Mark Gurman / 9 to 5 Mac:
Apple floats iPhone ‘4S’ with A5 chip to select developers to prepare for next-gen iPhone — The iPad 2′s A5 processor not only is a speedy, dual-core chip, but also works to provide nine times the gaming performance of its predecessor, A4. So, what's Apple to do for their best-selling gaming phone?
Discussion:
Digital Trends, App Advice, TiPb, VentureBeat, Softpedia News, PC World, SlashGear, MobileWhack, Redmond Pie, TUAW, Neowin.net, MacStories, Crave, Electronista, Electricpig.co.uk, iThinkDifferent, iLounge, MacRumors, Edible Apple, Gizmodo Australia and MobileCrunch, Thanks:saumil_747
Marshall Heyman / Heard & Seen:
Re-Tweeting (Not-So) Humble Promoters — In response, Harris Wittels, a standup comedian and a writer on the NBC series “Parks and Recreation,” created a Twitter feed called Humblebrag, which compiles examples of the offense. For instance, after he won his Academy Award for “Toy Story 3 …
Romil Patel / Venture Level:
Why Groupon Sucks For Merchants and LivingSocial Doesn't — It doesn't matter whether you like Groupon or LivingSocial as a consumer or not, because this post is discussing why Groupon is like dealing with a child, for merchants. As many of you know, I own a few QSR (quick service restaurant) outlets.
Discussion:
NewsGrange
Jack Purcher / Patently Apple:
Apple Invents New Peer-to-Peer Sharing Technology that Utilizes Unique Magnetic Compass and Supersonic Tone Methodologies — In late 2009 Patently Apple reported that Apple was working on a new short-range wireless technology that would work with a newly proposed iTunes Kiosk.
Discussion:
SlashGear, Neowin.net, TUAW and 9 to 5 Mac
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Japanese Company GREE Buys Mobile Social Gaming Platform OpenFeint For $104 Million In Cash — Mobile gaming startup OpenFeint, has been acquired by Japanese mobile gaming company GREE for $104 million in cash plus additional capital for growth of the OpenFeint platform.
Discussion:
AppleInsider, App Advice, VentureBeat, VatorNews, SFGate, Inside Social Games, MacStories, USA Today, Touch Arcade, Inside Mobile Apps, TUAW, MacRumors, Social Markets and Xconomy
Nilay Patel / This is my next:
AT&T files T-Mobile merger documentation with the FCC — the highlights — AT&T formally kicked off the T-Mobile merger process today by filing its first supporting documents with the FCC. At 381 pages, it's a monster — it lays out AT&T's groundwork for the merger, argues …
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Ina Fried / Mobilized:
AT&T Files Papers to Take Over T-Mobile USA's Wireless Licenses
Discussion:
Business Wire, Macworld, AT&T Public Policy Blog, IntoMobile, Softpedia News, InfoWorld, ITProPortal, Engadget, Ars Technica, Ars Technica, eWeek, CNET News, PC World, Electronista, WebProNews, mocoNews, GigaOM, Between the Lines Blog, BGR, PhoneArena and Gizmodo
Jon Swartz / USA Today:
Obama attends private fundraiser in Silicon Valley — SAN FRANCISCO — President Obama made one house call during his whirlwind visit to Silicon Valley this week. — He attended a private fundraiser at the San Francisco home of billionaire Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com …
Discussion:
VentureBeat
Rachel King / The Toybox Blog:
Kindle for Android now optimized for Honeycomb tablets — Kindle news is everywhere today. Amazon is wrapping up the day with a new version of Kindle for Android tailored for tablet computers running Honeycomb. — The much more graphically-heavy app has a revamped layout not just for e-books …
Discussion:
Amazon.com, Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, Gadgetell, ReadWriteWeb and PC Magazine
George Winslow / Broadcasting & Cable:
Verizon Selects Level 3 for 4G LTE Rollout — Level 3 Backbone will help Verizon Wireless handle growing demand for rich media and video applications. — Level 3 Communications, Inc. is providing Verizon Wireless with backbone infrastructure and cell-site backhaul solutions to support …
Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:
Texas jury finds against Google in Linux patent case, determines damage award of $5,000,000 — A jury in the Eastern District of Texas handed a verdict in favor of Bedrock Computer Technologies LLC, determining that Google infringes a Linux-related patent, that the patent is valid …
Ryan Spoon:
Twitter Promotes Mobile Apps & SMS To Logged-Out Users. Smart. — A little over a year ago, I wrote about Facebook's post-logout promotion of Facebook Mobile - which helped to significantly increase iPhone usage (+20% in a week). — Meanwhile, another giant social / mobile player is now doing the same.
Discussion:
The Next Web
Jay Greene / CNET News:
Microsoft names new ad chief, reorganizes division — Microsoft, which has had a bit of a turnstile at the top of its online advertising business, just replaced its top boss. The software giant today named Frank Holland to the job of corporate vice president in charge of Microsoft's global …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Ebullient VCs pour $6.4B into 661 companies in Q1 — Can you feel the froth? Investment in U.S. venture-backed companies rose 35 percent in the first quarter, according to a report by Dow Jones VentureSource. Venture firms invested $6.4 billion into 661 deals in the U.S. during the quarter.
Discussion:
Adweek, Latest from Crain's …, Dow Jones and VatorNews
Mike Melanson / ReadWriteWeb:
Facts Should Be Free: SimpleGeo Puts 20 Million Places in the Public Domain — If this week's Where 2.0 conference is proof of anything, it's that developers are excited about creating location aware mobile apps. One of the biggest barriers to creating a place-aware app, however, is getting the ball rolling - you need place data.
Discussion:
SimpleGeo
