Check out Mini-Techmeme for simple mobiles or Techmeme Mobile for modern smartphones.
3:50 PM ET, October 20, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
RELATED:
Frederic Lardinois / SiliconFilter:
Google Reader: It's Still Alive and Getting a Facelift, But Will Lose its Social Features  —  Google Reader, the company's popular feed reader, long looked like the forgotten stepchild of Google+ and other more recent products at Google.  As the company continued to update the look and feel …
AT&T:
AT&T Activates One Million iPhone 4S'  —  Activations Surpass All Previous Launches; Customers Prefer AT&T Speed Advantage  —  AT&T today announced it activated more than 1 million iPhone 4S' as of Tuesday, making it the most successful iPhone launch in the company's history.
RELATED:
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines Blog:
AT&T third quarter on target: iPhone, Android split improves
Tim Culpan / Bloomberg:
Microsoft to Help Halve Phone Costs Next Year in ‘Volume’ Drive  —  Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) — Microsoft Corp. expects production costs of handsets using Windows Phone 7 software next year to drop by more than half from when the platform was introduced.  —  Cooperation with parts makers including Qualcomm Inc …
RELATED:
Darren Murph / Engadget:
Microsoft's Andy Lees: Nokia will announce ‘its Windows Phones’ at Nokia World  —  No surprise here, but you can officially mark Nokia World 2011 down as must-watch TV.  Andy Lees just confirmed here on stage at AsiaD that the London-based event, which kicks off on October 26th, will be the launchpad for Nokia's Windows Phones.
Ben Rudolph / The Windows Blog:
First Look: AT&T's new HTC TITAN, Samsung Focus S and Samsung Focus Flash
Feross Aboukhadijeh / Feross.org:
HOW TO: Spy on the Webcams of Your Website Visitors  —  Update (10/19): CNET says that Adobe is working on a fix and it could be ready by end of week.  —  Update (10/19): Adobe emailed me and said “our product team is wrapping up their investigation and is now working on a fix, which should not require a Flash Player update”.
RELATED:
Elinor Mills / CNET News:
Adobe to plug Flash-related Webcam spying hole  —  A video demonstrates how the attack could be accomplished.  In this screenshot, a series of blue buttons are clicked on as part of a game and the webcam is turned on.  —  Adobe Systems is working on a fix for a Flash-related vulnerability …
Discussion: Threat Level
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
Android Chief Says Your Phone Should Not Be Your Assistant  —  Andy Rubin thinks there is a lot of potential for phones to be more useful companions, but says he is not interested in turning Android devices into personal assistants.  —  “I don't believe that your phone should be an assistant …
RELATED:
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Let's Take This One With a Grain of Salt
Discussion: Computerworld and GottaBeMobile
CBS News:
Biographer: Jobs refused early and potentially life-saving surgery  —  Apple CEO Steve Jobs refused to allow surgeons to perform what could have been life-saving surgery on his pancreatic cancer, says his biographer Walter Isaacson.  In one of his deepest discussions with him …
Discussion: CNET News and Business Insider
RELATED:
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates: Exclusive bio excerpt in Fortune Monday
Discussion: L.A. Times Tech Blog, 9to5Mac and TUAW, Thanks:philiped
Alex Chitu / Google Operating System:
A New Look for Gmail  —  A video from Google's YouTube channel (update: the video is now private, but there's a mirror here) introduces a new Gmail interface.  It's based on the Preview theme that's already available in Gmail, but there are many other changes: an action bar that uses icons instead …
Yun-Hee Kim / Wall Street Journal:
Samsung Beats Apple in Smartphone Shipments  —  HONG KONG—Samsung Electronics Co. shipped more than 20 million smartphones in the quarter ended Sept. 30, a person familiar with the situation said Thursday, beating market leader Apple Inc. as well as Nokia Corp., the world's biggest cellphone maker by volume.
Andrew Rassweiler / iSuppli®:
iPhone 4S Carries BOM of $188, IHS iSuppli Teardown Analysis Reveals  —  On the outside, the iPhone 4S may have disappointed some with its perceived lack of new features.  But on the inside, the latest member of the iPhone line includes a wealth of innovation, including a new wireless module …
Darren Murph / Engadget:
ASUS' Jonney Shih unveils Transformer Prime Android tablet: 10-inch, 8.3mm, quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3  —  Whoa, Nelly!  ASUS head honcho Jonney Shih just revealed the “next-generation Transformer tablet” here at AsiaD!  It's the same one that we saw teased just yesterday …
Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land:
Not Just Google: Siri Searches Bing And Yahoo Too  —  Earlier tonight Danny Sullivan discovered that Siri will also search Bing and Yahoo, though it searches Google by default.  If you say, “Search the web for . . .” or you ask Siri a question it can't answer it will search Google (the iPhone's default search engine).
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
Google+ Guru Bradley Horowitz On Products, Platforms and that Pesky Memo  —  While Google has struggled mightily in its early efforts to “get the social thing,” it has managed to get more than a few people to try out its latest effort, Google+.  —  But the question of just how compelling …
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Visual.ly Raises $2 Million To Make Even More Infographics  —  Visual.ly, the team built from the infographics team behind Mint's spectacular infographics, has raised $2 million in seed funding, led by Crosslink Capital, SoftTech and 500 Startups as well as angels Kapor Capital, Giza Ventures …
Discussion: VatorNews, VentureBeat and VizWorld.com
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Apple taking iOS 5 on a world tour for developers November through January  —  In past years, Apple has held “Tech Talk World Tours” for developers, covering their latest version of iOS.  Now that iOS 5 has been released into the wild, Apple has announced that the iOS 5 Tech Talk World Tour …
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
Yahoo's Jerry Yang: There Are Plenty of Options Beyond Sale  —  Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang said on Thursday that the company's board continues its strategic review process, but that there are a number of options beyond just selling the company.  —  “The intent going in is not to put ourselves for sale,” Yang said, speaking at AsiaD.
Jack Purcher / Patently Apple:
Apple Working on a Thinner MacBook Pro Design  —  While Intel is obsessed with pushing their Ultrabooks into the market to attack Apple's MacBook Air, Apple is working on producing a thinner MacBook Pro for road warriors who need the convenience of an optical drive.
Mark Kleinman / Kleinman:
Exclusive: Kingdom Eyes Twitter Stake  —  The ultra-wealthy Saudi investor who owns stakes in Citigroup and News Corporation is examining a swoop on the internet industry that would involve acquiring hundreds of millions of dollars-worth of shares in Twitter, I have learned.
Matt Rosoff / Business Insider:
This Is The Google Music “Twist”: You Can Share Songs After Buying Them  —  Yesterday, Google mobile head Andy Rubin said that the company's long-awaited music store will have some kind of twist.  —  Now we know what it is.  —  A person in the recording industry who has been briefed …
Discussion: VentureBeat
Tricia Duryee / AllThingsD:
Coupon Craze Continues With CouponCabin Raising $54 Million  —  Investors are seeing a smart shopping opportunity in the age-old practice of saving and redeeming coupons.  —  CouponCabin.com of Whiting, Ind., is the latest online coupon company to raise capital.  The company has raised $54 million in its first round of funding.
Loretta Chao / Digits:
Twitter Founder: Can't Compete in China … Say what you want about whether Twitter can compete in China.  Jack Dorsey, creator of the microblogging service, suggests that you can't make a call on a contender unless you give it a fighting chance.  —  “The unfortunate fact is …
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
On the scene: Microsoft opens its first Seattle store  —  Microsoft opened a new store at University Village in Seattle this morning — the 12th in its fledgling retail chain and the first inside the Seattle city limits, directly across a small parking lot from the shopping center's longtime Apple Store.
Discussion: WinRumors
Clare Baldwin / Reuters:
Groupon to list shares on Nasdaq: sources  —  (Reuters) - Daily deals website Groupon Inc will list its shares on the Nasdaq, two sources familiar with the situation said.  —  The information is not public and the sources declined to be named.  The Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange declined comment.
Amar Toor / Engadget:
Sony Music Unlimited arrives for Android tablets, bearing gifts of unlimited music  —  It's been a week of upgrades for Sony Tablet S owners.  First came news of the PlayStation Store's arrival and now comes confirmation that Sony's Music Unlimited service is available, as well.
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of Techmeme at 3:50 PM ET, October 20, 2011.

View the current page or another snapshot:


 
 Techmeme Sponsor Posts: 
Airtable:
Meet Airtable ProductCentral  —  The unified solution for managing your entire product development process in the AI era.
Tribe AI:
Build AI products that matter  —  Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact.  We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Zoho:
ProTips: Enhance customer engagement through preferred communication channels  —  For businesses, reaching customers through their preferred communication channels is crucial for building lasting relationships.
Notion:
Get up to 6 months free of Notion with unlimited AI  —  Notion is trusted and loved by thousands of startups as their connected workspace—from building product roadmaps to tracking fundraising.  Build and scale your company with one tool!
Sponsor Techmeme
 
 See Also: 
Techmeme: site main
Techmeme River: reverse chronological Techmeme
Techmeme Mobile: for phones
Techmeme Leaderboard: Techmeme's top sources
 
 Subscribe: 
Techmeme RSS feed
Techmeme on X
Techmeme on Mastodon
 
 
 More Items: 
Rip Empson / TechCrunch:
BlueStacks Raises $6.4 Million To Give You One-Click Access To Android Apps On Windows Devices
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
CrowdStar takes a stab at a global gaming audience
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Foursquare's Crowley Reveals The Strategy Behind Radar, Siri, And Mobile's New Push Interface
Ryan Lawler / GigaOM:
Cisco buying BNI Video for $99M in cash
comScore, Inc.:
Social Networking On-The-Go: U.S. Mobile Social Media Audience Grows 37 Percent in the Past Year
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
The Multitasking Jack Dorsey on the Inspiration of Steve Jobs
Discussion: L.A. Times Tech Blog
Michael Arrington / Uncrunched:
Venture Capitalists, Secondary Markets And How Everyone Is A Facebook “Investor”
 Earlier Items: 
Rip Empson / TechCrunch:
Khan Academy Triples Unique Users To 3.5 Million
Laura Kusisto / Wall Street Journal:
Google Hits Space Bars
Discussion: @amir_efrati
Bloomberg:
Nokia Reports Smaller Loss as Sales Beat Estimates
Alyson Shontell / Business Insider:
Why Do We All Praise Startups When They Receive Funding?
Jon Orlin / TechCrunch:
TechCrunch TV Launches On Your TV
Danielle Sacks / Fast Company:
Bill Nguyen: The Boy In The Bubble
Laura M. Holson / New York Times:
Randi Zuckerberg, on Her Own Now
Discussion: Betabeat and Business Insider
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Sewell Chan / Columbia Journalism Review:
Mariel Garza, editorials editor of the Los Angeles Times, resigns after the outlet's owner blocked the editorial board's plans to endorse Harris for president

David Folkenflik / NPR:
A look at what Donald Trump says he will do to the media if elected, including jailing reporters, investigating TV networks, and taking their licenses away

Eric Newcomer / Newcomer:
Eric Newcomer, founder of the Newcomer newsletter on startups and VCs, marks its four-year anniversary and says he expects $1M in profit on $2M in 2024 revenue

 
Sister Sites:

Mediagazer
 Top news and commentary for media professionals from all around the web
memeorandum
 What US political commentators are discussing online right now
WeSmirch
 The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page