Techmeme
March 20, 2012, 12:55 AM

Top News

Apple:
Apple Announces Plans to Initiate Dividend and Share Repurchase Program  —  Expects to Spend $45 Billion Over Three Years  —  Apple® today announced plans to initiate a dividend and share repurchase program commencing later this year.  —  Subject to declaration by the Board of Directors …
Erica Ogg / GigaOM:
With dividend, Tim Cook thinks differently about Apple  —  While playing the “Steve would never do that” game is seldom a great idea — it's akin to calling yourself a fortune teller or a mind reader — it is fairly safe to say, based on his prior statements and declarations …
More: WebProNews and Forbes
Jordan Golson / MacRumors:
New iPad Sales Top 3 Million in Under 4 Days  —  Apple announced today that it has sold 3 million new iPads in less the four days of availability, calling it the “strongest iPad launch yet.” … Apple didn't announce first weekend sales numbers for the iPad 2 as they were in extremely short supply …
Kim-Mai Cutler / TechCrunch:
Zynga Is In Talks To Buy “Draw Something” Maker OMGPOP  —  Zynga is in talks to acquire OMGPOP, the maker of massive hit Draw Something, according to a source with direct knowledge of the discussions.  It's my understanding that the talks have not yet entered the more advanced …
Adam Z Lein / pocketnow.com:
Nokia's Redesign of the Windows Phone UI  —  We all know that back when the Nokia and Microsoft partnership was announced, Nokia was given special rights to alter the user interface as they saw fit.  At least with the current Lumia devices, we didn't see much of a redesign at all …
Dina Bass / Bloomberg:
Microsoft Said to Finish Windows 8 in Summer, With October Debut  —  Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) will finish work on Windows 8 this summer, setting the stage for personal computers and tablets with the operating system to go on sale around October, according to people with knowledge of the schedule.
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Amazon Acquires Robot-Coordinated Order Fulfillment Company Kiva Systems For $775 Million In Cash  —  Amazon has just announced that it will acquire order fulfillment company Kiva Systems for $775 million in cash.  We've embedded the release below.  —  Kiva Systems' interconnected hardware …
Amanda Lenhart / Pew Internet:
Teens, Smartphones & Texting  —  Teens are fervent communicators.  Straddling childhood and adulthood, they communicate frequently with a variety of important people in their lives: friends and peers, parents, teachers, coaches, bosses, and a myriad of other adults and institutions.
Quentin Hardy / New York Times:
Facing Fees, Some Sites Are Bypassing Google Maps  —  SAN FRANCISCO — When it comes to offering online maps to their users, some companies have been leaving Google Maps and setting out for less familiar territory.  —  In the seven years since it was introduced, Google's offering of street maps …
Mike Daisey:
Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated  —  “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”  —another American monologist Many consider this week's THIS AMERICAN LIFE episode one of the most painful they've ever listened to.  In particular the segment with me is excruciating …
Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:
HTC rumored to have bought MOG  —  HTC's Beats Audio unit may have bought music subscription service MOG, according to a rumor reported by Business Insider Monday.  Insider writer Matt Rosoff based his report on a single source, but we have since also heard from a source that term sheets went …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
AMD launches server processor for web-hosting providers  —  Advanced Micro Devices is launching a new server processor family today that targets companies that serve lots and lots of web pages to users.  —  The new AMD Opteron 3200 series processor family is aimed at changing the economics …
Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:
Samsung and RIM sued for infringing lol-worthy emoticon patent  —  In an apparent quest to make the patent system look even more ridiculous, a firm on Thursday sued Samsung and Research in Motion for allegedly infringing a patent titled “emoticon input method and apparatus.”
Tricia Duryee / AllThingsD:
Groupon Scheduler Rolls Out in Beta as Part of Larger Tech Ambitions  —  Groupon doesn't want to be known as just a deals company.  —  As many others have proven (Google, Amazon, LivingSocial, etc.), that business is easy to replicate.  Instead, the Chicago-based company wants to be known as a technology company for local merchants.
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
Google Defends Hotfile (and Megaupload) in Court  —  Google has filed a brief at a federal court in Florida defending the file-hosting site Hotfile in its case against the MPAA.  The search giant accuses the movie companies of misleading the court and argues that Hotfile is protected under the DMCA's safe harbor.
More: CNET, ZDNet and TechCrunch
AJ Glasser / Inside Social Games:
Exclusive: 6waves Lolapps cuts development staff, focuses exclusively on publishing  —  6waves Lolapps — the developer sometimes known as 6L — laid off all of its development staff today, Inside Social Games can confirm.  The company is now focused entirely on games publishing.
Rip Empson / TechCrunch:
Plancast Founder Mark Hendrickson Joins Obvious-Incubated Lift As Head Of Product  —  Last June, Biz Stone and Evan Williams teamed up with long-time collaborator (and early Twitter employee) Jason Goldman to dust off and re-start The Obvious Corporation — the very idea incubator that produced …
Stephen Shankland / CNET:
Mozilla loses Web technology guru Chris Blizzard  —  Chris Blizzard, a high-profile figure in the Firefox world, has left his job as Mozilla's director of Web platform to join a startup.  —  “I'm trying something new and starting in the next week or so I'm going to be joining …
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz And Khosla Back Big Data Startup ClearStory  —  There's more money from big-name investors for big data.  ClearStory Data, a newly launched startup focused on bringing big data technology to the masses, has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding …

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Terrence O'Brien / Engadget:

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