Techmeme
March 29, 2012, 6:30 PM

Top News

Iain Marlow / Globe and Mail:
RIM begins laying off high-level staff: source  —  Research In Motion Ltd.'s RIM-T new CEO Thorsten Heins has begun getting rid of high-level staff at the troubled smartphone giant, according to a source close to the company.  —  Ahead of RIM reporting fourth-quarter and year-end financial results …
Zach Epstein / BGR:
RIM reports Q4 miss; Balsillie resigns as director, CTO and COO both out  —  With expectations at an all-time low and analysts lowering estimates left and right, Research In Motion on Thursday reported its results for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2012.  RIM posted a surprising beat …
Stanley James / Bloomberg:
Foxconn Auditor Finds ‘Serious’ Violations of Chinese Law  —  An audit of Foxconn Technology Group (2317) found “serious and pressing” violations of Chinese labor laws, prompting the biggest maker of Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPads to pledge to cut working hours and give employees more oversight.
Bloomberg:
MG Siegler / parislemon:
Google Doesn't Not Make Four Times More Off The iPhone Vs. Android  —  Danny Sullivan argues that the conclusions about Android revenues based on the Oracle v. Google court document are flawed.  That's certainly possible, but it doesn't sound as flawed as Sullivan seems to believe.
Danny Sullivan / Marketing Land:
No, Google Doesn't Make Four Times More Off The iPhone Vs. Android  —  The Guardian is out with figures suggesting that Google earned only $550 million off Android in the past four years, which in turn sparked headlines that the iPhone is more a cash cow for Google than its own mobile platform.
Charles Arthur / Guardian:
Google's Android has generated just $550m since 2008, figures suggest  —  Data provided in response to Oracle claim suggests iPhone generated four times more revenue than Google's own handsets  —  Android generated less than $550m in revenues for Google between 2008 and the end of 2011 …
Amir Efrati / Wall Street Journal:
Google to Sell Tablets on Its Own This Year  —  Google Inc., undaunted by a short-lived attempt to sell a smartphone on its own, is now pushing into Apple's iPad market.  —  The Internet search company is planning to market and sell tablets directly to consumers through an online store …
Farhad Manjoo / Slate:
Google's Grand Plan  —  The search company no longer dabbles in exotic ideas.  Now, it's all business.  —  In a typical month, David Lawee meets two dozen founders of new companies.  He grills them on their businesses, their ambitions, their funding, and their clever ideas for the future.
Chris Gallagher / Reuters:
Star-struck Japan PM befriends Facebook's Zuckerberg  —  (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda frequently entertains dignitaries from all over the world, but he was a touch star-struck on Thursday when he hosted a young billionaire with a whiff of celebrity: Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.
More: Asiajin and ZDNetTweets: @davemcclure
Matth / Nielsen Wire:
Smartphones Account for Half of all Mobile Phones, Dominate New Phone Purchases in the US  —  Almost half (49.7%) of U.S. mobile subscribers now own smartphones, as of February 2012.  According to Nielsen, this marks an increase of 38 percent over last year; in February 2011, only 36 percent of mobile subscribers owned smartphones.
Amar Toor / Engadget:
LG unveils flexible plastic e-paper display, aims for European launch next month  —  LG has made no secret of its fondness for flexible e-paper, but those dreams became a reality today, with the announcement of a six-inch display that promises to “revolutionize the e-book market.”
Christopher Mims / Technology Review:
Google's New ‘Account Activity’ Is a Sham  —  When it comes to privacy, Google wants to be the good guy .  Too bad that's not enough.  —  Google Account Activity is Google's fairly transparent attempt to differentiate itself from Facebook by being open about what it knows about you.
Larry Dignan / CNET:
Best Buy feels Amazon squeeze, to close 50 big-box stores  —  Selling consumer electronics isn't as easy as it used to be for Best Buy.  The big-box retailer is closing 50 stores and compensating employees based on customer service after its fiscal fourth-quarter sales fell short of expectations.
Richard Lawler / Engadget:
iPhone 4 owners can register for $15 antennagate settlements (updated)  —  The official website for the iPhone 4 “antennagate” class action settlement is live, as pointed out by co-lead counsel on the case Ira Rothken.  Of course, speaking of cases, if you're an iPhone 4 owner who has taken advantage …
Business Week:
Facebook Delves Deeper Into Search  —  On Feb. 1, a few hours after Facebook declared its intention to raise $5 billion in what will likely be the largest initial public offering in tech history, Mark Zuckerberg gave close followers of his company a potential clue to its future.
More: Business InsiderTweets: @dmac1
Sarah Mitroff / VentureBeat:
Fake ID holders beware: facial recognition service Face.com can now detect your age  —  Facial-recognition platform Face.com could foil the plans of all those under-age kids looking to score some booze.  Fake IDs might not fool anyone for much longer, because Face.com claims …

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