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Techmeme
April 18, 2012, 6:15 PM
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Wall Street Journal:
In Facebook Deal for Instagram, Board Was All But Out of Picture  —  On the morning of Sunday, April 8, Facebook Inc.'s youthful chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, alerted his board of directors that he intended to buy Instagram, the hot photo-sharing service.
Evelyn M. Rusli / DealBook:
With Instagram Deal, Facebook Shows Its Worth  —  To win over Instagram, Facebook was forced to show its hand.  —  In early April, Facebook bought the photo-sharing service for $1 billion, agreeing to pay roughly 30 percent in cash and 70 percent in stock, according to people briefed on the negotiations.
Sergey Brin / Google+:
I believe the internet has been one of the greatest forces for good in the world over the past quarter century.  So when the Guardian requested that I speak to them over the past few months about internet freedom, I decided it was important to participate.  —  I think the article is a pretty …
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Sources: current Windows Phone devices will not get ‘Apollo’ upgrade  —  Earlier today, a developer evangelist for Microsoft was quoted as saying that all Windows Phone devices would get an upgrade to the “next major version” of the operating system.  Now, a trusted source close to Microsoft tells us …
Walt Mossberg / AllThingsD:
Permission to Procrastinate: Wait to Get a New Laptop  —  If you're thinking of buying a new laptop this spring, my advice is to think again.  Unless your laptop is on its last legs and you have to move quickly, there are compelling reasons to wait until at least the summer, and probably the fall …
Ian Katz / Guardian:
Tim Berners-Lee: demand your data from Google and Facebook  —  Exclusive: world wide web inventor says personal data held online could be used to usher in new era of personalised services  —  Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the world wide web, has urged internet users to demand their personal data …
Horace Dediu / asymco:
Apple Stores have seventeen times better performance than the average retailer  —  Thanks to RetailSails we have some data on retailers in the US which can be used to calibrate the performance of Apple retail.  RetailSails compiled a table of the top 20 chains by sales per square foot (annual basis).
Laura Stampler / Business Insider:
Tumblr Will Start Selling Ad Units On May 2  —  In a 2010 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Tumblr CEO and founder David Karp said, “We're pretty opposed to advertising.  It really turns our stomachs.”  —  How times have changed.  Karp announced at Ad Age's Digital Conference that on May 2 …
Grant McCool / Reuters:
Apple wants trial on e-book price-fixing: lawyer  —  (Reuters) - Apple Inc wants to go to trial to defend itself against U.S. government allegations that it conspired with publishers to raise prices of electronic books, a lawyer for the Silicon Valley giant said in court on Wednesday.
More: 9to5Mac and CNET
Ben Kuchera / Penny Arcade Report:
The ugly side of Kickstarter: the risks in backing game dev campaigns are greater than you think  —  The Penny Arcade Report has an email address for story leads and tips, and a significant percentage of those “tips” are solicitations for coverage of indie game Kickstarter projects.
More: Bloomberg
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Apple plots wireless server hubs at Genius Bars for users to temporarily store, sync content for iOS device replacements  —  According to sources, Apple is planning a major new addition to their Apple Store Genius Bars; an addition that will change the way the company handles Genius Bar support.
More: MacRumors
Alexis Madrigal / The Atlantic Online:
The Jig Is Up: Time to Get Past Facebook and Invent a New Future  —  After five years pursuing the social-local-mobile dream, we need a fresh paradigm for technology startups.  —  We're there.  The future that visionaries imagined in the late 1990s of phones in our pockets and high-speed Internet in the air: Well, we're living in it.
Biz Stone / Obvious:
Why Obvious Invested in Neighborland  —  We need only glance at the headlines—from Arab Spring to Occupy—to understand that people are passionate about connecting over issues.  We all have issues, big and small.  Toppling oppressive regimes and protesting corruption are appropriately top of mind.
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Uber Experiments With Lower-Priced Taxis In Chicago Through Newly Launched Labs Group, ‘Garage’  —  Back when Uber launched in San Francisco, it was heralded as a service that would disrupt the taxi industry by providing black cars on-demand via mobile phones.
Robert McMillan / Wired:
Amazon's Secretive Cloud Carries 1 Percent of the Internet  —  An Amazon data center in Sterling, Virginia.  Photo: Eric Hunsaker/Flickr  —  Amazon's cloud computing infrastructure is growing so fast that it's silently becoming a core piece of the internet.
More: GeekWire
Leslie Horn / Gizmodo:
AT&T Stores Are Almost Completely Out of Lumia 900 Stock  —  Both Nokia and Microsoft need the Lumia 900 to succeed.  Windows Phone is struggling.  So is the once-top handset maker.  But while they and AT&T has been pushing the Lumia 900 hard it looks like the carrier just doesn't have enough to go around.
Brandon Bailey / Mercury News:
Larry Page evasive with Oracle's lawyer, but admits Google never obtained Java license  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Google (GOOG) CEO Larry Page completed his testimony in federal court Wednesday morning after an hour of laborious grilling by an attorney for tech rival Oracle (ORCL) …
More: WebProNews
Greg Sterling / Marketing Land:
Time's “Most Influential” List Snubs Zuckerberg, Googlers, Includes Tim Cook, Marc Andreesen  —  People love rankings, lists — and awards.  And publishers love them too because the sell issues and drive page views.  Lists and awards inspire jealousy and envy and they're often controversial accordingly.
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
Verizon Aims New Data Package at Global Travelers  —  Aiming to make international cellphone use slightly less excruciatingly expensive, Verizon Wireless announced a new $25 plan that gives users 100 megabytes of data when traveling; it will be available in 120 countries.
Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:
Security researcher unearths plans for Iran's halal Internet  —  Iran appears to have recently published a Persian-language “Request for Information” (RFI) for an even-more filtered and monitored version of the Internet than what presently exists in the Islamic Republic.
Brent Schlender / Fast Company:
The Lost Steve Jobs Tapes  —  A treasure trove of unearthed interviews, conducted by the writer who knew him best, reveals how Jobs's ultimate success at Apple can be traced directly to his so-called wilderness years.  —  If Steve Jobs's life were staged as an opera, it would be a tragedy in three acts.

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From Mediagazer

Reuters:
Independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta plans to shut down after 30+ years, following pressure from Russian authorities and the persecution of its reporters

Gavin Blair / The Hollywood Reporter:
The Association of Japanese Animations: Japan's anime industry revenue grew 15.8% YoY to a record ~$28.5B in 2025, with overseas revenue reaching ~$16B

Amy Chozick / New York Times:
Amy Chozick, who wrote a profile of Elizabeth Holmes, talks about ghosting Nathan Fielder after tentatively agreeing to be filmed for You Can See Everything

More News

Earlier Picks

Erin Bury / BetaKit:
Coursera Launches Online Education Platform with $16 Million in Funding
Mark Sullivan / PC World:
3G and 4G Wireless Speed Showdown: Which Networks Are Fastest?
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