Techmeme
June 20, 2012, 12:55 PM

Top News

Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Live from Microsoft's Windows Phone summit  —  When you long press the tile, there's a small arrow in the lower-righthand corner, which you tap or drag to change the tile size.  Those apps will work on higher resolution and at the new tile sizes (presumably without any work from the developers).
Michael Stroh / Windows Phone Blog:
How to watch today's Windows Phone Summit  —  Curious about the future of Windows Phone?  —  We're holding a summit in San Francisco this morning for select members of the press and tech community that outlines some of what to expect from us in 2012 and beyond.
Nathan Ingraham / The Verge:
Microsoft announces new Windows 8 home screen with customizable live tile sizes  —  At its WIndows Phone 8 developer preview, Microsoft just announced a new home screen feature — users can customize the size of every single home screen tile.  There are three sizes available: standard medium …
Sam Biddle / Gizmodo:
Microsoft Boots Bing Maps for Nokia in Windows Phone 8  —  We saw this coming, and we're glad it's true: Windows Phone 8 will replace Bing Maps with Nokia's stellar mapping tech.  —  The Nokia data will be available offline—a huge perk—and include turn by turn directions, 3D, and fast transit planning.
Jon Fingas / Engadget:
Windows Phone 8 to support multi-core CPUs, HD resolutions, SD cards and NFC  —  Microsoft is on stage at the Windows Phone Developer Summit offering us a bite of what's to come in Windows Phone 8, and one of the tastiest morsels may just be the noticeably more diverse hardware it will support.
Matthew Panzarino / The Next Web:
Microsoft announces Windows Phone 8, shares code core with Windows 8, ships this fall  —  Today at the Windows Phone Summit in San Francisco, Microsoft formally announced Windows Phone 8 for the first time.  —  “Today, for the first time, we are here to preview the first chapter in our Windows Story …
Reuters:
Microsoft kept PC partners in dark about Surface  —  (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp kept its personal computer partners largely in the dark about its plans to launch a competing tablet computer, with some long-time collaborators learning of the new gadget only days before its unveiling, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Mary Branscombe / TechRadar.com:
What's unique about Microsoft's Surface tablet Touch Cover?  —  We look at the technology behind the Surface tablet  —  There's an awful lot of tech going on in the Surface tablet  —  With eyebrows raised following the decision to launch its own hardware, what's inside Microsoft's Surface tablet that makes it worth considering?
Walt Mossberg / AllThingsD:
Galaxy Quest: One Phone Aimed at All Networks  —  While smartphones based on Google's Android operating system collectively outsell Apple's iPhone, no single Android phone has risen to become a giant hit the way the iPhone has.  Instead, there has been a profusion of often-confusing models …
Thomas Ricker / The Verge:
Samsung owed compensation from Apple after winning 3G patent ruling in The Hague  —  The Hague District Court has ruled in Samsung's favor regarding a 3G patent asserted against Apple.  As reported by AllAboutPhones, Samsung has already issued a press release ahead of the decision's publication:
Washington Post:
U.S., Israel developed Flame computer virus to slow Iranian nuclear efforts, officials say  —  View Photo Gallery — Stuxnet and other big worms and viruses: The computer virus is growing in popularity as the weapon-of-choice in the Middle East.  Here's a look at some of the more notable viruses and worms.
Kim-Mai Cutler / TechCrunch:
Peter Thiel Launches Mithril: A New $402 Million Late-Stage Fund  —  Peter Thiel may be best known for his angel investments, most notably, his legendary call with Facebook.  But now he's got something for companies that sit just on the cusp between public and private markets.
Nick Turner / Bloomberg:
RIM's Job Cuts Under Way as Company Seeks $1B in Savings  —  Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), the struggling maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, is cutting jobs as part of a broad cost-saving effort aimed at trimming $1 billion in operating expenses.  —  “RIM has committed to achieving …
Dan Levine / Reuters:
Apple, Google to face off in key smartphone hearing  —  (Reuters) - Apple Inc will try to salvage a high-profile lawsuit against Google Inc's Motorola Mobility unit on Wednesday at a crucial hearing in the smartphone patent wars between the two tech companies.
Kevin Fitchard / GigaOM:
Swype's new “living keyboard” doesn't just predict, it learns  —  Swype, the text input interface now common on Android phones, just got a whole lot smarter.  New owner Nuance Communications is updating Swype with the same sophisticated contextual language technologies it uses in its speech recognition products.
Mark Milian / Bloomberg:
New Incubators Focus on Hardware  —  Arye Barnehama had an idea for a headband that could measure a person's level of focus.  So last year, he recruited people with the know-how to design software and arrange circuit boards to help build it.  —  “We had a really great foundation for the company,” he said.
Mike Butcher / TechCrunch:
HotelTonight ExpandsTo The UK, Former Jetsetter Leads The Charge  —  HotelTonight, the last-minute discounted hotels booking app, is bringing its service to the UK, with an initial service in London launching today.  In addition, Heather Leisman, most recently of the troubled Jetsetter travel startup, has joined as MD for Europe.
Sean Ludwig / VentureBeat:
Bitcasa's ‘infinite’ cloud storage wins $7M from Pelion, Horizons, others  —  Cloud storage startup Bitcasa has nabbed $7 million in its first round of funding to realize its vision of giving consumers “infinite storage” for all of their devices for $10 a month.
Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land:
Bing Ties Yellow Pages Sites For Most Accurate Local Data  —  In April I wrote about a local data accuracy study preformed by a company called Implied Intelligence.  The company offers data services to publishers and developers.  In April the company found that yellow pages site Superpages bested Google Maps …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
WPP Doubles Down On Digital, Buys Leading Agency AKQA At $550M Valuation  —  WPP today has announced a major development in its strategy to have 40 percent of its business coming from digital in the next five years: it is buying AKQA, one of the biggest — and independent — digital agencies around.
Ed Christman / Hollywood Reporter:
Universal Music and Major Publishing Group Reach Agreement Over Vevo, YouTube Royalties  —  The milestone deal, which covers North America and is retroactive to 2008, institutes a new model that allows songwriters and music publishers to share in revenues for music clips played online.
More: The Verge
Wall Street Journal:
Coke, Ford Offer Support for Facebook  —  Ford, Coke Separately Offer Endorsements for Marketing on the Social Network Amid Challenges to Its Effectiveness  —  Facebook Inc. is getting support from two big-name advertisers after tough questions over the effectiveness of its ads.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Another Step For Kindle Fire Abroad?  Amazon Opens International Appstore Portal, Improves Distribution Terms  —  Good news for those of you who live outside the U.S. and have been waiting for Amazon to take more of its mobile products outside its home market.
Liz Gannes / AllThingsD:
Greplin Recasts Itself as Cue, an Intelligent Personal Assistant App  —  Greplin, the personal search start-up, is trying to become more helpful and more mainstream with the launch of a new personal assistant app called Cue.  —  Cue is an app that processes users' emails, contacts and files.
Tweets: @marshallk
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Mobile Ads Are An Ugly Nightmare.  955 Dreams...Of A World Where They're Beautiful  —  “I don't want to talk about whether ads are good or bad.  I just want to make good ads.  Good for apps, good for users.”  That's from Kiran Belubbi, founder and CEO of 955 Dreams which today added …
More: GigaOM and Adotas
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
Indian ISPs Unblock BitTorrent Sites After Appeal  —  Last month millions of Indians were shaken up by what appeared to be a mass anti-piracy action from the Government.  —  Many of the country's leading Internet providers had blocked access to a wide range of file-sharing …
Ben Popper / The Verge:
After Facebook's IPO flub, value of tech startups falls back to earth  —  A string quartet played a medley of pop radio hits as several hundreds startup founders, Goldman Sachs bankers, and venture capital investors, chatted over drinks inside a gleaming neon temple of Angel Orensanz in lower Manhattan.

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Chris Ziegler / The Verge: