Techmeme: With Surface looming, Microsoft fails to explain Windows 8 vs. Windows RT to consumers (Sean Hollister/The Verge)

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October 18, 2012, 4:40 AM

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The Next Web:

Troubled media sharing startup Color Labs said to be acquired by Apple — Color Labs, the photo-and-video-sharing social network that received much criticism over its pre-launch $41 million funding round, is about to be acquired by Apple. We've heard through trusted sources that the startup …

More: VentureBeat, Forbes, CNET, SlashGear, Mashable!, iDownloadBlog.com, 9to5Mac, PhoneArena, AppleInsider, The Verge, MacRumors, Cult of Mac, Bitsplitting.org, Android Police, Venture Capital Dispatch and Techie Buzz

Tweets: @levie, @jacob, @semil, @chest, @ourielohayon, @fredericl, @panzer, @madlid and @megan

Colleen Taylor / TechCrunch:

Why Color Both Failed And Could Still Come Out Millions Of Dollars Ahead: Patents And Trademarks

Colleen Taylor / TechCrunch:

Color: We Are Not Shutting Down — Color, the photo-sharing website …

More: Mashable!, CNET, Business Insider, App Advice, The Verge, SlashGear, PetaPixel, GigaOM and Macgasm

Tweets: @danprimack and @spencerchen

Joseph Menn / Reuters:

Exclusive: White House review finds no evidence of spying by Huawei - sources — (Reuters) - A White House-ordered review of security risks posed by suppliers to U.S. telecommunications companies found no clear evidence that Huawei Technologies Ltd had spied for China, two people familiar with the probe told Reuters.

More: TechEye, The Register, AllThingsD, ZDNet, Android News, Rumours …, SlashGear, CNET, VentureBeat, The Verge, Delimiter, Gizmodo, Engadget, Techdirt and DSLreports

Jennifer Martinez / Hillicon Valley:

White House denies Huawei investigation report — A White House spokeswoman is denying a report that an investigation requested by the White House into whether telecommunications equipment makers pose security risks to American companies yielded no definitive proof that Huawei has spied on behalf of China.

Jack Dorsey:

Let's reconsider our “users” … During a Square Board meeting, our newest Director Howard Schultz, pulled me aside and asked a simple question. — “Why do you all call your customers ‘users’?” — “I don't know. We've always called them that.” — It wasn't something I've thought about for some time.

More: CNET, Business Insider, The Next Web and Daring Fireball. Tweets: @scottmaustin

Eric Savitz / Forbes:

Jack Dorsey: Leadership Secrets Of Twitter And Square — Jack Dorsey (Photo by Timothy Archibald) — You cover a lot of ground hanging out with Jack Dorsey. In just the first 15 minutes of a visit to the San Francisco headquarters of Square, which makes the device that turns a smartphone …

More: CNET. Tweets: @tim

Daniel Rubino / wpcentral:

AT&T Lumia 920 exclusive for six months and some training videos leak too — AT&T is gearing up to launch the Nokia Lumia 920 very soon—in fact we expect an announcement on pricing and availability sometime on Sunday. — Word is that AT&T reps are also in the midst of training with the device …

More: Pocketnow, Softpedia News, Gotta Be Mobile, IntoMobile, PhoneArena, Neowin, Business Insider, BGR and The Verge

Sean Hollister / The Verge:

With Surface looming, Microsoft fails to explain Windows 8 vs. Windows RT to consumers — If Microsoft Store reps don't know the difference, how will Surface buyers? — With only nine days remaining before an October 26th launch, Microsoft's Windows 8 marketing campaign is approaching full force.

More: CNET, Neowin, GigaOM, Softpedia News, TechCrunch, Gotta Be Mobile and I4U News

Matthew Panzarino / The Next Web:

Google hosting Android event Monday, October 29th in New York — Google has issued an invite to an event in New York City on October 29th at 10am. The purpose of the event is unknown aside from the fact that it has something to do with Android, and that the invite states “The playground is open.”

More: The Verge, BetaNews, Engadget, Pocket-lint, Forbes, Marketing Land, Business Insider, PhoneArena, CNET, Pocketnow, Mashable!, AllThingsD, 9to5Google, IntoMobile, BGR and Gizmodo. Tweets: @fxshaw. Thanks:@panzer

Jeff John Roberts / GigaOM:

BuzzFeed lawsuit over celeb snaps raises copyright questions — A photo agency is demanding $1.3 million from BuzzFeed after the viral news site published photos of singer Katy Perry and actress Kathy Griffin. The case comes at a time when online media is increasingly image-based …

More: PetaPixel and 1001 Noisy Cameras. Tweets: @jeffjohnroberts, @shontelaylay and @jhazard

John Letzing / Digits:

Google Stays Ahead of Silicon Valley Pack on Engineer Salaries — Google Inc. is staying well armed in at least one aspect of the ongoing battle for Silicon Valley talent. — The Mountain View, Calif., Internet company has faced a wave of competition in hiring in recent years thanks …

More: Business Insider, BGR, ZDNet, The Next Web, AllFacebook and Los Angeles Times

Mark Milian / Bloomberg Tech Blog:

How a YouTube Exec Built an Army With Google's ‘20 Percent Time’ — Google has promoted its “20 percent time” option as a way to encourage employees to be entrepreneurial. — Officially, Hunter Walk has fewer than a dozen engineers working for him at YouTube on developing services for nonprofits and activists.

Steven Levy / Wired:

Google Throws Open Doors to Its Top-Secret Data Center — If you're looking for the beating heart of the digital age — a physical location where the scope, grandeur, and geekiness of the kingdom of bits become manifest—you could do a lot worse than Lenoir, North Carolina.

Dan Frakes / Macworld:

Hands on with Apple's Lightning to 30-pin Adapters — The changes to Maps in iOS 6 may have gotten the lion's share of negative coverage since the iPhone 5 debuted. But back on September 12, when the company announced the latest iPhone and iPod models, the harshest criticism was reserved …

More: iMore.com, The Verge and TUAW

Danny Sullivan / Marketing Land:

Twitter Takes First Country-Specific Censorship Action, Against Hate Group In Germany — Earlier this year, Twitter added the ability to block Twitter accounts and tweets by a country-by-country basis, in case it needed to respond to legal requests. Nine months later, the company has done …

More: TechCrunch, CNET, BBC, Computerworld, The Verge, SlashGear, blogs.ft.com and Gawker. Tweets: @amac

Amir Efrati / Wall Street Journal:

Where Google Ventures Is Searching Now — Bill Maris runs Google Ventures, which has been a significant player in Silicon Valley's latest technology boom, pouring over $300 million into more than 130 companies in the past few years. — The venture arm of Google Inc. has invested …

More: The Next Web. Thanks:@joshhabib

Sayantani Ghosh / Reuters:

Yahoo's departing CFO to get annual salary, bonus as severance — (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc said Tim Morse, the company's departing interim chief financial officer, will receive the severance benefits provided in his contract for a termination without cause. — Morse, who was recently replaced …

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Mayer Tells Ad Sales Staff That New COO De Castro Will Start in Mid-November

More: AllThingsD and Business Insider

Arik Hesseldahl / AllThingsD:

How Obama or Romney Should Have Answered the iPad Question — Toward the end of last night's presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney, the moderator, CNN's Candy Crowley, asked a perfectly legitimate question, one that Obama himself is once reported to have asked …

More: TechCrunch

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:

Microsoft Office 365: More new packages and prices coming in November — Summary: There are even more versions of Microsoft's Office 365 than we've thought. Another small-business and a mid-size business release are on deck. And here's pricing for the lot. — Mary Jo Foley

More: Softpedia News, Microsoft TechNet and Neowin

Aaron Souppouris / The Verge:

A $99 Nexus tablet could spawn a new race to the bottom, but is it possible yet? — Yes, but not without compromises — Earlier today, perpetual rumor-mill DigiTimes reported that Google was readying a $99 Nexus tablet for release by the end of the year.

David Talbot / Technology Review:

Computer Viruses Are “Rampant” on Medical Devices in Hospitals — A meeting of government officials reveals that medical equipment is becoming riddled with malware. — Computerized hospital equipment is increasingly vulnerable to malware infections, according to participants in a recent government panel.

More: Gizmodo, Computerworld, VentureBeat, SiliconANGLE, Forbes, Ars Technica, Betabeat, BBC and nbcnews.com

Ellis Hamburger / The Verge:

AOL launches Alto webmail client, its biggest conceptual leap since 'you've got mail' — An uneven, but thoughtful and innovative attempt at reinventing email — AOL today announced Alto, a web-based IMAP email client that lets you manage multiple email accounts on one website.

More: CNET, The Next Web, Technology Review, TechCrunch, GigaOM, Wired, Engadget and Forbes. Thanks:@tallkp

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

From Zero To Talktime Hero: Facebook Tests A New Way To Sign Up Users In India, Offering $1 Mobile Voice Credits — Facebook is testing out a new way of picking up mobile users in international markets — a crucial part of its strategy to continue building out its user base as subscriber growth slows …

More: Inside Facebook, MachineHappy, AllFacebook, The Next Web, Pluggd.in and MediaNama. Thanks:@ingridlunden

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

Thanks To Marketplace And PayPal Growth, eBay's Q3 Revenue Up 15 Percent To $3.4B, Net Income Up 22 Percent — eBay just released Q3 earnings this afternoon, reporting earnings per share of $0.55 on revenue of $3.4 billion. Analysts expected EPS of $0.54 and revenue of $3.4 billion for Q3 2012.

More: eBay Inc., CNET, VentureBeat, SlashGear, internetretailer.com, WebProNews, Reuters, The Next Web, AllThingsD, DailyFinance.com, Tech Trader Daily and Forbes

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