Techmeme
October 24, 2012, 8:10 PM

Top News

Reuters:
Apple's Schiller defends iPad mini's price tag  —  (Reuters) - Apple marketing wizard Phil Schiller defended the $329 price of the new iPad mini tablet, saying consumers will be willing to pay for quality not found in less expensive devices from rivals like Google and Amazon.
Jordan Kahn / 9to5Mac:
Apple confirms that 12W adapter will charge iPads quicker than older 10W adapters  —  The morning of Apple's iPad mini event earlier this week, we told you there was a handful of new accessories coming including four new Lightning adapters and a 12W USB power adapter.
Kim Zetter / Wired:
How a Google Headhunter's E-Mail Unraveled a Massive Net Security Hole  —  It was a strange e-mail, coming from a job recruiter at Google, asking Zachary Harris if he was interested in a position as a site-reliability engineer.  —  “You obviously have a passion for Linux and programming,” the e-mail from the Google recruiter read.
Reuters:
Alex Wilhelm / The Next Web:
Facebook's final Instagram purchase price: $715 million in cash and stock  —  Today Facebook detailed the final Instagram purchase information in its 10-Q. The company stated that the final purchase of Instagram will sit in its accounting as $521 million.  —  That figure was arrived …
Mathew Honan / Wired:
Microsoft Dives Deep to Surface a Hit  —  Nobody asked me about my Surface.  I tried flashing it all over the place.  But despite my best efforts, no one seemed curious.  —  At Victrola Coffee Roasters in Seattle, I sat in the front window, with a hot pink Touch Cover attached, intentionally conspicuous.
Ellis Hamburger / The Verge:
‘Letterpress’ for iOS: Tweetie creator emerges from year of silence with addictive word game  —  The inventor of ‘pull-to-refresh’ and Twitter for iPad takes a stab at gaming  —  Almost one year ago Loren Brichter left Twitter, largely leaving the public eye “to figure out what's next.”
Chris Ziegler / The Verge:
Samsung Series 3 Chromebook review  —  With ARM, has Google's cloud-based laptop finally found its soulmate?  —  People laugh when I pull the old Samsung Series 5 Chromebook out of my bag.  I almost feel the need to apologize for it when I turn it on: “Here's a $450 laptop that just browses the web.
Jason Cohen / A Smart Bear:
The rise of the “successful” unsustainable company  —  It's appalling what passes for “successful entrepreneurship” in the press or the Valley, but it's not their fault.  —  Witness, for example, this terrific Fast Company article on Bill Nguyen, serial entrepreneur who's seventh startup …
Kim-Mai Cutler / TechCrunch:
Japan's GREE Acquires Game Developer Pokelabo For $173M  —  Bolstering its arsenal of first-party games for the Japanese market, GREE acquired developer Pokelabo for $173 million in an all-cash deal.  Asia-focused venture capital firm DCM gets a win with this acquisition as it had a little over 20 percent of the company.
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Skype 6.0 for Mac and Windows released with Facebook and Microsoft login options  —  A Windows 8 and RT-specific version of Skype will be coming in a few days, but current Mac and Windows users are getting an update now.  Version 6.0 of Skype for desktop offers some helpful design tweaks …
Drew Olanoff / TechCrunch:
Yahoo! Follows Through On Closing Korean Business, Cuts Around 200 Jobs  —  According to Reuters, Yahoo! is actively closing down its Korean business and cutting around 200 jobs.  We've reached out to Yahoo! for comment and confirmation and will update you as soon as we hear back.
More: BGR and The Next WebTweets: @reuters and @reuters
Liz Gannes / AllThingsD:
Google on Track for Another Record High: Lobbying Expenses  —  Google this week disclosed it spent $4.18 million on U.S. lobbying in the third quarter of 2012, bringing the company to $13.13 million spent this year — a record.  —  That makes Google the seventh-biggest lobbying spender out there …

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Earlier Picks

Daniel Cooper / Engadget:
Matt Brian / The Next Web: