Techmeme
December 12, 2012, 1:30 PM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Apple Tests Designs for TV  —  TAIPEI—Apple Inc. is working with component suppliers in Asia to test several TV-set designs, people familiar with the situation said, suggesting the U.S. company is moving closer to expanding its offerings for the living room.
Nick Bilton / NYT Bits:
Facebook Changes Privacy Settings, Again  —  Stop me if you've heard this one before: Facebook is making changes to its privacy settings.  —  First, it is improving some privacy protections.  The company is adding a new top-level control, called Privacy Shortcuts, that will allow people …
Matt Brian / The Next Web:
Yahoo launches Instagram-inspired Flickr iPhone app update, adds simple sign-ins, 16 filters and more  —  Confirming Marissa Mayer's commitment to a mobile-first strategy, Yahoo has announced the second major overhaul of one of its apps in as many days (following its Yahoo Mail refresh) …
Paul Sawers / The Next Web:
Facebook Newsroom:
Facebook Year in Review 2012  —  Today we're releasing Facebook's Year in Review, a look back at the people, moments and things that created the most buzz in 2012 among the billion people around the world on Facebook.  —  We took the pulse of the global community on Facebook in 2012 to assemble …
Om Malik / GigaOM:
SnapChat is getting funded.  By Instagram backer Benchmark  —  Yesterday, Dan Primack pointed out that like Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures, Matt Cohler, who backed Instagram for Benchmark Capital, hasn't done a deal in 2012.  Well, that is all set to change, for Benchmark is very likely …
Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:
The LeWeb Conference Sold to Reed Midem  —  Reed Midem, an international trade show organizer, has bought a majority stake in the well-known European Internet conference, LeWeb.  —  The event, which now has two annual gatherings, recently attracted 3,500 people in Paris …
Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
The Redbox Verizon Movie Service Is Almost Ready to Take On Netflix  —  Here comes the next video service that wants to take on Netflix: Redbox and Verizon are finally ready to launch their long-awaited joint venture.  —  Well, almost ready: “Redbox Instant by Verizon” …
Om Malik / GigaOM:
A question that Twitter needs to ask itself  —  Yesterday, Twitter announced that it was launching its own version of photo filters and photo editing tools.  And like all news around social networks — Facebook, Instagram and Twitter — it got the treatment normally reserved for the Kardashians.
AppleInsider:
iTunes now selling and renting movies in 42 newly-opened stores  —  Apple on Wednesday activated iTunes movie sales for a bulk of the countries in which the online media storefront launched earlier in December, though film selection and availability is somewhat limited and varies from region to region.
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
Verizon Determined to Expose BitTorrent Copyright Trolls  —  Two weeks ago a group of adult movie companies sued Verizon for failing to hand over the personal details of alleged BitTorrent pirates.  —  The Internet provider had ignored court orders and Malibu Media, Patrick Collins …
Steven Musil / CNET:
BlackBerry 10 to feature deep integration of Evernote  —  Developer documentation for RIM's upcoming operating system shows signs of deep integration with the online notes service.  —  It appears that BlackBerry 10 — Research in Motion's next operating system — will support deep integration of the online notes service Evernote.
Donald Melanson / Engadget:
Eric Schmidt says Google Fiber 'isn't just an experiment,' company ‘trying to decide where to expand next’  —  Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt is on stage at The New York Times' Dealbook conference today, and he's made a bit of news concerning the company's big broadband effort, Google Fiber.
More: BGR and The VergeTweets: @jyarow
Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:
First OS X fake installer malware spotted, as SMS scams are ported from Windows and Android to Mac  —  A new Trojan for Mac has been discovered that mimics the actions of an installer.  The malware attempts to monetize the attack by having users enter their mobile phone numbers for the purpose of “activation.”
Cecilia Kang / Washington Post:
For Twitter, a lofty purpose as Pope Benedict XVI makes his first tweet  —  It may look as if Pope Benedict XVI's first tweet on the auspicious date of 12/12/12 will be a divine act.  But orchestrating the pontiff's debut on Twitter has been a far more earthbound effort, involving an elaborate behind-the-scenes production.
Jennifer Van Grove / VentureBeat:
40M users later, Viddy arrives on Android  —  Video-sharing application Viddy landed on Android devices today after long being available only on the iPhone.  —  Los Angeles-based Viddy makes a mobile application for shooting 15-second clips that can be enhanced with video effects called “production packs.”
Nate Raymond / Reuters:
Unpaid bloggers lose bid to revive Huffington Post case  —  (Reuters) - Unpaid bloggers have lost their bid to get an appeals court to restore a lawsuit contending AOL Inc owes them a cut of the $315 million it spent last year to buy The Huffington Post.  —  A three-judge panel …
Donald Melanson / Engadget:
BlackBerry 10 L-Series shown off in detailed hands-on video  —  It's not the first time we've seen it on video, but the folks from Tinhte.vn have now followed up their hands-on look at the BlackBerry 10 L-Series with what's certainly the most detailed video of it to date.
Humayun Khan / BetaKit:
With $2.5M in Funding, Koozoo Launching to Be Google Street View for Video  —  San Francisco-based startup Koozoo wants to help its users answers questions like ‘how big is the lineup at my favorite restaurant?’ or ‘how crowded is the beach?’ by crowdsourcing live video feeds of the world's public places.
More: GigaOM
Martin Bryant / The Next Web:
Amazon launches Friends & Family Gifting to help you remember birthdays, and buy more from Amazon  —  Amazon has today announced a new feature that keeps track of birthdays and other special occasions to ensure that you never miss the chance to buy gifts for loved ones... and to make sure you buy them from Amazon.
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
General Catalyst Backs Roughdraft.VC To Fund Student-Run Startups And Ideas In Boston  —  There's no shortage of college student who have startup ideas and want to turn their entrepreneurial dreams into a reality.  But getting the money, even if it is a few hundred dollars to set up servers, isn't easy for college students.

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