Techmeme
December 13, 2012, 7:00 PM

Top News

Daniel Graf / The Official Google Blog:
Google Maps is now available for iPhone  —  People around the world have been asking for Google Maps on iPhone.  Starting today, we're pleased to announce that Google Maps is here—rolling out across the world in the Apple App Store.  It's designed from the ground up to combine the comprehensiveness …
Alexis C. Madrigal / The Atlantic Online:
Why Google Maps Is Better Than Apple Maps  —  There's a simple answer: people.  —  For all of Google's reputation as a data-data-data company, the company's famed mapping product, which arrived on iOS early this morning, is good for a different reason: people.
David Pogue / New York Times:
Google Maps App for iPhone Goes in the Right Direction - Review  —  It was one of the biggest tech headlines of the year: in September, Apple dropped its contract with Google, which had always supplied the data for the iPhone's Maps app.  For various strategic reasons, Apple preferred to write a new app …
Jessica Leber / MIT Technology Review:
Meet Young Sohn, the Man Charged with Revamping Samsung's Technology Strategy from Silicon Valley  —  Samsung chief strategy officer Young Sohn explains why he still uses Apple devices at home—and what his company needs to do to stay ahead.  —  Why It Matters
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook Speeds Up Android App By Ditching HTML5 And Rebuilding It Natively Just Like The iOS Version  —  Facebook's HTML5 app nightmare is over.  Later today it's releasing Facebook for Android 2., which replaces the hybrid native/webview code with an all-native infrastructure to answer years …
Ellis Hamburger / The Verge:
Mailbox for iPhone: a next-generation email app inspired by Sparrow and Clear  —  Cloud to-do list company Orchestra today announced Mailbox, an email client for the iPhone it's been building for the last year.  I've been testing Mailbox for the last few weeks and it's nothing short of spectactular.
Jean-Baptiste Su / Forbes:
Dell Quits Smartphone Business Globally, Drops Android  —  Dell is definitely pulling the plug on the smartphone business, globally.  A tough decision, leaving a market that is expected to reach $150.3 billion in 2014, according to MarketsandMarkets.  However, Jeff Clarke …
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Apple releases iTunes 11.0.1, adds duplicate item finding, includes iCloud, AirPlay fixes  —  Approximately two weeks following the launch of the revamped iTunes 11 application, Apple has released iTunes 11.0.1 via the Mac App Store Software Update tab to users. … The update is generally a bug fix release.
BBC:
US, UK and Canada refuse to sign UN internet treaty  —  The UN's communication treaty will not be ratified by the US, UK or Canada  —  The US, UK and Canada say they will not sign an international communications treaty under discussion in Dubai.  —  The three countries had objected to calls …
Eric Eldon / TechCrunch:
Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Legend Max Levchin Joins Yahoo Board, Intuit's Smith And Weather Channels's Kenny Leave  —  Max Levchin has been many things in his long run in Silicon Valley — PayPal cofounder, Slide founder, angel investor, etc. etc. — but now he's trying on something more traditional.
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Amazon Puts Instant Video On iPhone And iPod Touch, Cloud Player Music On Roku And Samsung Smart TVs  —  Amazon has announced a number of new platform expansions for its streaming media services today, including Cloud Player apps for Samsung Smart TVs and Roku set top boxes …
Kim Yoo-chul / The Korea Times:
Samsung to reduce investment in LCD  —  Samsung Electronics is moving to reduce investment in its liquid crystal display (LCD) unit as the firm has shifted the focus of its screen business to organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and plastic-based flexible displays.
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Apple Quickly Updates Malware Definitions to Detect New SMS Scam Trojan  —  Earlier this week, Russian security firm Dr. Web published a blog post announcing the discovery of a new OS X trojan horse known as “Trojan.SMSSend.3666”.  The malware masquerades as an installer for various software titles …
Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:
Did Google pay Belgian newspapers a $6M copyright fee?  Sure looks like it  —  Europeans have been trying for years to force Google to prop up the continent's' struggling news publishers.  A new deal in Belgium suggests they have finally succeeded.  —  In a blog post on Wednesday …
Matthew Panzarino / The Next Web:
US court rules Apple's iPhone infringes on three patents held by Sony and Nokia owned MobileMedia  —  A US court has ruled that Apple's iPhone infringes on three patents held by MobileMeda, a company many consider to be a ‘classic patent troll’.  The report, via a Bloomberg tweet, has yet to be fleshed out with details.
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
Google Starts Reporting False DMCA Takedown Requests  —  Ever since Google started publishing a transparency report for the DMCA requests it receives, the number of notices being sent have shot through the roof.  —  During the past month copyright holders asked Google to remove 12,045,130 webpages from its search.
Bill Callahan / Bloomberg:
Apple, LG Electronics Defeat Alcatel-Lucent Patent Claims  —  Apple Inc. (AAPL) and LG Electronics Inc. (066570) didn't infringe an Alcatel-Lucent SA (ALU) unit's patents for electronic devices including phones and computers, a jury said.  —  The verdict today came after a trial that began Nov. 27 …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
PayPal Launches Prepaid “PayPal My Cash Card,” Allowing Cash-Preferred Customers To Shop Online  —  PayPal announced today the launch of its first fully branded cash loading card, called the PayPal My Cash Card, which will allow users to load up their PayPal accounts using cash instead of bank transfers.
Steven E.F. Brown / San Francisco Business Times:
Yahoo Inc. signs a search deal with AVG Technologies … Internet giant Yahoo Inc. signed a search and distribution deal with AVG Technologies NV.  —  Amsterdam's AVG (NYSE: AVG) makes antivirus and security software for use on computers and mobile devices and also makes search technology.

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