Techmeme: Take that, Apple TV: Smart TVs twice as popular as dedicated streaming boxes (Janko Roettgers/GigaOM)

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May 3, 2013, 2:10 PM

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Casey Newton / The Verge:

Square sets its sights on check-ins: ‘We can do something better’ — Data on what you buy and where you bought it could be the holy grail of ad targeting — Square is using its trove of payment data to build an engine for making local recommendations, a move that could upend the conventional wisdom …

More: GigaOM, VentureBeat, Engadget and Skift. Thanks:@max8378

David Pierce / The Verge:

Acer announces Aspire P3, 'the world's first ultrabook convertible' (hands-on) — Acer's making a big Windows 8 play at its event today in New York city, announcing a handful of unique devices including the new Aspire P3. Acer calls the P3 an “ultrabook convertible,” and that's a fairly apt description …

More: CNET, InfoWorld, TechHive, VentureBeat, GigaOM, Inquirer, Computerworld, TechCrunch, Engadget, Gizmodo, Gizmodo, Liliputing, Electronista, dailywireless.org and Softpedia News

David Pierce / The Verge:

Acer's Aspire R7 combines desktop, laptop, and tablet with one ‘floating touchscreen’ (hands-on) — After teasing it in a strange, Star Trek-infused commercial, Acer has finally revealed its mysterious transforming device. At an event at Milk Studios in New York City, the company is preparing to announce the Aspire R7.

More: AllThingsD, Digital Trends, SlashGear, Liliputing, LAPTOP Magazine and Softpedia News

John Paczkowski / AllThingsD:

Maybe the Low-End iPhone Is Really a Mid-End iPhone — What if Apple's long-rumored low-end iPhone isn't targeted at the smartphone market's lower reaches? What if it's targeted at the middle? — What if it isn't low-end at all, but simply mainstream? Not a $150 phone or even a $200 one, but a $350 one?

More: DigiTimes, AppleInsider, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, Apple Bitch, iDownloadBlog.com, Cult of Mac and Softpedia News

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Spotify Takes a Page From the Twitter Playbook, Buys Music Discovery App Tunigo — Last fall, Twitter bought We Are Hunted, a “music discovery” startup that made a popular app for Spotify. — Apparently Spotify is paying attention: It just bought Tunigo, another music discovery startup with a popular Spotify app.

More: VatorNews, CNET, GigaOM, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, The Next Web, Cult of Mac, hypebot, Gizmodo, WebProNews and iClarified

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

Google Glass Will Soon Also Let iPhone Users Access Navigation And Text Messages — To use text messaging and navigation on Google Glass, users currently have to pair it with an Android phone and install the Glass companion app on their phones. This will change very soon, however …

More: MacRumors, The Verge, The Next Web, Engadget, TUAW, Gotta Be Mobile, The Droid Guy, Karthik.K's Geek Center!, Cult of Mac, iDownloadBlog.com, MacStories and PetaPixel

Larry Dignan / ZDNet:

Cube 3D Printer goes retail at Staples for $1,299 — Summary: Staples will be among the first major retailers to offer a 3D printer. To date, 3D printers have been the focus of hobbyists. — Staples will begin selling 3D Systems' Cube 3D printer in select stores and online for $1,299 at the end of June.

More: TechCrunch, CNET, Engadget, VentureBeat, Mashable, Business Wire, CNNMoney.com, Electronista and WebProNews

Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:

Take that, Apple TV: Smart TVs twice as popular as dedicated streaming boxes — 14 percent of all broadband households owned an Apple TV, a Roku box or another kind of dedicated streaming device in 2012, but 25 percent owned a smart TV with an embedded app platform, according …

More: MacRumors, Businessweek, TDG Research, Business Insider, PadGadget, Fortune, Betabeat, nbcnews.com, Home Media Magazine, Broadband TV News and TelecompetitorTelecompetitor. Tweets: @dannysullivan

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

LG Working On A Nexus 5, Wants Deeper Partnerships On TVs And Glass, Report Claims — LG is an Android smartphone OEM that, like many others, finds itself in the shadow of Samsung. But it scored an impressive hit with the Nexus 4, the $300 unlocked Google-branded Android reference phone …

More: The Korea Times, Android Beat, VentureBeat, TechEye, MobileSyrup.com, Inquirer, Engadget and The Droid Guy. Tweets: @dannysullivan

Brian Heater / Engadget:

Google Play comes to Barnes & Noble's Nook HD and HD+, we go hands-on (video) — Barnes & Noble's refusal to open its ecosystem has long been one of our principle complaints about the company's tablet offerings. The Nook HD and HD+ are extremely nice pieces of hardware that have been held …

FierceWireless:

AT&T planning June launch of ‘All In One’ prepaid brand — AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) is planning to launch new prepaid services under the “All In One” brand June 15, according to people familiar with the matter. The carrier will likely offer a $35 per month service for feature phones and a $50 per month service for smartphones.

More: The Verge, DSLreports, PhoneArena and IntoMobile

Adrian Chen / Gawker:

Massive Bitcoin Business Partnership Devolves Into $75 Million Lawsuit — Bitcoin, the virtual currency libertarian geeks expect us all to use to pay for pizza in the future, has had a rough few weeks. A series of booms and busts have sent shivers down the spines of Bitcoin enthusiasts.

More: GeekWire, VentureBeat, CNET, Quartz, Bitcoin Magazine, Ars Technica, BTCPedia, ITworld.com and CoinDesk

Eric Slivka / MacRumors:

U.S. Cellular to Begin Offering Apple Products Later This Year — As part of its quarterly earnings release today, U.S. Cellular announced that it will begin carrying Apple products later this year, although the carrier offered no additional details on its plans.

More: GigaOM, Guardian, AllThingsD, iMore, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, SlashGear, InvestorPlace, Bloomberg, iPhone, TUAW, iLounge, App Advice and iPhone Hacks. Tweets: @sammywalrusiv

David Alexander / Reuters:

Samsung, BlackBerry devices cleared for use on U.S. defense networks — (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Thursday cleared BlackBerry and Samsung mobile devices for use on Defense Department networks, a step toward opening up the military to a wide variety of technology equipment makers while still ensuring communications security.

Martin Bryant / The Next Web:

Horace Dediu on the bad habits of Apple analysts and why Tim Cook shouldn't be fired — “I have few average days,” says Horace Dediu, one of the most well-respected watchers of the mobile industry, and Apple in particular, when asked about how he fills his time while running the Asymco blog and consultancy.

More: Fortune and Fortune. Tweets: @panzer

Nathaniel Rich / New York Times:

Y Combinator, Silicon Valley's Start-Up Machine — Michelle Crosby, an energetic 37-year-old lawyer in Boise, Idaho, applied for a loan last November from a local bank, Western Capital. She proposed to use the money, $10,000, to help start a new business, Wevorce, which could be described …

More: Business Insider, Venture Capital Dispatch and Hillicon Valley. Tweets: @hunterwalk

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Google lets you add Calendar events directly from Gmail by clicking on a date and time, English-only for now — Google on Thursday announced a small Gmail update that lets you create Google Calendar events directly from your email. The new feature is rolling out to everyone with the English …

More: Gmail Blog, InfoWorld, Engadget, The Verge, BetaNews, Gizmodo, SocialTimes and Lifehacker

Todd Bishop / GeekWire:

Always on? Study says 72% of U.S. gamers now play online — The number of people who play video games without an online connection is quickly dwindling, according to the results of a study released today. The report by the NPD research firm found that 72 percent of U.S. gamers now play games online …

More: BGR, Agence France Presse, Gamezone, Joystiq, NPD Group and PC Magazine

Peter Burrows / Bloomberg:

Apple Avoids $9.2 Billion in Taxes With Debt Deal — Apple Inc. (AAPL) avoided as much as $9.2 billion in taxes by financing part of a $55 billion stock buyback with debt rather than offshore cash that would have been billed by the U.S. government, Moody's Investment Services estimates.

More: Inquirer, SeekingAlpha.com, Gizmodo, Cult of Mac, MacNN, iClarified and TUAW

Jamie Rigg / Engadget:

Jolla names Tomi Pienimäki as new CEO, Marc Dillon to become Head of Software Development — As Jolla gears up for the imminent unveiling of its first smartphone packing the MeeGo-inspired Sailfish OS, there's been another shake-up at the highest level of the company.

More: ZDNet, The Next Web and GigaOM

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Google reveals Shawnee, Kansas, will be the fourth city to get its Fiber Internet service — Google on Thursday announced that Shawnee, Kansas will be the fourth city to receive the company's Fiber Internet service. Shawnee is located just south-west of Kansas City, meaning the technology …

More: Google Fiber Blog, Engadget, PC Magazine, CNET, Associated Press, DSLreports, TelecompetitorTelecompetitor, SlashGear, Gizmodo, The Verge, dailywireless.org and Softpedia News

Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:

Warner Brothers sued for unauthorized use of Nyan Cat and Keyboard Cat — Make it stahhppppp. — Nyan Cat — Warner Brothers is facing a federal lawsuit for using two feline-themed Internet memes in a video game without their creators' permission. The authors of “Keyboard Cat” and …

More: Forbes, Techdirt, VideoGamer.com, WebProNews, Geek.com, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Gizmodo, SlashGear and Laughing Squid

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