Techmeme
January 21, 2014, 9:45 AM

Top News

Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:
Analysts' estimates for iPhones sold last quarter range from 50M to 60M, or 55.3M on average  —  How many iPhones did Apple sell last quarter?  —  The analysts' estimates range from 50 million to nearly 60 million.  Average: 55.3 million.  —  FORTUNE — There's a lot chatter …
Aaron Souppouris / The Verge:
Verizon agrees to buy Intel's failed internet TV project  —  After publicly announcing and failing to follow through with a big plan to launch a set-top box, Intel is selling the project to Verizon.  The telecoms company will purchase assets of Intel Media, a division set up to develop “over the top” TV services.
Matt Cutts / Gadgets, Google, and SEO:
The decay and fall of guest blogging for SEO  —  Okay, I'm calling it: if you're using guest blogging as a way to gain links in 2014, you should probably stop.  Why?  Because over time it's become a more and more spammy practice, and if you're doing a lot of guest blogging then you're hanging out with really bad company.
Walt Mossberg / Re/code:
Beats Music Streams With a Human Touch  —  For years and years, people have predicted that subscription streaming music services would eventually overtake paid download services in the hearts of average consumers.  The theory was that people would rather pay monthly for access to all the music …
Terence Kawaja / Re/code:
Color by Numbers: A new valuation framework for the Ad Tech sector  —  Ad-Tech Valuation: Color by Numbers  —  This past summer, trade press commentary focused on the impending doom of the ad-tech space, pointing to the industry's fragmentation and noting the underperformance of recent IPOs: Millennial Media, Tremor Video and YuMe.
More: AdExchanger and ExchangeWire.comTweets: @cdixon and @pkafka
JC Torres / SlashGear:
Initial D-Wave 2 quantum computer benchmarks show mixed results  —  Google gives an update on D-Wave 2 quantum computer benchmark status  —  As a tech company, Google has been known to branch out into different areas of interests, from self-driving cars to smart wearable technology and, more recently, to robotics.
David Talbot / MIT Technology Review:
In Developing Countries, Google and Facebook Already Defy Net Neutrality  —  In much of the world, the concept of “net neutrality” generates less public debate, given there's no affordable Net in the first place.  —  Net neutrality—the idea that all Internet traffic should generally be treated equally …
More: Wired, BGR and Dice News
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Land:
Expedia Lost 25% Of Their Search Visibility In Google Possibly Over Unnatural Links  —  The major travel website, Expedia, seems to have lost 25% of their search visibility in Google according to Search Metrics.  It appears that drop was due to an unnatural link penalty …
More: Search Engine Roundtable and SkiftTweets: @whatthebitThanks:@forrestkoba
Nick Wingfield / New York Times:
Spammers use automated calls and caller ID masking to extract sensitive personal data  —  Swindlers Use Telephones, With Internet's Tactics  —  SEATTLE — Phone swindles are practically as old as the telephone itself.  But new technology has led to an onslaught of Internet-inspired fraud tactics …
MSDN Blogs:
Microsoft Research adopts Open Access policy for publications  —  In a recent interview with Scientific American, Peter Lee, head of Microsoft Research, discussed three main motivations for basic research at Microsoft.  The first relates to an aspiration to advance human knowledge …
Ben Thompson / stratechery:
While Dropbox leads in consumer adoption, Box's early focus on enterprise sales a key strength  —  Battle of the Box  —  The problem with the old thin client model was the assumption that processing power was scarce.  In fact, Moore's Law and the rise of ARM has made the exact opposite the case - processing is abundant.
Kyle Orland / Ars Technica:
Stealth marketing: Microsoft paying YouTubers for Xbox One mentions  —  Machinima campaign offered undisclosed money to videos promoting new console The line between traditional, paid advertising and organic editorial content on the Internet can sometimes be hazy.
Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:
VLC gets iOS 7 redesign, Google Drive integration, Dropbox streaming, the ability to download files, and more  —  VideoLAN today updated VLC for iOS with a slew of new features, including a new design for iOS 7 as well as Google Drive and Dropbox features.  You can download the new version now from Apple's App Store.

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More News

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Earlier Picks

Ginny Marvin / Search Engine Land:
Tom Warren / The Verge: