Techmeme: USPTO ruling invalidates key claims in infamous Personal Audio patent after EFF petition, curtailing the ability of patent trolls to threaten podcasters (Rebecca Jeschke/Electronic Frontier …)

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April 11, 2015, 12:10 AM

Top News

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg Business:

Apple has asked over a dozen artists for exclusive deals to promote Beats Music, which relaunches this summer at $9.99/month with family plan for $14.99 — Apple's New Beats Music Thinks Taylor Swift Will Make You Pay — Apple Inc. has asked Florence and the Machine and more than a dozen …

Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:

All Apple Watch models in US sold out as shipping times slip to minimum of 4 to 6 weeks; Watch AppleCare+ pricing ranges from $49 to $1.5K — Almost all Apple Watch models sold out, AppleCare+ pricing revealed (update: sold out!) — Update: All Apple Watch models in the US are now at minimum 4 …

Sam Byford / The Verge:

A look at the Apple Watch shopping experience at Apple's Tokyo, Paris, and London pop-up stores; trying on the Watch Edition was not a luxurious experience

More: MacRumors, Reuters, Engadget, Business Insider, BuzzFeed, Fox Business, CNET, Computerworld, iPhone Hacks, Forbes, BGR, Reuters, Telegraph, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, Tech Times and USA Today

Tweets: @markgurman, @neilcybart and @sarahhalzack

Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:

Apple Watch Out-of-Warranty Service Fees Range From $229 to $2,800

More: TechCrunch, The Verge, App Advice, Tech Trader Daily, iPhone in Canada Blog, BetaNews, Seeking Alpha, TechnoBuffalo, iPhone Hacks and SiliconANGLE. Thanks:@rsgnl

Alistair Barr / Wall Street Journal:

Four-person Google X team led by ex-Apple battery expert has been developing existing lithium-ion and newer solid-state thin film battery tech since 2012 — Google Gets Into Battery Arms Race — Research team working on projects to improve lithium-ion and solid-state batteries

More: Android and Me, The Verge, Business Insider, Pocket-lint, PhoneDog.com, Droid Life, BGR, Pocketnow and 9to5Google

Bloomberg Business:

Nokia considers sale of HERE maps business, worth about $2.1B, to focus on networks division — Nokia Weighs Sale of Maps Business to Focus on Networks — Nokia Oyj is exploring the sale of its maps business as the Finnish equipment maker focuses on boosting growth at its wireless-network unit …

More: The Register, TechnoBuffalo, Windows Central, Pocketnow, ZDNet and Seeking Alpha

Rebecca Jeschke / Electronic Frontier Foundation:

USPTO ruling invalidates key claims in infamous Personal Audio patent after EFF petition, curtailing the ability of patent trolls to threaten podcasters — EFF Busts Podcasting Patent, Invalidating Key Claims at Patent Office — Ruling from USPTO Invalidates All Claims Used to Threaten Podcasters

More: Techdirt, The Register, AppleInsider, The Next Web, Ars Technica, VentureBeat, Boing Boing and iMore. See also Mediagazer

The Citizen Lab:

Technical findings on China's Great Cannon and its similarities to the Great Firewall — China's Great Cannon — This post describes our analysis of China's “Great Cannon,” our term for an attack tool that we identify as separate from, but co-located with, the Great Firewall of China.

Andrea Peterson / Washington Post:

Report: DDoS on GitHub and GreatFire the result of “Great Cannon”, a powerful new offensive capability for Chinese government enabling censorship worldwide

More: The Daily Beast

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:

Microsoft's new Windows 10 mobile test build now includes Spartan browser, and new Mail, Calendar, Phone, and Messaging apps — Microsoft's new Windows 10 mobile test build now includes Spartan — Summary:Microsoft has delivered a second preview build of Windows 10 Mobile to testers …

Nicholas Carlson / Business Insider:

Mike Kerns, senior vice president of the Yahoo homepage, has resigned — One of the first execs Marissa Mayer really trusted at Yahoo just quit the company — Mike Kerns, the Yahoo senior vice president in charge of Yahoo's homepage and other destinations, just quit the company, a source close to Kerns just told us.

More: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Mercury News, Re/code, Fortune and Seeking Alpha

Michael Crider / Android Police:

Google cuts price for the Project Tango developer kit, its 3D mapping tablet, in half to $512 for some invitees, says it's opening up sales more broadly — Google Slashes Project Tango Price In Half For Some Invitees (Down To $512), Broader Sales May Be Coming Soon

More: TechnoBuffalo, InfoWorld, 9to5Google, SlashGear, Engadget and PhoneDog.com

Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:

Many Apple stores not carrying 12-inch MacBook stock on launch day; online shipping times slip to 3-4 weeks — Many Apple Stores Not Carrying Retina MacBook Stock on Launch Day — A significant number of users have turned to Twitter and other social networks to voice their frustration …

More: TechnoBuffalo, InvestorPlace, iDownloadBlog.com, Digital Trends and iPhone Hacks

Juli Clover / MacRumors:

New Retina MacBook Now Available to Order on Apple's Online Store

More: CNET, Electronista, MacRumors, The Loop, Mashable, Bloomberg Business, USA Today and SlashGear. Tweets: @benedictevans

Wall Street Journal:

Spotify nearing deal to raise $400M in round valuing the music-streaming service at $8.4B — Spotify Nears Deal to Raise $400 Million at $8.4 Billion Valuation — Goldman Sachs and Abu Dhabi's Sovereign Wealth Fund Have Invested — Spotify AB has headed back to the funding well for a seventh time …

More: New York Times, International Business Times, Seeking Alpha and Business Insider. Tweets: @scottmaustin

TechCrunch:

Instacart Is Quietly Working With Third Parties To Outsource (Some Of) Its Deliveries — Instacart, the on-demand grocery delivery startup that is reportedly valued north of $2 billion, is growing fast in 15 markets throughout the country. As it seeks to meet that demand …

Tweets: @mdudas

Tom Simonite / MIT Technology Review:

IBM creates 100-person research group to work on Numenta, brain-inspired AI software from Palm Founder Jeff Hawkins — IBM Tests Mobile Computing Pioneer's Controversial Brain Algorithms — IBM is testing a contentious idea for making computers more intelligent by trying to copy mechanisms from the human brain.

More: Engadget, SD Times, Phys.org, ITProPortal, HotHardware.com News and Digital Trends

Jon Russell / TechCrunch:

Japanese Court Orders Google To Delete Critical Reviews From Google Maps — There's troubling news in Japan today, after Google was told to delete two critical customer reviews from its Google Maps service. — The Chiba District Court today issued a preliminary injunction forcing …

More: Silicon Republic, Reuters and Slashdot

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