Amazon’s Whispercast for Kindle targets schools, businesses
It may still be years before digital books replace paper ones in schools, but Amazon is laying the groundwork for the transition withWhispercast for Kindle, a free “scalable” online tool for “deploying Kindle devices and Kindle content.” With Whispercast Amazon is also targeting businesses administrators who want to manage and share Kindle books and documents within their organizations.
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33198_7-57533963-286/amazons-whispercast-for-kindle-targets-schools-businesses/

Microsoft buys marketing-automation firm MarketingPilot
On October 16, it was Microsoft announcing its intentions to buy cloud-storage vendor StorSimple. And today, October 17,Microsoft announced it has closed on acquiring a marketing-automation firm MarketingPilot for an undisclosed amount.
http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-buys-marketing-automation-firm-marketingpilot-7000005933/

More trouble for Color: shareholders and board vote to wind down company
Is the Color horror story reaching its conclusion?

A source within the company tells us that the company’s shareholders and board last week voted to shut the company down.
http://venturebeat.com/2012/10/17/more-trouble-for-color-shareholders-and-board-vote-to-wind-down-company/#I8Y8C647VuC2FpzB.99

Content newswire NewsCred buys cloud publisher Daylife
NewsCred is a digital newswire that has found success by eliminating licensing and technology friction between publishers and those who want their content. Now, it has acquired a popular platform of publishing tools.
http://paidcontent.org/2012/10/17/content-newswire-newscred-buys-cloud-publisher-daylife/

Foxconn official says iPhone 5 supply shortages caused by complicated design, productivity improving
The Wall Street Journal spoke with an unnamed Hon Hai executive today about why the iPhone 5 is experiencing supply shortages, and the Taiwanese manufacturer, also known as Foxconn, apparently blamed it on the smartphone’s complicated design and its subsequent assembly process.
http://9to5mac.com/2012/10/17/foxconn-official-says-iphone-5-supply-shortages-caused-by-complicated-design-productivity-improving/

Google Throws Open Doors to Its Top-Secret Data Center
If you’re looking for the beating heart of the digital age — a physical location where the scope, grandeur, and geekiness of the kingdom of bits become manifest—you could do a lot worse than Lenoir, North Carolina. This rural city of 18,000 was once rife with furniture factories. Now it’s the home of a Google data center.
http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/10/ff-inside-google-data-center/all/

Samsung confirms US Galaxy S III handsets will get Android 4.1 ‘in the coming months’
Galaxy S III owners, your wait for Jelly Bean might be nearing and end. Samsung just confirmed that all US variants of its flagship Android phone will receive an update to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean “in the coming months,” though there’s amazingly still no solid date at this time.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/17/3516180/samsung-galaxy-s-III-jelly-bean-update-coming-months

MasterCard Is Selling Your Data Just in Time for the Holidays
Credit card companies make money by taking a cut every time you swipe your plastic at the checkout counter. Now MasterCard has found a way to make those swipes pay over and over again.

As the Financial Times first reported, MasterCard is packaging its transaction data — your transaction data — and selling it to advertisers. The story was based on an apparently confidential pitch MasterCard made to potential clients. Not too confidential, because we found a copy by googling it.
http://www.wired.com/business/2012/10/mastercard-data-mining-holidays/

Chip gear maker ASML buys Cymer for $2.5 billion
The world’s leading chip gear maker ASML is buying U.S. group Cymer for 1.95 billion euros ($2.5 billion) to get control of a light-based technology crucial to making the smaller, smarter chips of the future.

The Dutch company said that the cash-and-shares acquisition would speed up the development of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) semiconductor lithography, which will help produce chips to power the next generations of smartphones and tablet computers.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/17/us-asml-cymer-idUSBRE89G08R20121017

UK retailer Argos confirms Google to offer 32GB Nexus 7, available for £199.99
With Apple all but certain to introduce a new, smaller iPad at its San Jose launch event next week, Google appears to have plans of its own to make its popular Nexus 7 more attractive to consumers by offering a 32GB model for 99 pence more than as its 16GB variant.

Major UK retailer Argos today released its Christmas Gift Guide, detailing the gadgets it would have available to buy during the holiday period. One such item is a new 32GB variant of the Nexus 7, which will retail for £199.99 — almost matching the cost of the existing 16GB model.
http://thenextweb.com/google/2012/10/17/uk-retailer-argos-confirms-google-to-offer-32gb-nexus-7-available-for-199-99/

GOGII raises $18 milllion from Raine Group, rebrands as textPlus, and moves beyond group messaging
The telecommunications industry has been evolving over the past couple of years and today, one of the major players in the industry is announcing a major milestone. textPlus, a leading provider of free mobile communications around the world has announced it has raised $18 million from the Raine Group for its Series D round of funding.

GOGII, the parent company of textPlus, has also announced that it will be rebranding itself to textPlus. Originally named as GOGII, the company wanted to play off of their SMS code 60611, but never really played up the concept of its shortcode. Its main product, textPlus, has been doing phenomenally well over the past few years — surpassing over 40 million downloads here in the US and Canada offering much more than just group text messaging. With the rebranding of the company from GOGII to textPlus, it is attempting to place more of an emphasis on the “plus” aspect beyond texting.
http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2012/10/16/textplus-rebrands-raises-18-million-series-d/

Kaspersky Lab Developing Its Own Operating System? We Confirm the Rumors, and End the Speculation!
Today I’d like to talk about the future. About a not-so-glamorous future of mass cyber-attacks on things like nuclear power stations, energy supply and transportation control facilities, financial and telecommunications systems, and all the other installations deemed “critically important”. Or you could think back to Die Hard 4 – where an attack on infrastructure plunged pretty much the whole country into chaos.
http://eugene.kaspersky.com/2012/10/16/kl-developing-its-own-operating-system-we-confirm-the-rumors-and-end-the-speculation/

LinkedIn Announces Massive Update To Its “Pillar Product”, The Profile
Today, LinkedIn is reinventing itself with a new profile design.
We got a small sneak peek at the new design a couple months ago, but the full story — including the man-behind-the-curtain mechanics of how it works — are available today.
The roll-out to end users will also start today.
Not only is the profile much better-looking than in past iterations; it’s also packed with new kinds of data and visualizations of that data. The company has also worked to make editing your profile a simpler process.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/16/linkedin-announces-massive-update-to-its-pilar-product-the-profile/

Investors seek billion-dollar payday as Vringo v. Google trial begins
A company with little business beyond a handful of recently purchased patents sued Google last year. That’s not at all unusual; what is unusual is that the company, Vringo, is actually going to trial—starting this morning in Norfolk, Virginia. Vringo will be asking for a nine-figure verdict, and its investors have a nontrivial chance of getting rich from this trial.

The hype around the Vringo trial is almost as remarkable as the trial itself, full of surprising investments and wild claims.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/investors-seek-billion-dollar-payday-as-vringo-v-google-trial-begins/

UberTAXI in NYC Shutting Down for Now – NO CHANGES to UberNYC Black Car Service
We want to thank all of New York’s UberFaithful for giving our NYC TAXI beta a shot over the last month. It was pretty exciting – for the first time in 30 years, New Yorkers could get a cab without going to the street and putting your arm out. This meant finding a driver happy to take you to Brooklyn knowing he could get a return fare through Uber, or getting a cab from the Bronx at 7pm on a Friday night.

Some quick stats:
- 160 cabbies participated in Uber TAXI beta
- Biggest payday – one top UberTAXI driver made $168 additional fares in a single day!
- Biggest week – Joe E. made $586 additional fares with UberTAXI in a week!

Unfortunately, as many of you have noticed, there haven’t been enough available TAXIs. Demand far out-stripped supply, making you feel pretty lucky when you got a yellow from your iPhone. We did the best we could to get more yellows on the road but New York’s TLC (Taxi and Limousine Commission) put up obstacles and roadblocks in order to squash the effort around e-hail, which they privately have said is legal under the rules. We’ll bite our tongues and keep our frustration here to ourselves.
http://blog.uber.com/2012/10/16/ubertaxi-in-nyc-shutting-down-for-now-no-changes-to-ubernyc-black-car-service/

Verizon draws fire for monitoring app usage, browsing habits
Verizon Wireless has begun selling information about its customers’ geographical locations, app usage, and Web browsing activities, a move that raises privacy questions and could brush up against federal wiretapping law.

The company this month began offering reports to marketers showing what Verizon subscribers are doing on their phones and other mobile devices, including what iOS and Android apps are in use in which locations. Verizon says it may link the data to third-party databases with information about customers’ gender, age, and even details such as “sports enthusiast, frequent diner or pet owner.”
“We’re able to view just everything that they do,” Bill Diggins, U.S. chief for the Verizon Wireless marketing initiative, told an industry conference earlier this year. “And that’s really where data is going today. Data is the new oil.”
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57533001-38/verizon-draws-fire-for-monitoring-app-usage-browsing-habits/

Microsoft acquires cloud-storage appliance vendor StorSimple
It looks like Microsoft isn’t limiting its “devices and services company” mission to the consumer side of the house only.

Microsoft announced plans on October 16 to acquire StorSimple Inc. for an undisclosed amount.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based StorSimple is a player in the “cloud-integrated storage (CiS) space.

StorSimple provides cloud-integrated enterprise storage for Windows and VMware by integrating the cloud with on-premises enterprise storage “through a single appliance that delivers high-performance tiered storage, live archiving, cloud-based data protection and disaster recovery,” according to StorSimple’s Web site.
http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-acquires-cloud-storage-appliance-vendor-storsimple-7000005870/

Microsoft’s Surface available for pre-order in eight countries, shipping October 26th
We’ve been hearing about the Surface for the better part of six months, but in all that time Microsoft has kept secret what might be the tablet’s most important feature: its price. After revealing the price earlier today, the device goes up for pre-order (starting at 12PM ET), so the secret’s out: you can buy a Windows RT-powered Surface starting at $499. Microsoft’s Steven Sinofsky referred to the desire to match “our competitor” when asked about the price at an event in Redmond this week, so it’s no accident that the 10.6-inch Surface equals the price of the iPad.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/16/3509982/microsoft-surface-price-499-pre-order

iMac Reportedly Set to Receive Updates Next Week [Updated]
While there have been rumblings of an iMac update for some time, and earlier this week we shared a report claiming that the new models will be thinner than current ones, today’s report appears to be the first to specifically claim that they will launch next week.

For those keeping track, Apple’s plans for next week now appear to include the iPad mini, updated iMacs, a 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro, and updated Mac mini models.
http://www.macrumors.com/2012/10/16/imac-reportedly-set-to-receive-updates-next-week/

Facebook expands Anti-Virus Marketplace, URL blacklist system with seven new partners
Facebook expanded its Anti-Virus Marketplace today with the addition of seven new partners — Avast, AVG, Avira, Kaspersky, Panda, Total Defense, and Webroot. Today’s expansion allows users to download anti-virus software from these seven companies, in addition to security apps from existing partners like McAfee and Symantec. The new partners will also add to the database behind Facebook’s URL blacklist system, which pre-emptively scans trillions of links for malicious content.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/16/3510178/facebook-av-marketplace-url-blacklist-expansion-avast-kaspersky

Boxee Welcomes FCC Rulemaking That Opens Door for Innovation
The FCC issued its rulemaking regarding encrypting the Basic Tier of Cable on Friday and we were pleased to see that many of the recommendations made jointly by Boxee and Comcast were adopted in the final order.

When a draft of the rulemaking was first introduced last fall we were concerned about the potential impact to consumers and to companies innovating on the TV experience. Our main goal was to find a solution that would allow cable companies to move forward with encryption while enabling devices like Boxee to access basic cable channels without requiring users to buy additional hardware or pay additional monthly fees.
http://blog.boxee.tv/2012/10/14/boxee-welcomes-fcc-rulemaking-that-opens-door-for-innovation/#.UHxDVMXA_nh

SimpleTV Begins Shipping Its $149 Box For Streaming Live Or Recorded TV To The iPhone, iPad, Roku, And Web
Well, it’s taken a while, but SimpleTV is finally shipping its $149 streaming TV box to users. After previewing its hardware and CES, and following a successful Kickstarter campaign, the combination Sling-TiVo device will soon be in users’ living rooms. For real, this time.

The SimpleTV box converts TV signals into video streams, which can then be watched on your PC, iPhone, iPad, Roku box, or Apple TV via AirPlay. In that way it’s kind of like a newer, cheaper Slingbox. But it also has a USB connection, letting users connect their own storage devices to create DVR-like capabilities. It’s sort of the ultimate time- and place-shifting device, for folks who care about those capabilities.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/15/simpletv-begins-shipping/

EU data chiefs find legal flaws in Google privacy policy
European Union data protection authorities have found legal problems with Google’s new privacy policy and asked the company to make changes, a letter from a majority of the bloc’s national regulators seen by Reuters said.

The letter, which stopped short of declaring Google’s approach to collecting user data illegal, comes after a nine-month investigation led by France’s Commission Nationale de l’Informatique (CNIL) on behalf of the EU’s regulators.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/15/us-eu-dataprotection-idUSBRE89E0YD20121015

Foursquare Takes On Yelp With New Homepage Search Box
Perhaps it was always inevitable that Foursquare would shift its emphasis from location-based social networking to local search. Indeed, the site has been moving in this direction for quite some time, and very self-consciously for the better part of the past year.

This afternoon the company is rolling out a new PC homepage for users who aren’t logged in: it prominently features a search box. In doing so Foursquare takes aim at Yelp as its chief rival in the local space. And in some ways the move completes Foursquare’s evolution from a more narrow and novelty oriented friend finder, game and check-in app to a genuine local search utility with much broader “mainstream” ambitions and appeal.
http://searchengineland.com/foursquare-takes-on-yelp-directly-with-new-homepage-search-box-136546

Nintendo Wii Bundle Drops to $130 Ahead of Wii U Launch, Includes a Second Game
With Nintendo getting ready to roll out its next generation Wii U console on November 18, 2012, the company decided now was a good time to cut the price of its existing Wii hardware, or at least to announce it. Effective October 28, you’ll be able to snag a black Wii bundle for $130 (MSRP), down $20 from the previous price. To sweeten the pot, Nintendo found room on the included Wii Sports disc to also hold a second title, Wii Sports Resort.
http://hothardware.com/News/Nintendo-Wii-Bundle-Drops-to-130-Ahead-of-Wii-U-Launch-Includes-a-Second-Game/

Muslims protest ‘age of mockery’ as thousands descend on Google HQ
A protest by 10,000 Muslims outside the offices of Google in London today is just the first in an orchestrated attempt to force the company to remove an anti-Islamic film from website YouTube in Britain.
Thousands had travelled from as far afield as Glasgow to take part in the demonstration, ahead of a planned million-strong march in Hyde Park in coming weeks.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9607763/Muslims-protest-age-of-mockery-as-thousands-descend-on-Google-HQ.html

Acer Windows 8 all-in-ones launching October 26th from $999, touchscreens available too
Acer has announced availability and pricing information for its Aspire 5600U and 7600U all-in-ones, first seen at Computex 2012. Pricing for the 23-inch 5600U model will start from $999.99 and begin shipping on October 26th, with the machine supporting up to an Intel Core i5 3110M. Integrated Intel HD graphics come as standard, as does 8GB of DDR3 RAM and 1TB of hard drive space. The 27-inch 7600U version, meanwhile, won’t be made available until “late November,” priced from $1,899.99. The larger model can support up to a Core i5 3210M, with graphics duties handled by Nvidia’s GT640M with 2GB of RAM. Just like its smaller sibling, the 27-inch model ships with a 1TB hard drive and 8GB of RAM.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/15/3505508/acer-all-in-ones-windows-8-multitouch

State-Sponsored Malware ‘Flame’ Has Smaller, More Devious Cousin
Researchers have uncovered new nation-state espionage malware that has ties to two previous espionage tools known as Flame and Gauss, and that appears to be a “high-precision, surgical attack tool” targeting victims in Lebanon, Iran and elsewhere.

Researchers at Kaspersky Lab, who discovered the malware, are calling the new malware miniFlame, although the attackers who designed it called it by two other names – “SPE” and “John.” MiniFlame seems to be used to gain control of and obtain increased spying capability over select computers originally infected by the Flame and Gauss spyware.
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/10/miniflame-espionage-tool/

Tvinci raises $4.5 million to pitch its mobile TV platform worldwide
Israeli technology vendor Tvinci is taking on a $4.5 million investment to seek out global clients for its internet TV apps platform.

TV and telco operators are busy considering the range of innovative options for mobile live and on-demand viewing, social sharing, remote controlling and other scenarios.
http://paidcontent.org/2012/10/15/tvinci-raises-4-5-million-to-pitch-its-mobile-tv-platform-worldwide

Samsung official cites serious chip rift with Apple — report
Samsung’s multibillion dollar component supplier partnership with Apple is beginning to unravel, according to a South Korea-based report, which quotes a Samsung official.
Though Samsung makes Apple’s newest A6 chip used in the iPhone 5, the relationship between the two companies has changed substantially, according to a report in Korea Times.
“Apple…has made it clear it will no longer use its rival’s technology, according to a senior Samsung official,” the report said.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57532126-37/samsung-official-cites-serious-chip-rift-with-apple-report/

Internet Ad Revenues Rise to Historic $17 Billion in First Half 2012, Up 14% Over Half-Year 2011, According to IAB
In the first half of 2012, internet advertising revenues climbed to an all-time high of $17 billion, representing a 14 percent increase year-over-year, according to IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report released today by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and prepared by PwC US. This performance is compared to the landmark $14.9 billion reported for the first six months of 2011.

Also marking a 14 percent year-over-year increase, second quarter internet ad revenues for this year hit $8.7 billion, up from $7.7 billion during the same time period in 2011.
http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/recent_press_releases/press_release_archive/pr-101112

Shares of Workday soar 72 percent in trading debut
Shares of Workday Inc soared 72 percent in their market debut on Friday, as the market for enterprise software grows.

The Pleasanton, California-based company, considered a leader in the cloud computing sector, opened New York Stock Exchange trading at $48.05 and reached as high as $49.21 after pricing shares above the expected range at $28.00. It sold 22.75 million shares, raising $637 million.

Earlier in the week, Workday raised its price range to $24 to $26 per share from $21 to $24 per share.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/12/us-workday-debut-idUSBRE89B0U920121012

Microsoft reportedly spending over $1 billion on Windows 8 marketing blitz
It’s no secret that Microsoft is planning a big marketing campaign around Windows 8, but one estimate suggests that the company could be willing to spend between $1.5 and $1.8 billion. The huge sum, reported by Forbes, would be around triple the amount that the company allegedly spent on its Windows Phone 7 launch two years ago.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/12/3492648/windows-8-marketing-campaign-ads-rumor

Firefox readies Social API beta test with Facebook Messenger integration
Mozilla has revealed that it has added “preliminary support” for its new Social API to the Firefox Beta for Windows, Mac and Linux as it plans to open up testing of the tool in coming weeks in collaboration with Facebook and its Messenger product.

Back in March, Mozilla tipped its plans to develop a Social API, noting that it had been “experimenting” with social features in the Firefox browser. The foundation offered a progress update in July by sending the first elements of the APi to the Firefox development repository.
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/10/12/firefox-readies-social-api-beta-test-with-facebook-messenger-integration/

Cisco accuses Huawei of misstating findings of 10-year-old litigation
Adding more intrigue to this week’s suspicion of Chinese telecommunications companies, Cisco has accused Huawei of misrepresenting the findings of litigation between the two companies almost 10 years ago.

In a blog post published today, Cisco General Counsel Mark Chandler accused Huawei of misstating the facts about the case in recent remarks by its chief representative in the U.S. The litigation centered around Huawei’s unauthorized use of Cisco source code in Huawei routers.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/101112-cisco-huawei-litigation-263305.html

Apple agrees on licensing terms for use of iconic Swiss clock design
Apple has agreed to pay the Swiss national railway (SBB) for use of its iconic clock design in iOS 6′s Clock application. Last month, Apple was accused of plagiarizing the design, made famous by watchmaker Mondaine, and an SBB spokesperson said that it would be seeking “an amicable agreement and compensation” from the electronics giant. That agreement didn’t take too long to materialize, as SBB today announced that the two companies have agreed upon and signed a licensing agreement. Neither company has disclosed how much the agreement is costing Apple.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/12/3492896/apple-sbb-licensing-agreement-ios-6-clock-app

Dell hits Windows 8 PC pre-order market with a bang
It would appear that Dell wants to get in on the party early with three Windows 8 computers it’s putting up for pre-order here this morning for a release date “soon after Windows 8 is officially available on October 26.” With the XPS 12 convertible laptop, the XPS One 27 All-in-one, and the Inspiron One 23 All-in-one ready for action, you’ll not be left wanting for the Windows 8 touch-capable environment in all its glory. This release will be strictly pre-order inside the United States on Friday, the 12th of October (today), with releases of the actual physical devices aimed nearer the end of this month.
http://www.slashgear.com/dell-hits-windows-8-pc-pre-order-market-with-a-bang-12251565/

As mobile rises, desktop search declines for the first time
In a sign of the mobile-centric times, desktop Web search declined in September for the first time since Macquarie Group began tracking it in 2006.

ComScore data for September showed that searches declined 4 percent year over year, according to a note Macquarie sent to clients. Growth rates in search have been slowing since February, when searches were up 14 percent. The increasing number of mobile searches appears to be the biggest reason for the decline, Macquarie analysts said in their report.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57530726-93/as-mobile-rises-desktop-search-declines-for-the-first-time/

Apple Has Quietly Started Tracking iPhone Users Again, And It’s Tricky To Opt Out
Apple’s launch of the iPhone 5 in September came with a bunch of new commercials to promote the device.
But Apple didn’t shout quite so loud about an enhancement to its new mobile operating system, iOS 6, which also occurred in September: The company has started tracking users so that advertisers can target them again, through a new tracking technology called IFA or IDFA.
http://www.businessinsider.com/ifa-apples-iphone-tracking-in-ios-6-2012-10?op=1

Exclusive: EBay tests deals on services, takes on Groupon
EBay Inc has been quietly testing an online marketplace for deals on local services, expanding into a multibillion- dollar market currently led by Groupon Inc.

EBay is also re-designing its website, adding Facebook-like features it hopes will spur more sales.

Called eBay Lifestyle Deals, the offers are being run in a limited number of urban areas, including the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles and Washington D.C., according to the company.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/10/us-ebay-groupon-idUSBRE89916L20121010

Google’s Mod_Pagespeed Is Now Out Of Beta And Ready To Make Your Sites Faster
Google just released the first stable version of mod_pagespeed, the company’s open-source module for Apache that can automatically optimize your web pages to improve download and rendering speeds. With this release, Google is declaring this tool ready for broader adoption, though it’s worth noting that a number of large hosting providers like DreamHost, Go Daddy and content delivery network EdgeCast have already been using it in production for quite a while now.

Mod_pagespeed is one of Google’s many initiatives to make the web faster. The module applies up to 40 different optimization filters. It can, for example, optimize your images by compressing and resizing them automatically. Other optimizations include domain sharing and rewriting, CSS and JavaScript concatenation and minification, as well as deferred loading of images and JavaScript.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/10/googles-mod_pagespeed-is-now-out-of-beta-and-ready-to-make-your-sites-faster/

Softbank in Advanced Talks to Acquire Sprint Nextel
Japanese mobile carrier Softbank Corp. is in advanced talks to buy a substantial stake in Sprint Nextel Corp., the third-largest U.S. network operator said Thursday.

The terms couldn’t be determined, but a person with knowledge of the negotiations said the deal could could exceed $12.8 billion in value. It wasn’t immediately clear whether Softbank might try to buy all of Sprint, which has a market capitalization of $15 billion, but Sprint said the investment could result in a change of control at the U.S. carrier.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444799904578050104132737498.html

iPod Touch 5th Generation Teardown
We got our hands on Apple’s new iPod Touch. First thing we do: get inside to see just how much “funner” the new generation is compared to the older generations.
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPod+Touch+5th+Generation+Teardown/10803

A $12 Billion Move In Apple Stock Seems To Have Started With Tweets From A Single Anonymous Source In China
Apple’s stock dropped 2.21 percent on Monday.
A few analysts blamed the drop — worth more than $12 billion — on a strike of 4,000 Chinese workers at Apple’s manufacturer.
http://www.businessinsider.com/a-12-billion-move-in-apple-stock-seems-to-have-started-with-tweets-from-a-single-anonymous-source-in-china-2012-10?op=1

Google Starts To Downplay Zagat Scores; It Should Ditch Them Altogether
Google is changing the way it collects local business reviews and displays them in search results, making the Zagat score a less prominent piece of information.

That’s a good thing in my opinion, and many people — myself included — hope it’s the first step toward the complete removal of the Zagat system in Google’s local business ecosystem.
http://searchengineland.com/google-starts-to-downplay-zagat-scores-it-should-ditch-them-altogether-136099

Eric Schmidt Would Love to Be CEO of Apple, Doesn’t Take Microsoft Seriously and Is Wary of Facebook
In an interview with AllThingsD, Eric Schmidt answered a fun question from the audience: If he had to be CEO again, would he choose Apple, Amazon or Facebook? Schmidt chose Apple. He also dissed Microsoft and keeps mentioning Facebook’s billion users.
http://gizmodo.com/5950793

No Filter: How Instagram Caused Hipstamatic To Lose Focus And Gamble On Social
The inside story of Hipstamatic’s struggle to keep pace in the white-hot photo-sharing space. In part two of the saga, Facebook’s billion-dollar acquisition of Instagram rattles Hipstamatic, which fumbles through a series of half-baked products and social features that never stick.
http://www.fastcompany.com/3002034/no-filter-how-instagram-caused-hipstamatic-lose-focus-and-gamble-social

EU digital chief attacks Do Not Track ‘watering down’
European digital chief Neelie Kroes has lashed out at advertisers and others who are trying to keep tracking web users, no matter whether or not they opt out of being followed in this way.

The nascent Do Not Track (DNT) standard is supposed to allow people to opt out of having their web-surfing tracked through cookies, which are frequently used to target advertising at those users. DNT is implemented through a browser setting, which tells websites what the user’s preference is. All the widely-used browsers, except for Google’s Chrome, implement it in some form.
http://www.zdnet.com/eu-digital-chief-attacks-do-not-track-watering-down-7000005605/

Logitech unveils Windows 8 peripherals: two mice, one touchpad, lots of gestures
Logitech today unveiled three new desktop accessories designed specifically for Windows 8 — the Touchpad T650, Touch Mouse T620, and the Zone Touch Mouse T400. All three will be available in the US and Europe this month, with the Touchpad priced at $79.99, the Touch Mouse T620 at $69.99, and the T400 at $49.99.

The wireless Touchpad T650, which Logitech began developing along with its new mice earlier this year, features a spacious, smooth glass surface. Placing one finger anywhere on the display activates the cursor, adding a second finger controls horizontal and vertical swiping, and three-finger sliding brings you back to the Start Screen. Sliding from the right side of the Touchpad allows you to access charms, while sliding from the left lets you switch between and pin open apps. The entire device is rechargeable via micro USB, with a single charge providing up to one month of battery life.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/10/3482312/logitech-announces-touchpad-t650-zone-touch-mouse-t620-t400-hands-on

Deezer expands its music platform to 160 countries, launches free service to match Spotify
Celebrating its first birthday in the UK, music streaming service Deezer today announced that it has expanded availability even further worldwide and will now be available in 160 countries, updating its website and mobile apps and taking its service free to match its more high-profile rival Spotify.

At an event in London’s Abbey Road Studios (the very same studio made famous by The Beatles), Deezer CEO Axel Dauchez unveiled his company’s latest attempts at reducing levels of piracy and getting people to enjoy music beyond the MP3.
http://thenextweb.com/media/2012/10/10/deezer-expands-its-music-platform-to-160-countries-launches-free-service-to-match-spotify/

Four Windows 8 video ads leak, show you how to use the OS
You know you have been waiting to see if Microsoft would launch a video ad campaign for Windows 8. Today, the Israel-based website Techit.co.il claims to have received not one but four TV commercials that promote Windows 8.

The four commercials each run for just under a minute and show off various features of Windows 8 and much of the footage shows Windows 8 running on a tablet. To be fair, Windows 8 is also shown running on a laptop and desktop PC as well, but the emphasis is definitely on the touch screen-themed “Modern” user interface.
http://www.neowin.net/news/four-windows-8-video-ads-leak-show-you-how-to-use-the-os

Confirmed: Apple-owned fingerprint software exposes Windows passwords
Security consultants have independently confirmed a serious security weakness that makes it trivial for hackers with physical control of many computers sold by Dell, Acer, and at least 14 other manufacturers to quickly recover Windows account passwords.

The vulnerability is contained in multiple versions of fingerprint-reading software known as UPEK Protector Suite. In July, Apple paid $356 million to buy Authentec, the Melbourne, Florida-based company that acquired the technology from privately held UPEK in 2010. The weakness came to light no later than September, but Apple has yet to acknowledge it or warn end users how to work around it. No one has accused Apple of being responsible for the underlying design of fingerprint-reading software.
http://arstechnica.com/security/2012/10/confirmed-fingerprint-reader-owned-by-apple-exposes-windows-passwords/

Groupon debuts new Breadcrumb iPad payment and management service in the US in pursuit of Square
Following the acquisition of Breadcrumb back in May, daily deals giant Groupon has today launched its new iPad payment system of the same name in the US, in an attempt will help businesses take payments and become more efficient and leverage some market share away from payment rival Square.

In a post on Groupon’s official blog, Breadcrumb’s General Manager Seth Harris says that Groupon’s new iPad-based service will streamline all activity at local restaurants, cafes and bars, helping employees take and manage orders, book tables and process payments. The service will also provide reports on sales, helping companies fine-tune their business operations.
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/10/10/groupon-debuts-new-breadcrumb-ipad-payment-and-management-service-in-the-us-in-pursuit-of-square/

Developers: We warned Apple about iOS maps quality
To the casual observer it might appear that Apple was caught off guard by just how bad its in-house maps app was. But the company had plenty of warning.
Developers have been complaining about Apple’s Maps since shortly after they were given the first pre-release version in early June, CNET has learned. They say they filed bug requests, sent e-mails to specific Apple employees, and vented on message boards only other developers and Apple could see.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57529147-37/developers-we-warned-apple-about-ios-maps-quality/

New Video Breaks Down How An Apple Patent Stomps All Over The 1st Amendment
A patent granted to Apple in late-August allows governments to disable iPhones and other smartphones, targeting specific apps even, when they enter what is deemed a “sensitive” area.
U.S. Patent No. 8,254,902, titled “Apparatus and methods for enforcement of policies upon a wireless device,” enables phone policies to be set to change “one or more functional or operational aspects of a wireless device … upon the occurrence of a certain event.”
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-patent-government-control-phones-2012-10?op=1

To Keep Passwords Safe from Hackers, Just Break Them into Bits
A new way for websites and other online services to store passwords could prevent breaches like the one that resulted in 6.5 million LinkedIn users having their passwords posted online earlier this year.

That kind of data dump happens when an attacker gains access to the server storing user passwords. Researchers at computer security company RSA have created a system that splits passwords in two and stores each half in different locations. The two halves never come together, even when a person logs in and has his password verified. That should make it harder for someone to steal them, because a thief would need to break into both those servers, which can be protected in different ways.
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/429498/to-keep-passwords-safe-from-hackers-just-break/

Facebook Fought SEC to Keep Mobile Risks Hidden Before IPO
When Facebook Inc. (FB) filed its proposal Feb. 1 to go public, it touted the effectiveness of ads linked to customers’ friends, citing research from Nielsen, the audience-counting company.

Barbara Jacobs, an assistant director for corporation finance at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, was skeptical, as she and her staff vetted the filing to ensure Facebook had disclosed all material information to investors. The claim appeared to be drawn from marketing materials, not a Nielsen study, she wrote to Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman, 42.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-10/facebook-fought-sec-to-keep-mobile-risks-hidden-before-ipo-crash.html

Microsoft: 76% of pirates trying to get free software end up with malware infecting their PCs
Microsoft this week announced the release the 13th volume of its bi-annual Security Intelligence Report (SIRv13, PDF). The 146-page document looks at malware (and general security) trends for the first half of 2012.

One of the biggest shifts, according to Microsoft, has been the growth of key generators and its link with the spread of malware. The software giant found that Win32/Keygen, which represents key generators, was the most commonly reported threat family between January 2012 and June 2012. It was detected by Redmond nearly 5 million times, and so the software giant is warning pirates to avoid them.
http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2012/10/09/microsoft-76-of-pirates-trying-to-get-free-software-end-up-with-malware-infecting-their-pcs/

Zynga executive overseeing key poker game departs
Zynga Inc’s executive overseeing its key poker game has quit, hitting the gamemaker in a particularly vulnerable spot as it struggles with a steady employee exodus and falling revenue.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/09/us-zynga-exodus-idUSBRE89802R20121009

Notes on my work at Twitter
There was a great profile in the New York Times about Twitter’s CEO, Dick Costolo, which mentioned my work at the company. It’s not a common arrangement, so I’d like to clarify a few points.
http://jacks.tumblr.com/post/33231935532/notes-on-my-work-at-twitter

Copyright Scofflaws Beware: ISPs to Begin Monitoring Illicit File Sharing
The nation’s major internet service providers by year’s end will institute a so-called six-strikes plan, the “Copyright Alert System” initiative backed by the Obama administration and pushed by Hollywood and the major record labels to disrupt and possibly terminate internet access for online copyright scofflaws.
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/10/isp-file-sharing-monitoring/

Avoiding Facebook Fate Is Twitter CFO Goal on Way to IPO
Ali Rowghani got a voice mail on his mobile phone from Steve Jobs on a Saturday in early 2010. The Apple Inc. (AAPL) co-founder wanted to keep Rowghani, then chief financial officer at Walt Disney Co. (DIS)’s Pixar, from leaving to become finance chief at Twitter Inc.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-09/avoiding-facebook-fate-is-twitter-cfo-goal-on-way-to-ipo.html

New iPod Touch and iPod Nano Begin Shipping, Photos and Benchmarks Posted
Numerous MacRumors readers have reported that their orders for Apple’s new fifth-generation iPod touch and seventh-generation iPod nano have shipped, with delivery due for late this week or early next week. The news is in line with last week’s reports that orders were being prepared for shipment and claims of an official October 9 launch date.
http://www.macrumors.com/2012/10/09/new-ipod-touch-and-ipod-nano-begin-shipping-photos-and-benchmarks-posted/

AOL relaunches Games.com with a library of 5,000 titles, designed with a “mobile first mentality”
It has been more than six years since AOL acquired Games.com from the now-defunct Infogrames, former parent company of Atari. The ailing Infogrames offloaded a number of its assets for around $25m, with the company formerly known as America Online snapping up the aforementioned gaming site for an undisclosed figure, thus making it a division of AOL.
http://thenextweb.com/media/2012/10/09/aol-relaunches-games-com-with-a-library-of-5000-titles-designed-with-a-mobile-first-mentality/?quot;mobile%20first%20mentality%22&awesm=tnw.to_n5TX

Invites Go Out For Microsoft’s U.K. Windows Phone 8 Event: WP8 To Get ‘Big Reveal’ On October 29
Invites have just gone out for a Microsoft press event to introduce its new Windows Phone 8 mobile operating system. An end of October unveiling for the next generation of WP had been expected but today the date has been confirmed as October 29 — or at least that’s when a London press event will be held.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/09/invites-go-out-for-microsofts-windows-phone-8-event/

Advertising Becomes Amazon’s Newest Low-Price Weapon
There’s no more customer-obsessed company than Amazon, which has long forsaken high profits in pursuit of giving shoppers the best possible experience and the lowest possible price. Now Amazon wants to make advertising the latest weapon in its arsenal.
http://adage.com/article/digital/advertising-amazon-s-newest-low-price-weapon/237630/

Julian Assange to publish book about freedom and the future of the internet
Julian Assange’s last foray into the publishing world ended in an acrimonious and highly costly dispute, after he withdrew from his million-pound contract and his publishers released a draft autobiography manuscript against his wishes.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/oct/08/julian-assange-internet-book

GM to add 1,500 information tech jobs in Michigan
General Motors Co said on Monday it will create 1,500 jobs at a new software development center in Michigan as part of the U.S. automaker’s previously announced plan to shift information technology work back into the company.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/08/us-gm-jobs-idUSBRE8970JA20121008

The Patent, Used as a Sword
When Apple announced last year that all iPhones would come with a voice-activated assistant named Siri, capable of answering spoken questions, Michael Phillips’s heart sank.

For three decades, Mr. Phillips had focused on writing software to allow computers to understand human speech. In 2006, he had co-founded a voice recognition company, and eventually executives at Apple, Google and elsewhere proposed partnerships. Mr. Phillips’s technology was even integrated into Siri itself before the digital assistant was absorbed into the iPhone.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/08/technology/patent-wars-among-tech-giants-can-stifle-competition.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1&

Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and others join forces to launch new Web standards resource
In an attempt to create the “definitive resource” for all open Web technologies, Apple, Adobe, Facebook, Google, HP, Microsoft, Mozilla, Nokia, and Opera have joined the W3C to launch a new website called ‘Web Platform‘

The new website will serve a a single source of relevant, up-to-date and quality information on the latest HTML5, CSS3, and other Web standards, offering tips on web development and best practises for the technologies.
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/10/08/apple-facebook-google-microsoft-and-others-join-forces-to-launch-new-web-standards-resource/

Microsoft Points phased out in favor of cash in Windows 8
Microsoft has started to remove its Points payments system as the default way to pay for music downloads and movie rentals or purchases in Windows 8. The recent change affects the way Windows 8 users will pay for digital content in the operating system. Previously, in Windows 8 betas, Microsoft used its Points system for all Video purchases and rentals.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/8/3472612/microsoft-points-windows-8-rental-purchases

Can Marissa Mayer Really Have It All?
There comes a moment in every very ambitious person’s life when she sees with perfect clarity that the path before her is blocked. For Marissa Mayer, Google employee No. 20 and Silicon Valley’s reigning “geek queen,” this moment occurred last year, when her former boyfriend, Google co-founder Larry Page, kicked her off the company’s elite operating committee, to which she had been appointed the previous year.
http://nymag.com/thecut/2012/10/marissa-mayer-yahoo-ceo.html

China Tech Giant Under Fire
Chinese telecommunications giant that has been attempting to expand in the U.S. poses a national-security threat and may have violated U.S. laws, according to a congressional investigation.
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10000872396390443615804578041931689859530-lMyQjAxMTAyMDAwNzAwODc3Wj.html

YouTube, Which Wants More TV Dollars, Pays Up for More “Channels”
YouTube is ramping up its channel experiment.

Google is funding a new batch of video-makers to join the 100 it launched in the last year. And it’s making an international push, by adding content for the U.K., German and French versions of the site.
http://allthingsd.com/20121007/youtube-which-wants-more-tv-dollars-pays-up-for-more-channels/

What Happened to the Facebook Killer? It’s Complicated
It’s impossible to grasp the consequences or outcomes of new technology, especially when that technology is developed by a twenty-something hacker.

That much was already clear in January 2010, when Mark Zuckerberg told TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington that Facebook isn’t just a place to connect with your friends. It was a place to be more public than ever before. “People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people. That social norm is just something that has evolved over time,” he said. “But we viewed that as a really important thing, to always keep a beginner’s mind and what would we do if we were starting the company now and we decided that these would be the social norms now and we just went for it.”
http://motherboard.vice.com/2012/10/2/what-happened-to-the-facebook-killer-it-s-complicated

Sprint Customers Can Get Their Own Vanity Number — If They Want to Pony Up $3 a Month
Sprint will be the first carrier to offer customers the option to get their own StarStar Me vanity number.

For $3 a month, Sprint customers can pick a combination of numbers to spell out their name, their favorite team or just about any other five-to-10-number configuration. People calling from any major mobile phone carrier can then dial simply “star star” and the chosen vanity name to reach the caller.
http://allthingsd.com/20121008/sprint-customers-can-get-their-own-vanity-number-if-they-want-to-pony-up-3-a-month/

BBC Builds Out Its iPlayer Empire With iPlayer Radio, New iOS And Web Apps For Radio Service
Another digital step forward for the UK’s BBC today, this time involving the corporation’s radio assets: the state-owned broadcaster today is launching iPlayer Radio a new, integratedmobile web and desktop app, along with a new standalone iPlayer Radio iOS app, significantly ramping up the functionality of its radio business on digital platforms with more video, better navigation and improved on-demand options. The web app will be universally available — that is, across multiple mobile and desktop platforms, and all geographies — while the native app experience for now will be restricted to iPhone and iPad devices, and the UK only. All services, for now, are totally free to use.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/08/bbc-builds-out-its-iplayer-empire-with-new-ios-and-web-apps-for-radio-service/

Apple’s Lightning to 30-Pin Adapter Begins Shipping
Apple has just begun notifying the first wave of customers who ordered the company’s new Lightning to 30-pin Adapter that their orders are now shipping. MacRumors has received word from several readers located in Australia that their orders are now in transit, with one reader’s shipping notification indicating that his shipment is due to be delivered on October 9.
http://www.macrumors.com/2012/10/08/apples-lightning-to-30-pin-adapter-begins-shipping/

Google Launching AdWords Business Credit Card To Boost SMB Search Ad Spend, Starting First In UK, Extending To U.S.
When small businesses need to make investments in IT or other operations, it’s often the companies selling them the goods that help with financing solutions. Now it looks like Google is using that model to help drive more dollars to AdWords search advertising. Google says that from Monday it is launching a new service in the UK, AdWords Business Credit, which offers credit to companies specifically in the SMB sector to boost their online ad spend with the company.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/07/google-launching-adwords-business-credit-card-to-boost-smb-search-ad-spend-starting-first-in-uk-extending-to-u-s/

Square hits Starbucks in early-November; Save your tips until Summer 2013
Starbucks will kick off its Square payments system in early November, with the system expanding to support digital tipping for your favorite barista in summer 2013. The news follows the addition of Starbucks loyalty card to Apple’s Passbook in iOS 6, and will see around 7,000 US locations taking the Square Wallet payments from next month.
http://www.slashgear.com/square-hits-starbucks-in-early-november-save-your-tips-until-summer-2013-05250490/

Apple’s new iOS 6 Maps support automatic offline use for a wide area
Vector maps in iOS 6 are so efficient that Apple can cache a very large surrounding area for offline browsing and GPS navigation under Airplane Mode or when traveling outside of data coverage.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/10/05/apples-new-ios-6-maps-support-automatic-offline-use-for-a-wide-area

Feds charge 11 over $50m secret tech exports to Russia
n unsealed federal indictment suggests $50m worth of microprocessors and other high-tech kit were illegally shipped to Russia, with possible uses including missile guidance systems and detonation triggers.
http://www.zdnet.com/secret-russian-ring-nabbed-for-shipping-50m-of-illegal-tech-exports-7000005226/

Viewpoint: Steve Jobs is missed by Silicon Valley
You hear it on stages, like when Marc Benioff, chief executive and co-founder of Salesforce, urged 90,000 attendees at the firm’s Dreamforce conference to fill in the visionary hole that Steve Jobs left.

You hear it at cocktail parties. At one by Morgenthaler Ventures, for instance, Apple team members who worked on Siri talked about how they missed Steve Jobs yelling at people.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19834594

Bezos, CIA invest $30M in quantum computing startup
Jeff Bezos has put money into a robot factory worker, a 10,000 year clock and private car service. And he’s not done yet.

Bezos Expeditions and In-Q-Tel, the venture arm of the CIA, announced Thursday a $30 million investment in D-Wave Systems, a Vancouver-based company that develops quantum-computing applications.
http://www.geekwire.com/2012/bezos-cia-invest-30-million-quantum-computing-company/

High-Profile Facebook Comms VP Joe Lockhart Departs
Joe Lockhart, vice president of global communications at Facebook, will soon leave the company, AllThingsD has learned.

His departure comes nearly 15 months after he joined the company in July of last year, where he workedalongside Marne Levine, another Beltway insider who has served Facebook as VP of global public policy since 2010.
http://allthingsd.com/20121004/high-profile-facebook-comms-vp-joe-lockhart-departs/

Judge asks for input over fate of orphaned Megaupload data
A U.S. federal judge has asked for more information to plan an evidentiary hearing concerning the fate of terabytes of data held in limbo since the shutdown of the Megaupload file-sharing site.
http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=D1668EEC-E5A9-9536-B890D23722206494

Behind Facebook’s Emotional Ad From Wieden & Kennedy
Today, Faceboook announced that it had reached its billion-user milestone, and to celebrate, it has launched a poetic film from its agency of record, Wieden & Kennedy in Portland, Ore.

The film, titled “Things That Connect,” opens with a series of artful, emotional vignettes of people sitting and interacting on chairs — before moving on to other objects and events through which folks come together, such as a doorbell, airplanes, bridges or a basketball game. The point being, that all these things exist, perhaps, to remind us that we’re not alone. It was created by Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, Ore., which Facebook today also unveiled as its global agency of record.
http://adage.com/article/digital/facebook-emotional-spot-wieden-kennedy/237569/

China’s Huawei Considers an IPO
Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co. has reached out to investment banks for advice on issuing stock to the public, people familiar with the outreach said, as the company considers ways to make itself more transparent and improve its odds of winning big contracts in markets like the U.S.

The conversations with banks involve advice on how and where the telecom-equipment maker might list its stock and the types of disclosures it would have to make to facilitate such a step, the people said. The company hasn’t made a decision to proceed with an IPO or chosen a bank to handle such a transaction, the people said.
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10000872396390443493304578036860213855012-lMyQjAxMTAyMDAwNDAwODQ3Wj.html

Internet drug sale raids net £6.5m of medicines
A worldwide crack-down on the sale of fake and unlicensed medicines on the internet has netted £6.5m of drugs.

UK drug officials took part in a series of co-ordinated raids with Interpol and agencies from more than 100 different countries over the past nine days.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19826802

Group says it hacked systems at 100 major universities
A hacking group that calls itself Team GhostShell this week claimed credit for breaking into servers at 100 major universities from around the world, including Harvard, Stanford, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan.

In a message posted on Pastebin, the group said it accessed and publicly posted about 120,000 records from the breached servers.
http://m.itworld.com/security/300334/group-says-it-hacked-systems-100-major-universities

Facebook’s ‘Next Billion’: A Q&A With Mark Zuckerberg
In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook (FB) from his Harvard University dorm room, hoping to see what his classmates were up to on campus. The following eight years brought international fame, unimaginable wealth, a hit Hollywood movie, a disastrous initial public offering, a sagging stock price—and one unprecedented achievement. On Sept. 14, the company reached 1 billion active users. In an exclusive interview with Bloomberg Businessweek’s Brad Stone and Ashlee Vance, Zuckerberg reflected on the milestone and what’s next for his company as it resurfaces from a wave of negativity.
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-04/facebooks-next-billion-a-q-and-a-with-mark-zuckerberg

Siri’s strange movie reviews: it’s tough being a robot
You may or may not have noticed that sometimes Siri says crazy things. We recently noticed that Siri summarizes movies in a pretty funny way, too. Siri seems to have a distinct preference for Sci-Fi (who can blame her?), though she also has a few words to say about the classic Wizard of Oz, as well as Pixar’s Toy Story.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/3/3449916/siris-strange-movie-reviews-its-tough-being-a-robot

Google denied summary judgment in patent dispute with Vringo
Mobile phone software maker Vringo Inc’s shares jumped 39 percent on Wednesday after a judge denied Google Inc a motion for summary judgment in a patent dispute.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/03/us-vringo-lawsuit-google-idUSBRE8921D920121003?irpc=932

First 2012 Presidential Debate Saw 10.3M Tweets And Gave Politics A New Dimension
Yes, we know that tonight was a record-setting night for Twitter. The first 2012 Presidential Debate was the most tweeted about political event in company history. Whether you care or not, this is significant and worth noting.

We’re seeing a shift in not only media, but in major historical moments like political campaigns. What Twitter does is add a new dimension of participation, allowing people from all over the world to share their thoughts and feelings in real-time about something that’s really important. In this case, it’s the next President of the United States.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/04/first-2012-presidential-debate-saw-10-3m-tweets-and-gave-politics-a-new-dimension/

Evasive action: How The Pirate Bay four dodged Swedish justice—for a while
On April 17, 2009, the four Swedish men behind file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay (TPB)—Fredrik “tiamo” Neij, Peter “brokep” Sunde, Gottfrid “anakata” Svartholm Warg, and their original financial backer Carl Lundström—were found guilty of aiding copyright infringement. A Swedish trial court ordered them each to serve a year in prison and to pay a collective fine of 30 million Swedish kroner ($4.5 million).
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/evasive-maneuvers-how-the-pirate-bay-founders-dodged-swedish-justice/

Pandora defeats privacy suit over Facebook integration
Judge throws out multibillion dollar suit arising from obscure CD-and-audiotape rental law, saying there’s no evidence anyone was actually harmed by Pandora’s integration with Facebook two years ago.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57525650-38/pandora-defeats-privacy-suit-over-facebook-integration/

Japan’s New Tech Generation
Every Wednesday, a bar in central Tokyo hosts an unusual speed-dating event. There are drinks and plenty of coy looks. But the young people at the bar aren’t here for romance.

“I want to meet like-minded people — basically, people who get the Internet,” said Shingo Hiranuma, 29, a former smartphone engineer at Toshiba who recently introduced a new map application, Sanpo. “And I won’t settle for just anyone.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/04/technology/a-new-tech-generation-defies-the-o

Facebook officially passes 1 billion monthly active users
As expected, Facebook today announced it has passed the 1 billion user milestone. This makes Facebook the first social network to reach the 10-figure mark; one out of every seven individuals on the planet now use the service.
http://thenextweb.com/facebook/2012/10/04/facebook-hits-1-billion-active-users/