Techmeme ─ Nathan Ingraham / The Verge: AMD prepping ultrathin laptops to compete with Intel's ultrabooks  —  When AMD announced it was planning to shift focus in 2012, many assumed it was moving towards phones and tablets, but the company's stated it intends to power an “ultrathin” line of laptops that competes with Intel's ultrabook line.

Techmeme ─ Roger Cheng / CNET News: AT&T, Verizon test 4G LTE Nokia Lumia phone  —  A version of Nokia's Lumia 800 with 4G LTE is in labs at AT&T and Verizon right now.  —  Behind the scenes, Nokia is making some headway with the big two carriers in the U.S.  —  The Finnish handset vendor, eager for a comeback …

Techmeme ─ Eric Slivka / MacRumors: Apple Releases iTunes 10.5.2 with iTunes Match and Audio Distortion Fixes  —  Apple today released iTunes 10.5.2, an update bringing improvements to iTunes Match and fixes for an audio distortion issue experienced with certain CDs. … The download is currently available via Apple's downloads page …

Techmeme ─ Meghan Kelly / VentureBeat: Google removes 22 Andriod apps due to RuFraud mobile attack  —  Google has removed 22 applications from its Android marketplace in the past week due to RuFraud, a new mobile threat aimed at European users.  —  Lookout Mobile, a security firm focused on the smartphone, alerted Google …

Techmeme ─ Douglas MacMillan / Bloomberg: AOL Will Combine Dial-Up, Web Services in Reorganization  —  AOL Inc. (AOL) Chief Executive Officer Tim Armstrong plans to reorganize the company to combine its dial-up Internet access business with its Web services, including AOL Instant Messenger.  —  The new AOL services group …

Techmeme ─ Brad McCarty / The Next Web: The FBI is using Carrier IQ data in investigations?  Not so fast...  It probably wouldn't come as a surprise if the FBI were to use data from Carrier IQ, but there's no need for alarm, just yet.  However, that's contrary to what's being reported elsewhere, so let's take a moment to clear the air.

Techmeme ─ Billy Steele / Engadget: ASUS delays Transformer Prime's release until WiFi fix is found (update: Prime to be released the week of 12/19)  —  If you were hoping to get you hands on a Transformer Prime this month, prepare to be disappointed.  After hearing rumors of the ASUS slate's delay due to Wifi issues …

Techmeme ─ Ina Fried / AllThingsD: Exclusive: Microsoft Replaces Lees as Head of Windows Phone Business  —  Microsoft is moving the current head of its Windows Phone business, Andy Lees, to a new role, AllThingsD has learned.  —  Terry Myerson, the corporate VP who has led engineering efforts for the phone unit …

Techmeme ─ Ernesto / TorrentFreak: Wikipedia Mulls Total Blackout to Oppose SOPA  —  Later this week, the Senate's House Judiciary Committee will vote on the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA).  —  Supporters of the bill say it's needed to safeguard the interests of rightsholders who claim their businesses are threatened by online piracy.

Techmeme ─ Jesus Diaz / Gizmodo: A Very Rare Video of Steve Jobs Telling the History of Apple  —  This very rare video was recorded in the 1980s.  It shows Steve Jobs talking about the origin of Apple.  It's fascinating to see how he hints at the Next Big Thing, back when the Macintosh was still a secret project in development.

Techmeme ─ AppleInsider: Apple adds ability to delete individual Photo Stream pics in iOS 5.1 beta 2  —  Apple on Monday provided developers with a second beta of iOS 5.1, with the latest update granting the ability to delete individual photos synced to the iCloud Photo Stream feature.

Techmeme ─ Eric Slivka / MacRumors: Apple TV Set-Top Box Predicted to Sell 4 Million Units, Grab 32% Market Share in 2011  —  Market research firm Strategy Analytics today reported on the release of its new research report covering “connected TV players” such as the current Apple TV and Roku boxes.

Techmeme ─ Eric Slivka / MacRumors: Apple Obscures Future Device Hints in iOS 5.1 Beta 2 with Fake References  —  One popular hobby of those interested in discovering hints of Apple's future iOS devices has been the examination of various configuration files in each beta and public version of iOS for new entries referring to future iOS devices.

Techmeme ─ Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog: Microsoft iPad mania: New OneNote app today; new Lync app soon  —  Summary: The iPad-optimized version of Microsoft OneNote is out, and the Lync mobile client for the iPad, iPhone, Android and Symbian phones is coming “shortly.”  —  The early warning indicators were right.

Techmeme ─ LucianParfeni / Softpedia News: Firefox Source Code Is So Big, It Hit the 32-Bit Virtual Address Space Limit  —  Mozilla, or rather the Firefox team, is facing a somewhat unusual problem that is holding up development in some cases.  Firefox can't reliably be compiled because the linker runs out of virtual address space.

Techmeme ─ Michael Morisy / Muckrock: FBI: Carrier IQ files used for “law enforcement purposes”  —  The spook in your pocket  —  A recent FOIA request to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for “manuals, documents or other written guidance used to access or analyze data gathered by programs developed or deployed by Carrier IQ” was met with a telling denial.

Techmeme ─ Christian Zibreg / 9to5Mac: Apple tells MFI's to get busy building next-gen iOS accessories with Airplay over Bluetooth 4.0  —  AirPlay, a proprietary protocol by Apple allowing for worry-free wireless streaming of audio, video, photos and related metadata between certified devices, is about to gain an enhanced support …

Techmeme ─ Nicholas Carlson / Business Insider: Why Twitter Engineers And Execs Keep Quitting - One Insider's Explanation  —  From the outside, Twitter seems like its doing very well.  It has 2,400 advertisers and 100 million active users, 50 million of whom send 250 million tweets every day.  The company is worth $8 billion on secondary markets.

Techmeme ─ Jared Newman / PC World: Verizon Galaxy Nexus Found Early at Best Buy, Verizon  —  A handful of lucky shoppers report buying the Verizon Galaxy Nexus at Best Buy and Verizon retail stores ahead of the yet-to-be-announced official release.  But, before you run out the door to buy the Galaxy Nexus …

Techmeme ─ Ryan Kim / GigaOM: Isis selects Gemalto to manage mobile payments for NFC wallet  —  Isis, the near field communication mobile wallet venture from Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile, took another step forward with the announcement that it has selected SIM card maker and digital security specialist Gemalto as its trusted service manager (TSM) for the wallet.

Techmeme ─ The Droid Guy / Android Phones, Android Tablets …: Dutch Company Turns Google Street View Into A First Person Shooter  —  Imagine you're walking down the streets of New York City with an M4A1 assault rifle by your side.  You're not in cartoon format, you're not looking at computer aided animation but you're looking at real cabs, real people, real cars and real buildings.

Techmeme ─ Zeljka Zorz / Help Net Security: Personal info of US law enforcement agents published following hack  —  The official website (Clearusa.org) of the Coalition of Law Enforcement and Retail has been attacked by a hacker that goes by the handle of “Exphin1ty” who claims to be a member of Anonymous.

Techmeme ─ Stephen Grocer / Deal Journal: DoJ, AT&T Make Joint Request to Postpone Antitrust Case  —  The Justice Department, AT&T and T-Mobile USA have jointly asked a federal judge to postpone court proceedings in the government's challenge to the company's proposed merger.  —  The surprise move comes after the companies …

Techmeme ─ Tom Warren / WinRumors: Windows 8 app store screenshots leak, reveal download manager and demo apps  —  Windows Store in Windows 8 download manager  —  Images of Microsoft's Windows Store for Windows 8 leaked to the Internet on Monday.  —  The images show off Microsoft's Windows Store, part of the next-generation Windows operating system.

Techmeme ─ David Lieberman / Deadline: Netflix Shares Soaring On Report Of Sale Talks With Verizon  —  The video rental company's shares have spiked 6.8% in midday trading — an eye-popping standout on a day when the market's down about 2%.  The reason: website DealReporter says that Verizon is considering buying Netflix to get into the video streaming business.

Techmeme ─ Alex Sherman / Bloomberg: Dish Network Seeks to Partner With T-Mobile USA If AT&T Acquisition Fails  —  Dish Network Corp. (DISH), the second largest U.S. satellite-TV provider, is seeking to partner with T-Mobile USA if AT&T Inc. (T)'s takeover bid fails, Chief Executive Officer Joseph Clayton said in an interview.

Techmeme ─ Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog: What's in (and missing from) Microsoft's latest batch of Azure cloud updates  —  Summary: Microsoft has delivered a number of new quarterly updates to its Windows Azure and SQL Azure cloud platforms.  But some promised pieces still are missing in action.  —  Microsoft has rolled …

Techmeme ─ Thomas Houston / The Verge: Facebook more popular than Gmail, Search, Maps on Android, Nielsen finds  —  While a new study finds the Android Market app the most popular on Android across all age groups, Facebook dominates in the number two spot ahead of many of Google's other products.

Techmeme ─ Lance Whitney / CNET News: Apple's MacBook Air to dominate ultrabook market, says analyst  —  Apple's MacBook Air will generate huge sales and retain its dominant market share despite the growing onslaught of rival ultrabooks, says a new report from J.P. Morgan.  At least for now.  —  As other vendors try …

Techmeme ─ Ina Fried / AllThingsD: Google Working to Address Europe's Concerns About Motorola Mobility Deal  —  Google confirmed on Monday that the European Union has asked the company for more information as it reviews the search giant's plans to acquire Motorola Mobility.  —  The company characterized the request as routine …

Techmeme ─ Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat: How Zynga grew from gaming outcast to $9 billion social game powerhouse  —  Zynga has turned the video game world upside down in its short five-year history.  As it's poised on the verge of a massive initial public offering, the social game startup is now one of gaming's great success stories.

Techmeme ─ Cory Doctorow / Guardian: The pirates of YouTube  —  The real villains of YouTube are the multinational companies cashing in on public domain footage they claim is their own  —  When you hear about “piracy” in connection to YouTube, perhaps you think of the billion-dollar lawsuit brought by Viacom against the Google division …

Techmeme ─ Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog: Microsoft to allow open source apps in Windows 8 Store  —  Summary: Microsoft is providing a loophole in its Windows 8 Store developer agreement that allows for inclusion of OSI-licensed open source apps.  —  Microsoft is planning to allow applications licensed under Open Source Iniative …

Techmeme ─ GSMArena: EXCLUSIVE: Big Sony Ericsson Arc HD (Nozomi) live shots pop up  —  Now look what we found in our mailbox this morning.  We just received photos of the upcoming Sony Ericsson flagship and some specs to go with them.  Unfortunately, we didn't get the name cleared out so we don't know if the earlier …

Techmeme ─ Tom Warren / WinRumors: Microsoft: Windows Phone 7.5 does not support NFC, coming next year  —  NFC support for next-generation Windows Phones  —  Microsoft was forced on Monday to correct a previous statement it made on NFC support in Windows Phone 7.5.  —  The software giant mistakenly revealed the existence …

Techmeme ─ Eric Slivka / MacRumors: ‘Steve Jobs’ Tops Amazon's List of Best-Selling Print and Kindle Books for 2011  —  Last week, we noted that Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of Steve Jobs had become Amazon's top-selling book of 2011, a feat all the more notable due to the fact that the book was not released until late October.

Techmeme ─ Arik Hesseldahl / AllThingsD: Jive Software Will Start Trading Tuesday  —  Shares of Jive Software, the social enterprise and collaboration software company, will price today and will debut on the Nasdaq exchange tomorrow morning, sources familiar with the matter tell AllThingsD.  The debut will cap a process that began …

Techmeme ─ Jim Dalrymple / The Loop: Mac App Store downloads don't include Lion, updates or downloads to other Macs  —  Earlier today Apple released download figures for the Mac App Store.  The numbers were impressive to say the least, but they are even more impressive than we thought.  —  According to Apple …

Techmeme ─ Frederic Lardinois / SiliconFilter: Adblock Plus Will Soon Block Fewer Ads  —  AdBlock Plus, the popular ad-blocking plugin for Firefox and Chrome, will soon stop blocking “non-intrusive” ads by default.  AdBlock Plus, of course, became as popular as it is today because it scrubbed websites from intrusive …

Techmeme ─ Eric Slivka / MacRumors: Apple Pulls App for Creating Fake Driver's Licenses Following U.S. Senator's Complaint  —  The Coalition for a Secure Driver's License today announced that U.S. Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania has sent a letter to Apple requesting the removal of a free app that allows users to easily create digital fake IDs from the App Store.

Techmeme ─ John Biggs / TechCrunch: Amazon's Trojan Horse: Don't Underestimate The Kindle Fire  —  A number of prominent folks have been ripping into the Kindle Fire lately, claiming that it is slow, exhibits poor UX choices, and that consumers are returning them en masse.  Heck, even the affable Marco Arment writes …

Techmeme ─ Quentin Hardy / New York Times: Salesforce, a Leader in Cloud Computing, Draws Big Rivals  —  SAN FRANCISCO — For over a decade, Marc Benioff has had to listen to dismissals of the company he founded, Salesforce.com, as a marginal player in the business software industry.  —  But recently Salesforce has won the sincerest form …

Techmeme ─ Kate Rose / YouTube Blog: Opening up a world of educational content with YouTube for Schools  —  When I was in school during the 90s, watching videos in the classroom was a highlight of any week.  The teacher would roll in a television on a cart, pop in a VHS tape, and then we'd enjoy whatever scratchy science video …

Techmeme ─ Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune: Is DigiTimes trying to kill the iPad 2's Christmas sales?  —  No, but the steady flow of rumors about a new iPad just around the corner aren't helping  —  Remember what happened to iPhone 4 sales last summer?  They hit a wall in mid-July, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook, when “speculation” …

Techmeme ─ Ross Miller / The Verge: Nook Color update adds Netflix, comics, landscape reading, and more  —  Already the visual appearance between Nook Tablet and Nook Color made it hard to differentiate, and now with Color's version 1.41 update, the feature set is beginning to look decidedly similar to its successor.

Techmeme ─ Enigmax / TorrentFreak: Megaupload to Sue Universal, Joins Fight Against SOPA  —  Last Friday, file-hosting service Megaupload surprised the Internet by launching a campaign fronted by a Printz Board-produced song featuring some of the world's most prominent recording artists.  —  Needless to say, the spectacle of P Diddy …

Techmeme ─ Jennifer Preston / New York Times: Occupy Movement Shows Potential of Live Online Video  —  Brad Hunstable started Ustream, an online video platform, with a fellow West Point graduate back in 2007 to help American troops overseas communicate with multiple friends and family members at the same time.

Techmeme ─ Arik Hesseldahl / AllThingsD: Intel Slashes Sales Outlook by $1 Billion on Hard Drive Shortage  —  Chipmaker Intel just warned that fourth-quarter sales will come in below expectations because of hard drive shortages that are hurting the PC industry, and thus sales of its microprocessors.

Techmeme ─ Sarah Mitroff / VentureBeat: Cloud testing service Soasta secures another $12M in funding  —  Soasta, a cloud-based performance testing services company, has secured $12 million in its fourth round of funding.  This series D round was led by Jeff Webber through The Entrepreneurs' Fund III and existing investors Canaan Partners …

Techmeme ─ Aoife White / Bloomberg: Google, Motorola Mobility Review Temporarily Halted by EU  —  European Union regulators suspended their antitrust review of plans by Google Inc. (GOOG), the biggest maker of smartphone software, to buy Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. after requesting more information about the deal.