Good morning! Here’s this morning’s top tech headlines.
Amazon Could Become A Huge Tablet Player
At Business Insider, Dan Frommer wrote an excellent and insightful piece exploring the possibilities that lie ahead for Amazon. It already has an online store; it already makes good tablet hardware (albeit with limited functionality); it has a global distribution network; and Apple has already taken a pot-shot at it by suing over the use of “App Store.” Could Amazon create a tablet that threatens the iPad? An intriguing thought.
Link: Business Insider
Facebook bans 20,000 under-13s a day
An extraordinary revelation from a Facebook employee speaking before the Australian government’s cyber-safety committee: “Facebook removes 20,000 people a day, people who are underage.” That’s a lot of pre-teens desperate to join their older peers and siblings on the world’s most popular social network.
Link: The Telegraph
Groupon CEO quits
Groupon’s CEO and president Rob Solomon is stepping down, All Things D reports. The timing seems odd, given Groupon’s unstoppable growth and its potential public sale valuation just a few days ago, estimating a sale figure of as much as $25 billion dollars.
Link: All Things D
Unbloating Chrome
Stephen Shankland reports that Google has set up a team to de-bloat its Chrome browser, which has got bigger and bigger with every new release. The move echoes the recent update to the Chrome icon, which changed from a shiny bauble to a flat, 2D disk.
Link: cnet
Gaga Google
Finally, for those of you who have 75 minutes to spare, Google’s posted a video of her visit to Google HQ. She answers video questions from fans, which is quite fun. She knows how to keep the Googlers happy: “When I was at high school, all my friends wanted to work here. I wanted to be what they were searching for.” Achievement unlocked, Gaga.
Link: YouTube