Top Items:
Antony Bruno / vnuemedia.com:
ZUNE GETS IN THE RING — Microsoft officials for the first time have confirmed that the Redmond, Wash.-based company is readying a portable music player and integrated service, shedding new light on a topic that has fueled rampant speculation in news reports and blog postings for weeks.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, paidContent.org, Guardian Unlimited, Gamerscore Blog and Alice Hill's Real Tech News
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Ryan Block / Engadget:
Microsoft confirms Zune project — Well, it's not much, but we've got a quote and an official confirmation of the Zune project at Microsoft. The Zune brand is being billed as a "music and entertainment" project aimed at "connecting with others to discover new music and entertainment …
Michael Gartenberg:
Zune is Real and Here's What it Means - First Take Analysis — Well, it's 12pm PDT and my embargo is lifted so I can finally stop talking about this in terms of something Microsoft "might" do and now start talking about what it means. If you have the current issue of Billboard, there's an article in there as well.
Business Week:
The Phone Companies Still Don't Get It — They block competition and charge too much. You call this a communications revolution? — One day this spring in San Antonio, I sat on a couch to watch TV with two AT&T (T ) executives and three public-relations aides.
Discussion:
Digital Common Sense, The Channel Changer, Venture Chronicles, Listics and Datamation IT News Blog
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Om Malik / GigaOM:
MetroFi Teams With AT&T for Muni WiFi — The Municipal Wireless market just got more interesting. Sources close to MetroFi, a Sunnyvale, California-based start-up tell us that the company has teamed up with AT&T to design, build and operate free wireless networks in different cities.
Discussion:
Wi-Fi Networking News, Realtime-VoIP, VoIP Watch, IP Democracy, Paul Kapustka's Blog and Clickety Clack
Paul Thurrott / SuperSite for Windows:
Windows Genuine Advantage: An Overview and Screenshot Gallery — I've found Microsoft's recent forays into customer relations with Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) to be somewhat amusing. I mean, after all, Microsoft is a huge company just brimming with really smart people. How could they do something so silly?
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Matt Mondok / M-Dollar:
Microsoft responds to Windows Genuine Advantage false positive accusations — Since its release, the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) has come under nothing but intense scrutiny, mainly because of questionable actions and misidentification of software pirates.
Ed Oswald / BetaNews:
October Debut for Microsoft 'iPod Killer' — EXCLUSIVE Microsoft's so-called "iPod killer" could be unveiled as early as late next month, with the company preparing to build momentum towards an October launch, sources close to the situation have told BetaNews.
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Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
TechCrunch Party At August Capital — ADDITIONAL UPDATE: The RSVP list is now closed and the comments and wiki are locked. There may be additional openings later. — UPDATE: The wiki is overwhelmed and is frustrating people because it is constantly locked. I apologize.
Neo / macsimumnews.com:
Part 1: Apple files 'proximity detector in handheld device' patent application — On July 20, the US Patent & Trademark Office published Apple's patent application titled "Proximity detector in handheld device," originally filed in September 2005. Apple's patent relates generally …
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Official Google Blog:
Findings on invalid clicks — Those of you who follow news about online advertising closely are seeing plenty about the issue of "click fraud" lately. Since there's been a development in a case Google is involved in, you might like to hear about it. — As part of the settlement …
Stephen Shankland / CNET News.com:
IBM, AMD to deepen Opteron ties — IBM and Advanced Micro Devices are expected to announce an alliance that will lead to mainstream IBM servers based on the Opteron processor, CNET News.com has learned. It's a further boost to chipmaker AMD and a new blow to rival Intel's server business.
Roland Piquepaille / Emerging Technology Trends:
Howard Rheingold about our mobile world — Howard Rheingold is the well-known author of Smart Mobs and many other books describing the evolution of our societies. His last book predicted the transformation of our society into a mobile one. Four years later, and with thousands of posts published …
Discussion:
Mike Rowehl
Kevin Newcomb / ClickZ:
Study: Display Ad Exposure Boosts Search Conversion — A new study from Atlas Institute proves what many marketers have intuitively known: Running display ads can help improve the results of a concurrent search campaign. — The study, which looked at 11 direct response advertisers …
Tim Hornyak / Wired News:
Meet the Remote-Control Self — KYOTO, Japan — Hiroshi Ishiguro is a busy man. Between his two jobs, countless meetings and presentations, his demanding schedule was eating up all his time. So he built an android version of himself to pick up the slack.
Kate Kaye / ClickZ Internet Marketing Solutions …:
Ad Targeting on TV — What a Concept! — A new deal between TV ad targeting tech company Visible World and Cablevision will enable advertisers, reportedly including Chase Card Services, to test TV spot targeting on the household level. According to a TV Week story (via PaidContent) …
Jason Calacanis / The Jason Calacanis Weblog:
Why the Web 2.0 and media elite are so upset about paying amateurs (or "I'm sorry, does Mike Arrington work for free?") — While some folks have been shocked—SHOCKED!—that I offered to pay top bookmarkers, others have taken a day or two to think about the idea and realize …