Top Items:
Microsoft:
Microsoft to Acquire Tellme Networks — Combined expertise will bring the power of voice technology to everyday life. — Microsoft Corp. today announced it will acquire Tellme Networks, Inc., a leading provider of voice services for everyday life, including nationwide directory assistance …
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Om Malik / GigaOM:
5 Things about Microsoft TellMe deal — Microsoft just sent out a press advisory confirming that it is buying TellMe Networks. More details to follow after the press conference which begins in a few minutes. But here are some nuggets which our sources have sent our way:
Discussion:
VC Ratings
Don Dodge / Don Dodge on The Next Big Thing:
Microsoft acquires TellMe - Voice/Mobile search is the target market — Microsoft announced today the acquisition of TellMe, a hosted speech applications company. Tellme uses voice recognition to radically simplify how people use the phone to get the information they need every day.
Discussion:
Good Morning Silicon Valley
Microsoft:
Microsoft Unites Xbox and PC Gamers With Debut of Games for Windows — LIVE — Xbox LIVE extends to Windows Vista to create single online gaming service starting with "Halo 2" on May 8. — Microsoft Corp. today announced the extension of the Xbox LIVE® games and entertainment network …
Discussion:
Engadget, John Carroll, The Tech Report, The NeoSmart Files and Dare Obasanjo aka Carnage4Life
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Michel Marriott / New York Times:Microsoft to Open Its Online Gaming Service to Windows Users
Discussion:
GigaGamez
Ben / Nuclear Sledgehammer:
Ask puts its foot in it — Lately these ads have started appearing on the London Underground: — They're also on stickers on lampposts, on posters, and generally dotted around London. It looks like a grassroots campaign - but what grassroots campaign has the money to plaster ads on the Tube?
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Dave Winer / stories.scripting.com:
The future of Twitter? — I was introduced to Twitter last summer at a dinner at Henrietta's Table in Cambridge by Ross Mayfield. I posted two or three notes using my Blackberry that evening and never did it again. I still receive SMS's from Ross on a regular basis, but …
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Reckoning Day For Venture Capitalists? — Some venture capitalists are known for making speedy decisions, communicating clearly, treating portfolio companies fairly, and guiding their startups to a win for all stakeholders. — Others, not so much. Some even lob the odd (friendly) jab or two at bloggers.
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Online Journalism Review:
Eyetracking points the way to effective news article design — OJR's design experts review usability research and offer suggestions on how you can make your online articles better connect with readers. — When one of world's best-known usability experts, Jakob Nielsen …
Microsoft:
Microsoft and Lenovo Connect Customers to Integrated Online Services — Lenovo to be first PC manufacturer to provide customers worldwide with a new seamless, customizable Web experience through Microsoft Live.com and Live Search. — REDMOND, Wash., and RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. …
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MobiTV®:
NBC Universal and MobiTV Announce First-Ever Wireless Deal for Full-Length Primetime on Demand Programming — Primetime Offer to Include 'Heroes,' 'Friday Night Lights,' 'The Office,' 'Monk,' 'Battlestar Galactica' and 'Work Out' Additional NBCU Channels to Launch on MobiTV Include Bravo, SCI FI, USA, Telemundo and mun2
Reuters:
EU consumer chief eschews another bite at Apple — The European Union's consumer chief soft-pedalled her views on Apple Inc (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Tuesday, backing off the line that its iTunes online music store must become more compatible with other formats.
Erica Ogg / CNET News.com:
A new wavelength for satellite radio — For a company calling itself Slacker, its business plan is awfully ambitious. — Debuting this week at the South by Southwest multimedia festival in Austin, Texas, Slacker is a distinctive new Web music service and portable music player from the San Diego-based company of the same name.
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New York Times:
Viacom Sues Google Over Video Clips on Its Sharing Web Site — Since it bought YouTube last October, Google has been chasing deals that would give it the right to put mainstream video programming on the site. Just a few weeks ago, Google's chief executive, Eric E. Schmidt …
Discussion:
Blog Maverick, CNET News.com, Blogging Stocks, Lost Remote, madisonian.net, Soaring on Ridgelift, point being, Paul Mooney and The Media Age
Brendan / Brendan's Roadmap Updates:
The Open Web and Its Adversaries — A small presentation I gave at SXSW asks what it means to be "Open" in the sense of open standards, open source, and a web whose major content formats are not controlled by a single vendor (I credited Nat Friedman's amusing keynote from last year's Free …
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Gizmodo:
Awesome TIE Fighter Speakers Flew Out of Star Wars and Into Your Living Room — These TIE Fighter speakers come to us from a company called Question Mark Entertainment, and as far as their specs go, that company name is just about right. We have no idea what sort of drivers are in these two …
Eric Costello / FlickrBlog:
Collections! — Today we launched what's probably the most requested feature over the last few years: a way to categorize and organize your photo sets! In the past this feature has been referred to as "sets of sets" or "subsets". After today, we'll know it as "collections". — What are collections, you ask?
Paul R. La Monica / CNNMoney.com:
The death of the 30-second TV commercial — Devices like the new Apple TV box and digital video recorders from TiVo, Motorola and Cisco could help bring an end to the traditional TV ad. — NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — It has already revolutionized the music business with its iPod device and iTunes music store.
