Top Items:
BBC:
Music site Last.fm bought by CBS — Social music site Last.fm has been bought by US media giant CBS Corporation for $280m (£140m), the largest-ever UK Web 2.0 acquisition. — The online network was founded in the UK five years ago and it now has more than 15 million active users.
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Joseph Menn / Los Angeles Times:
CBS to buy social network — It is expected to pay $280 million for the Last.fm site, which caters to music fans. — CBS Corp. is buying a popular social-networking website organized around musical tastes for $280 million, combining a traditional broadcast giant with an early leader in online radio.
Richard Jones / Last.fm:
Last.fm Acquired By CBS — Today, Last.fm was acquired by CBS, a company who had the first commercial radio station in the US, ran a record label (CBS Records), and amongst other things are responsible for several respected TV series (CBS on Wikipedia). — The team here have spent a lot …
Reuters:
CBS buys online music network Last.fm — LONDON (Reuters) - CBS Corp said on Wednesday it had paid $280 million in cash for the popular music social network service Last.fm. — CBS said in a statement the online service had more than 15 million active users in more than 200 countries …
Pete Cashmore / Mashable!:
WOW: CBS Acquires Last.fm for $280 Million — I did not expect this one: despite ongoing rumors that Viacom would snap up the music site for a massive $450 million, CBS will announce today the acquisition of Last.fm for $280 million, according to an unverified source. The aim is to attract young people to the CBS brand.
Discussion:
VentureBeat, Guardian Unlimited, BloggingStocks, TechSpot News, Sharpshoot, 901am and Vecosys
Larry Larsen / Channel 10:
First Look: Microsoft Surfacing Computing! — About a year ago I gave a presentation to a group of journalists about gadgets of the future and showed a video about a theoretical multi-touch computing system. When asked when we would see something like that in the wild, I optimistically ballparked 5-7 years.
Discussion:
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Between the Lines, CNET News.com, Engadget, Blackfriars' Marketing, istartedsomething, jkOnTheRun, MacDailyNews, Smart Mobs, rexduffdixon.com, Alec Saunders .LOG, Guardian Unlimited, Feld Thoughts, Pocket PC Thoughts, Incremental Blogger, Mauricio Freitas, Paul Mooney, Joe Duck, Delicate Genius Blog and All about Microsoft
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Glenn Derene / Popular Mechanics:
Microsoft Surface: Behind-the-Scenes First Look (with Video) — The software giant will announce at the D5 conference today that it's built a new touchscreen computer—a coffee table that will change the world. Go inside its top-secret development with PopularMechanics.com …
Discussion:
BBC, Windows-Now.com, VoIP & Gadgets Blog, MacDailyNews, Ryan Stewart and Don Park's Daily Habit
USA Today:
Table is set for computing — Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates once talked about putting a PC on every desk. Now Gates is talking about turning the desk itself — or a tabletop — into a computer. Microsoft is set to announce an ambitious new computing category today called "surface computing" to try to make it happen.
Microsoft:
Microsoft Launches New Product Category: Surface Computing Comes to Life in Restaurants, Hotels, Retail Locations and Casino Resorts — First commercially available surface computer from Microsoft breaks down barriers and provides effortless interaction with information using touch, natural gestures and physical objects.
Duncan Riley / TechCrunch:Microsoft Announces Surface Computer
Discussion:
Download Squad, VentureBeat, The Unofficial Apple Weblog, Gadgetell, Zoli's Blog, duncanriley.com and Lost Remote
Michel Marriott / New York Times:Touch Screen in a Table Is the Latest Wrinkle in Computers
Discussion:
Fast Company Now
Derick Mains / Apple:
Apple Launches iTunes Plus — Higher Quality DRM-Free Tracks Now Available on the iTunes Store Worldwide — Apple® today launched iTunes® Plus—DRM-free music tracks featuring high quality 256 kbps AAC encoding for audio quality virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings …
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Arn / MacRumors:
Apple Releases iTunes 7.2, Launches iTunes Plus (DRM Free) [Now Available] — Apple released iTunes 7.2 updated in the Mac OS X Software Update tonight, which offers support for "iTunes Plus", Apple's new DRM-free $1.29 offerings announced in April. — With iTunes 7.2, preview …
Tom Spring / Today @ PC World:Apple Launches iTunes Plus with DRM-Free Tracks
Discussion:
TechSpot News
Marcus Adolfsson / TreoCentral:
Palm's Foleo a "smartphone companion product"? — According to a RSS news feed from Palm, their mystery "3rd category" device is a compact smartphone companion product named Foleo that let's you view and edit emails using a large screen and fullsize keyboard.
Discussion:
ITWire, Gadgetell, The Mobile Gadgeteer, Business 2.0 Beta, Gadget Lab, I4U News, PalmAddicts and Gizmodo
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Christopher Soghoian / slight paranoia:
A Remote Vulnerability in Firefox Extensions — See a demo of the attack against Google Browser Sync: (12MB Quicktime). — Executive Summary — A vulnerability exists in the upgrade mechanism used by a number of high profile Firefox extensions. These include Google Toolbar …
Discussion:
Zero Day
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Business Wire:
Fox Interactive Media Agrees to Acquire Photobucket and Flektor, Inc. — Web's Fastest-Growing Personal Media Site and Next Generation Web-Based Photo and Video Service to Join News Corporation's Leading Network of Internet Brands — "The acquisition of these two companies is a perfect strategic fit …
Discussion:
HipMojo.com, alarm:clock, CNET News.com, Epicenter, Between the Lines, GigaOM, 901am and paidContent.org
Bruce Johnson / Google Web Toolkit Blog:
Google Web Toolkit 1.4 Release Candidate — I'm very happy to report that Google Web Toolkit (GWT) 1.4 Release Candidate is now available for download. — This is undoubtedly the biggest GWT release yet. In addition to 150+ bugfixes, GWT 1.4 RC includes a ton of new features, improvements and optimizations.
Brent Schlender / Fortune:
The trouble with Apple TV — Steve Jobs' latest is a dud - and that speaks volumes, says Fortune's Brent Schlender. — (Fortune Magazine) — Let's pause for a moment amid the worshipful buzz before the launch of Apple's iPhone in June to consider the heretical notion that Steve Jobs might be promising more than he can deliver.
Discussion:
MacDailyNews
Light Reading:
Should Nortel Buy Avaya? — With a possible buyout of Avaya Inc. (NYSE: AV - message board) in the works, analysts see an opportunity for Nortel Networks Ltd. (NYSE/Toronto: NT - message board) to strengthen its enterprise business and create potential cost savings by combining the two IP telephony businesses.
