Top Items:
Fred / A VC:
The Open Social Network — We've got social networks with lots of users, like MySpace, Beebo, Facebook, etc, and we've got open social networks like Marc Canter's People Aggregator and Marc Andreessen's Ning. But we really don't yet have an open social network with a lot of users.
RELATED:
Tariq Krim / Netvibes.com Blog:Facebook Meet Netvibes: Netvibes Introduces the Facebook Widget
Discussion:
Download Squad, Read/WriteWeb, Rev2.org, MediaVidea, TechCrunch, Venture Chronicles, Widgets Lab and All Facebook
Pete Cashmore / Mashable!:Netvibes Launches Facebook Widget, Challenges Lock-In
Discussion:
Scripting News
Eric Eldon / VentureBeat:
Plaxo launching Pulse, its own social network — Plaxo, the online address book, will try to recreate itself as an open social network called "Pulse" beginning Monday. — In retrospect, you should have seen this coming. Plaxo is primed for this. — The Mountain View …
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Caroline McCarthy / CNET News.com:
Report: Plaxo to unveil social network on Monday — If two months' worth of perpetual hype and hearsay about Facebook have given you social networking fatigue, it might be time to chug an energy drink—looks like we will see another serious entry into the field on Monday.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Plaxo Prepares To Launch Pulse Social Network - Will Users Trust It? — So Plaxo's new social network, called Pulse (we wrote about it last month), is still extremely buggy. Robert Scoble and Matt Marshall say it launches properly on Monday, so hopefully they'll have the kinks worked out by then.
Discussion:
BuzzMachine
Amazon Web Services Blog:
Ka-Ching! — Ever since the first Amazon Web Service was released in mid-2002, we have encouraged developers to use them to create new types of businesses. — This encouragement has taken many forms over the years. Let's revisit some of the more interesting moments in the last 5 years of AWS history...
Discussion:
mathewingram.com/work, uncov, Scobleizer, Mashable!, Chuqui 3.0.1 Beta, Smalltalk Tidbits … and Payments News
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Phil801:
Amazon Announces "Flexible Payment Service" or FPS — With what may have been the biggest buildup to a blog post I've ever seen (all done via Twitter), Jeff Barr publicly announced Amazon's FPS product - effectively ending my NDA about it from over a year ago.
The Official Parallels Virtualization Blog:
New Parallels Desktop beta starts today, and a friendly hello — In typical Parallels "how the heck did you do that so fast?" fashion, we're launching beta testing for the next update of Parallels Desktop for Mac. And, I'm happy to let you all know that we listened to your feedback …
Discussion:
The iPhone Blog, Compiler, The Unofficial Apple Weblog, Inquirer, Infinite Loop, MacUser, Engadget Mobile, Macworld and eWEEK.com
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BBC:
Google sidesteps mobile reports — Google has refused to deny mounting speculation that it is working to produce its own brand mobile phone. — Reports suggest that the web giant is developing a "GPhone", centred on its mobile services, such as search, e-mail and maps.
Reuters:
Microsoft slashes Vista price in China — Microsoft has more than halved the retail price of its Vista operating system in China. — The Home Basic edition dropped from $201 (1,521 yuan) to $66, and the Home Premium package dropped from $238 to $118. The move was effective as of Wednesday.
Discussion:
Inquirer
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BBC:
Warning of webmail wi-fi hijack — Using public wi-fi hotspots has got much riskier as security experts unveil tools that nab login data over the air. — Demonstrated at the Black Hat hacker conference in Las Vegas, the tools make it far easier to steal account details, said Robert Graham of Errata Security.
Discussion:
Compiler
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Matt Richtel / New York Times:
Tough Delay for Big Game by Take-Two — Take-Two Interactive, the video game publisher, said yesterday that it was postponing the release of the latest game in its wildly popular Grand Theft Auto series. The delay is likely to have ripple effects on the broader video game industry during its crucial holiday selling season.
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Wil Harris / Inquirer:
Tech rags forced to face unpalatable facts — Analysis Online is the way, unless it isn't — WHAT TO make of the recent wave of high-profile defections, replacements and general crashes over in the SF tech press? Some might suggest it's the death of print. Some suggest it's the death of online.
Scott Karp / Publishing 2.0:
Twitter Is A Publication — Here's a theory that's emerged from my web communication experiment: Twitter isn't a communication tool, it's a publication. — That's not to say there isn't a strong communication element to it, just like there is in the comment sections of blogs …
James Sherwood / The Register:
Nokia to jump on music download bandwagon? — Nokia is on the verge of launching its own iTunes-like music downloads service, if rumours are correct. Online reports suggest the handset vendor is to unveil the service later this month, alongside two new music-oriented handsets.
Wagner James Au / GigaOM:
Second Life (finally) gets a direct competitor: Multiverse — The brainchild of several ex-Netscape execs, the Mountain View start-up Multiverse, as the name suggests, isn't a single online world, but a platform for creating games and other 3D experiences with the company's development tools, which are then run on its servers.
Associated Press:
Lenovo to Sell $199 PC in Rural China — BEIJING (AP) — Lenovo Group Ltd. said Friday it will sell a basic personal computer aimed at China's vast but poor rural market and priced as low as $199. — Lenovo's announcement follows rival Dell Inc.'s bid to boost its presence in China's booming market …
Discussion:
Engadget
Ari Levy / Bloomberg:
Yahoo to Revamp Video Site After Losing to YouTube — Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) — Yahoo! Inc., after losing out to Google Inc.'s YouTube, is revamping its video site by the end of the year to include more content from media companies and Internet users. — Music videos, movie trailers …
Discussion:
HipMojo.com, WebProNews, NewTeeVee, Mashable!, paidContent.org, Contentinople and Daily Feed
