Top Items:
Wall Street Journal:
Microsoft Is in Talks To Buy Facebook Stake — SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft Corp. is in talks with Facebook Inc. about making an investment in the social-networking startup that could value Facebook at $10 billion or more, according to people familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
Silicon Alley Insider, CenterNetworks, paidContent.org, mathewingram.com/work, Reuters, Inside Facebook, IP Democracy, GigaOM, Read/WriteWeb, HipMojo.com, Search Engine Land, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, TechCrunch, 24/7 Wall St., FaceReviews.com, Greg Galitzine's VoIP …, Valleywag, IP Telephony, VoIP, Broadband, The Viral Garden, Clickety Clack, All Facebook and ResourceShelf
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Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
Microsoft reportedly eyeing Facebook stake — Microsoft is eyeing an investment in Facebook that would value the social networking company at about $10 billion. — The investment, which was reported by The Wall Street Journal citing "people familiar with the matter, connects a few dots on the social networking landscape.
Caroline McCarthy / Webware.com:REPORT: MICROSOFT PLANS TO INVEST IN, NOT ACQUIRE, FACEBOOK
Discussion:
Charles Hudson's Weblog
Louise Story / New York Times:
Company Will Monitor Phone Calls to Tailor Ads — Companies like Google scan their e-mail users' in-boxes to deliver ads related to those messages. Will people be as willing to let a company listen in on their phone conversations to do the same? — Pudding Media, a start-up based in San Jose …
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Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:
Today's Terrible Idea: Pudding Media — A new start-up called Pudding Media is offering free PC-based telephone calls—if users allow the company to listen in on their conversations and serve targeted ads based on what they're talking about (NYT). This is one of the worst business ideas we've heard …
Peter Svensson / Associated Press:New service eavesdrops on Internet calls
Discussion:
Techdirt, Newlaunches.com, Gizmodo, dslreports.com, CrunchGear and ReveNews Online Revenue …
Jonathan Fildes / BBC:
'$100 laptop' to sell to public — Computer enthusiasts in the developed world will soon be able to get their hands on the so-called "$100 laptop". — The organisation behind the project has launched the "give one, get one" scheme that will allow US residents to purchase two laptops for $399 (£198).
Discussion:
Read/WriteWeb, The Browser, Cinema Blend Feeds, Daggle, broadstuff, Wikinomics, Guardian Unlimited and Between the Lines
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Ted / Ted's Take:
"PayPal Meets MasterCard" Without The High Fees — MEDIA CONTACT: — Brad Burns — 202-776-1400 — brad.burns@revolution.com — REVOLUTION JOINED BY INDUSTRY LEGENDS AND MAJOR BANKS TO LAUNCH REVOLUTIONARY PAYMENT SYSTEM — Steve Case, Ted Leonsis, Larry Summers, David Pottruck …
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Jeremy Kirk / InfoWorld:
Virgin drops Windows Media-based music download service — San Francisco (IDGNS) - Virgin Group Ltd. will shut down its online music subscription and download service in the U.S. and U.K. next month, leaving one less competitor for Apple Inc.'s iTunes Music Store.
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Duncan Riley / TechCrunch:
Google Prepping A Second Life Competitor? — Rumors of a Google powered virtual world based on Google Earth surfaced in January; today there is word that Google may be testing their virtual world at Arizona State University (ASU). — According to Google Operating System …
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Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:Google testing "My World" for launch later this year
Discussion:
Valleywag
James Kendrick / jkOnTheRun:
We need a real handheld computer, who will build one? Apple of course — It's a great time to be a handheld PC enthusiast, not because there are so many good devices to choose from, because I don't think there are, but because public awareness of handheld PCs are at an all-time high.
Astrid Wendlandt / Reuters:
Vivendi calls Apple iTunes contract terms "indecent" — PARIS (Reuters) - Vivendi condemned as "indecent" the contract terms between its Universal Music Group (UMG) unit and Apple Inc, the computer maker whose iTunes online store dominates the digital music market.
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Donald Melanson / Engadget:CE-Oh no he didn't! Part XLIII: Vivendi CEO calls iTunes contract "indecent"
Discussion:
Infinite Loop
Official Google Blog:
It's all about today — A lot of us love video games, and everyone here has their favorite from the latest generation of consoles. We have a game room in our building that happens to have all three of the latest systems: Artem loves Microsoft's Xbox 360, Niv can't part with Sony's Playstation 3 …
TDavid / Things That:
Tablet PC users will like Sketchcast for non-commerical usage — The first thing I thought of was the Tablet PC when I saw Sketchcast as a delicious popular post in my RSS reader this morning. With Sketchcast you can share drawings with or without voice all through a pen-friendly Flash interface in the browser (Firefox or IE).
Prince McLean / AppleInsider:
Updated Leopard requirements to exclude 800MHz systems — Just weeks ahead of its public launch, Apple Inc. has updated the minimum system requirements for its next-generation Leopard operating system to exclude 800MHz PowerPC-based Macs, AppleInsider has learned.
Discussion:
Byte of the Apple, Compiler, CrunchGear, Gizmodo, The Unofficial Apple Weblog and Ubergizmo
Duncan Riley / TechCrunch:
Pownce vs Digg: Who Will Kevin Rose Back? — I've speculated previously on the growing conflict Kevin Rose has between his roles at Digg and Pownce, and now it would appear that we may finally be on the eve of Rose being forced to decide between the two. — Leah Culver, a co-founder …
Brandon LeBlanc / The Windows Experience Blog:
Experiencing Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Beta — Today Microsoft is releasing the Beta of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 which was announced by Nick White few weeks ago. I'd like to take the opportunity to share my very own experiences with Windows Vista SP1 Beta running on several PCs of my own.
Candace Lombardi / CNET News.com:
Think tank to EU: Unbundle Windows on PCs — The Globalization Institute, a Brussels-based EU think tank, has recommended the European Union require all PCs to be sold without pre-loaded operating systems such as Microsoft Windows. — There is no reason why computer operating systems …
Doug Aamoth / CrunchGear:
Who Else Got Burned By An 'End Of Summer' Promise? — Long Zheng of istartedsomething.com is mad. So am I, although not quite about the same thing. Zheng is brassed off that the Windows Ultimate team hasn't delivered DreamScene (basically, the ability to use a video file as your desktop background) …
Discussion:
InfoWorld
