Top Items:
Brad Stone / New York Times:
Microsoft to Pay $240 Million for Stake in Facebook — Microsoft has won a high-profile technology industry battle with Google and Yahoo to invest in the social networking upstart Facebook. — The two companies said on Wednesday that Microsoft would invest $240 million for a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook.
Discussion:
Silicon Alley Insider, IP Democracy, Techdirt, Soaring on Ridgelift, Geek Speaker, Los Angeles Times, Joe Duck, BloggingStocks, Todd Watson, Online Dating Insider, The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, Download Squad, MarketingVOX, Business Week, Tech Talk with Dean Takahashi, Innovation in Software, TechBlog, TechSpot News, HipMojo.com, Bloggers Blog, Mark Evans, Nate Elliott, iMedia Connection and rexblog.com
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PR Newswire:
Facebook and Microsoft Expand Strategic Alliance — Microsoft to take equity stake in Facebook; companies expand advertising deal to cover international markets. — PALO ALTO, Calif. and REDMOND, Wash. /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Facebook® and Microsoft Corp. today announced that Microsoft …
Terrence Russell / Epicenter:
Three Reasons Microsoft Underpaid For Facebook — It's official — the truth is less profitable than fiction. Facebook has secured the cornerstone of its $15 billion valuation with today's Microsoft alliance. But at $240 million, that's only a 1.6% slice of a much larger pie.
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Facebook Takes the Microsoft Money And Runs. — While the storyline would have been more dramatic if Facebook had spurned its current ad-serving partner Microsoft for Google, it is confirmed that Microsoft has won the deal. It will invest $240 million in Facebook and expand its existing relationship …
Discussion:
Valleywag, Associated Press, InsideGoogle, Deal Journal, Terry Heaton's PoMo Blog, Epicenter and InsideMicrosoft
Ina Fried / CNET News.com:
Source: Microsoft wins Facebook bid battle — Update: 12:30 p.m. see bottom. — After weeks of speculation, Microsoft appears to have won a battle with Google over who would get a stake in Facebook, according to a source familiar with the situation. — Microsoft and Facebook were close to a deal, according to the source.
Discussion:
The Register, All about Microsoft, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, Valleywag, Bloomberg, MarketWatch, Webware.com, Bruce Clay, Inc. Blog, Things That, Tech Check with Jim Goldman, HipMojo.com, Good Morning Silicon Valley, Rev2.org, WebProNews, Deal Journal, Silicon Alley Insider, Computerworld, Media Biz and Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog
Wall Street Journal:
Facebook Is Close to Choosing Microsoft or Google for Deal — SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook Inc. is close to choosing between Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. to sell ads for the social networking service outside the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter.
Robert Scoble / Scobleizer:
Microsoft wins Facebook bid? Here's the insider scoop on why... Last night I was hanging around at the Ritz near my house. That's where Jerry Yang, CEO of Yahoo spoke yesterday, and where the Right Media conference is going on right now. — I talked with several people …
Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land:
Live Search Almost Certainly Coming To Facebook — During this afternoon's Microsoft-Facebook conference call the question was asked whether the new deal would include paid search. Microsoft's Kevin Johnson and Facebook's Owen Van Natta declined to directly answer the question …
Discussion:
LiveSide
USA Today:
Leopard, Apple's new Mac operating system, hits all the right spots — When Steve Jobs unleashes Mac OS X Leopard on Friday, Mac fans and others considering an Apple computer for the first time will have questions. Is the new Leopard operating system worth the $129 upgrade price?
Discussion:
Gizmodo
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David Pogue / New York Times:
Apple Offers New Goodies in Leopard System — If you're a computer company, what on earth do you add to the sixth annual version of your operating system? — It's not as though there are any glaring holes left. Nobody is still crying out for a better way to organize photos.
Steve / The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs:
PodTech: RIP — Well, they've had a good run but apparently the Casa de Scoble is heading for the big sleep. Or is it the dirt nap? I can never remember. No announcement yet but we hear it's imminent. Word is that Scoble was planning to bail in January anyway but now he won't have to.
Duncan Riley / TechCrunch:
Google Declares Jihad On Blog Link Farms — A major Google page rank update has punished large scale blog link farms and similar sites indulging in heavy cross linking by dramatically cutting their Google page rank scores. — There is some suggestion that the changes may be related …
Discussion:
Nelson's Weblog, blognation, Todd Watson, TechVat, WebMetricsGuru, Things That, Ryan Stewart, WebProNews and B.L. Ochman's weblog
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Andy Beard / Niche Marketing:Digg Favorites Slapped By Google
Discussion:
The Register, Silicon Alley Insider, Search Engine Land, Internet Marketing, Valleywag, Search Engine Guide, WebMetricsGuru, Neomeme, Elliott C. Back, Greg Boser, SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog, Googlified, mathewingram.com/work, Guardian Unlimited, Good Morning Silicon Valley, Geek News Central, Webware.com and Search Engine Journal
Stephen C. Miller / New York Times:
Copy Video From Your PC, and Then Watch It on Your TV — SanDisk's Sansa TakeTV is aimed at people who want to take digital video from their computers and watch it on their TVs, without getting too high-tech about it. — The heart of TakeTV is a U.S.B. flash drive that can store videos copied from your computer's hard drive.
Discussion:
The Mossberg Solution
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The 463:
Hi there. I'm the Internet. I like romantic dinners, long walks on the beach and.... It won't make you dinner or rub your feet, but nearly one in four Americans say that the Internet can serve as a substitute for a significant other for some period of time, according to a new poll released today …
Cade Metz / The Register:
Google funds hold Firefox fate (for sure) — If there was any doubt that Google has the power to pull the plug on Firefox, it's been laid to rest. — This week, the Mozilla Foundation released its 2006 financial statement, telling the world that Google provides 85 per cent of the revenue …
Eric Savitz / Tech Trader Daily:
Google Analyst Day: CEO Eric Schmidt — The last speaker at the Google (GOOG) analyst meeting today is CEO Eric Schmidt. — Schmidt says it has become clear we are at the beginning of a massive transition to cloud computing. A global transition from one form of information sharing to another, of one form of computing to another.
