Top Items:
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Checkmate? MySpace, Bebo and SixApart To Join Google OpenSocial (confirmed) — Google may have just come out of nowhere and checkmated Facebook in the social networking power struggle. — MySpace and Six Apart will announce that they are joining Google's OpenSocial initiative.
Discussion:
InsideGoogle, Deep Jive Interests, Mashable!, VentureBeat, Terry Heaton's PoMo Blog, Business Week, Telegraph Blogs, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, Epicenter, Good Morning Silicon Valley, Marc's Voice, The Social Web, CNET News.com, Computerworld, Scripting News, Seth's Blog, Smalltalk Tidbits …, Download Squad, Technology Live, Between the Lines, Master of 500 Hats, AppScout, Valleywag, rexduffdixon.com and Scobleizer
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Peter Kafka / Silicon Alley Insider:
MySpace Joining Google's OpenSocial — We hear Google is planning to announce yet another partner to its anti-Facebook coalition today — News Corp.'s MySpace. [Haven't confirmed]. Look for an announcement by the end of the day. This makes a lot of sense for both sides …
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Facebook, Your Move — Not so fast, Mike. The anti-Facebook coalition piling onto Google's OpenSocial platform does not constitute checkmate for Google just quite yet. These are developer announcements. No actual consumers have changed their social networking habits because of OpenSocial.
Discussion:
mathewingram.com/work, FORTUNE, Ars Technica, Scobleizer, Six Apart News, Platform Wars, Technovia, 901am and ClickZ News Blog
Brad Stone / Bits:
The Great Facebook Team-Up? — As we reported below, MySpace has joined Google's OpenSocial initiative, along with social network Bebo and blogging network Six Apart. That means developers can now write their programs only once to make them work on those sites, and others including LinkedIn …
Lev Grossman / Time:
Invention Of the Year: The iPhone — Stop. I mean, don't stop reading this, but stop thinking what you're about to think. Or, O.K., I'll think it for you:
Chris Soghoian / CNET News.com:
A dangerous conflict of interest between Firefox and Google — The Firefox browser may not be as independent as previously thought. Mozilla essentially owns Firefox, and it proved so whenit flexed its muscles last year in forcing Debian to rename its browser IceWeasel.
François Bancilhon / Mandriva Blog:
An open letter to Steve Ballmer — Hi, this is François, from Mandriva. — I'm sure we're way too small for you to know me. You know, we're one of these tiny Linux company working hard for our place on the market. We produce a Linux Distro, Mandriva Linux.
Discussion:
Between the Lines, CrunchGear, CNET News.com, Digital Daily, PC Magazine, Microsoft Watch, p2pnet, BetaNews, BlogRunner, Jeremy's Blog, Engadget, WebProNews and Slashdot
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Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
The New York Times' Blogrunner—A Techmeme Killer? — Last night, the New York Times quietly launched Blogrunner on the technology section of its main site. Blogrunner was one of many techmeme copycat sites, until the New York Times bought it last year. Like Techmeme, Blogrunner is a service …
Arn / MacRumors:
Apple Updates MacBooks to Santa Rosa, GMA X3100; 2.6GHz MacBook Pro — As rumored, Apple has quietly updated the MacBook tonight to the Santa Rosa architecture with mild speed bumps and the GMA X3100 integrated video. — White 13.3" — $1099.00 2.0GHz/1GB RAM/80GB/Combo/GMA X3100
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Ryan Block / Engadget:
Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player: $100, this Friday, Wal-Mart — Still waiting to jump into the high def disc game? Or just wanted another weaker, cheaper player for the last-gen TV you phased out to your rumpus room? Well, whatever your reasons, some (not all!)
Discussion:
Christopher Null, Tech Check with Jim Goldman, Gizmodo, ParisLemon, Alice Hill's Real Tech News, technabob and Gadget Lab
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Sean Ammirati / Read/WriteWeb:
New Release: Tumblr 3.0 & Interview with Founder on Read/WriteTalk — For the most recent episode of Read/WriteTalk I sat down with David Karp, the founder of Tumblr. Tumblr is a platform that makes it easy to create Tumblelogs - which Wikipedia defines as: … Tumblr is announcing a number of new features today.
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Google Blogoscoped:
Google's Internal Tool to Check Search Results? — Just a note : I've photoshopped the screenshot, so the numbers are real but not for "www.ffp.asso.fr" ;-) — Tom, does that include all numbers displayed alongside www.ffp.asso.fr, or just the GG Score? — the bottom lines are real, but they are not related to the results.
Discussion:
Valleywag
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John Biggs / New York Times:
A Computer That Works With Google, Not Microsoft — Advocates of Linux, the free open-source operating system, like to say that buying a standard-issue computer involves a Microsoft Tax, because you have no choice but to pay for Windows. New versions of Linux and inexpensive hardware …
Discussion:
InsideGoogle, Open Source, TechCrunch, DesktopLinux.com, Insider Chatter, Ars Technica and BlogRunner
Verizon:
Verizon Plans Fivefold Increase in HD Channels on FiOS TV in 2008 Part of a Major Expansion of High-Definition and Standard-Definition Programming on Verizon's Video Network — More Sports and Multicultural Content on the Way — NEW YORK - Verizon FiOS TV customers will get even more of …
Matt Marshall / VentureBeat:
PurpleYogi, the 1999 personalization company, finally hits pay dirt — PurpleYogi, one of the earliest Silicon Valley companies to focus on "extreme personalization of the Internet," has finally been sold for $158 million after a dramatic series of twists in business strategy.
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
First Pics of Bug Labs Open-Source Hardware — I keep hearing more and more buzz about open-source hardware. One of the most ambitious open-source hardware startups is Bug Labs. The company is creating a Lego-like hardware platform that tinkerers and engineers can use to create their own digital devices.
Elsa Wenzel / CNET News.com:
Microsoft upgrades its Office for Mac upgrade offer — Correction 2:10 p.m. PDT: This blog initially misstated the savings for buyers of Office 2004 for Mac Student and Teacher edition if they choose to upgrade to the 2008 Special Media Edition. The savings would be $350.
