Top Items:
Ben Drawbaugh / Engadget HD:
The real reason why Warner went Blu? — We knew this wouldn't take long — just like when Paramount made the switch to HD DVD, rumors are swirling that a sum of $500 Million was involved in the decision to make the switch. The rumor goes on to say that Fox's allegiance to Blu-ray was a factor as well …
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Ryan Block / Engadget:
HD DVD group cancels CES press conference in wake of Warner announcement: daaamn — We just got an email which stated that the HD DVD group is canceling its CES press conference; tail severely between legs over today's explosive news that Warner — the last “undecided” studio …
Darren Murph / Engadget:
Warner goes Blu-ray exclusive — We've all been wondering what to make of those whispers that Warner was indeed going Blu-ray exclusive, and apparently, those rumblings are true. Based on a breaking release, Warner Bros. Entertainment will be releasing its high-definition titles …
PR Newswire:
Toshiba's Comment on Announcement from Warner Bros. Entertainment of Its Exclusive Support for Blu-ray Disc Format — Toshiba is quite surprised by Warner Bros.' decision to abandon HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray, despite the fact that there are various contracts in place between our companies concerning the support of HD DVD.
David Carnoy / Crave: The gadget blog:Warner goes Blu-ray exclusively, delivering crushing blow to HD DVD
Discussion:
TechLifeBlogged
Official Google Docs Blog:
New features for 2008! — It's been two months since we launched Google Presentations and already we've got new toys! We've been listening to your feedback and working hard to get you new features as quickly as possible (so keep the suggestions coming). 2008 is going to be a feature packed year …
Discussion:
Googlified
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Philipp Lenssen / Google Blogoscoped:
Embed Google Presentations — Google rolled out an update to Google Presentations that lets you embed a presentation into your own website. Just switch to the Publish tab and hit the publish button - you will now find some inline frame code Google calls the “Mini Presentation Module” to copy & paste.
Pat Phelan / Roam4free:
Never mind what are Twitter costs, whats the cost of Twitter? — Over the past few days we have seen lots of posts on the cost of running Twitter from such luminaries as Jason Calacanis, Paul Walsh, Marc Canter, Dave Winer , Fred Wilson and Allen Stern — Myself and my business partner …
Catherine Holahan / Business Week:
Sony BMG Plans to Drop DRM — The last major label will throw in the towel on digital rights management and prepare to fight Apple for valuable download revenues — In a move that would mark the end of a digital music era, Sony BMG Music Entertainment is finalizing plans to sell songs without …
Discussion:
last100, VentureBeat, paidContent.org, Ars Technica, Wired News, CNET News.com, Things That, Listening Post, Good Morning Silicon Valley, TechCrunch, p2pnet, BloggingStocks, Bits, Podcasting News, Digital Noise, MacUser, mathewingram.com/work, Wikinomics, Valleywag, Associated Press, Digital Media Wire, Mashable!, Alice Hill's Real Tech News, The Viral Garden, Salon, Gadgetell, hypebot, Gizmodo, TheFeed, Neowin.net, Blackfriars' Marketing, bit-tech.net, Silicon Alley Insider, Between the Lines, CrunchGear, Electronista, 901am, The Register, Download Squad, Christopher Null, Guardian Unlimited, Macsimum News, Engadget, Smalltalk Tidbits …, TechSpot News, Business Filter, MacRumors, WebProNews, Technology Live and Digg
Ben Edelman:
Sears Exposes Customer Purchase History in Violation of Its Privacy Policy — Want to know what a given customer has purchased from Sears? It's surprisingly easy to find out. Here's the procedure: — 1) Go to the Sears “Manage My Home” site, www.managemyhome.com . Create an account and sign in.
Greg Linden / Geeking with Greg:
The coming 2008 dot-com crash — Early January is the time we see many predictions for 2008. I have not played this game since 2006, but I want to chime in this year. — I am only going to make one prediction, but one with broad impact. We will see a dot-com crash in 2008.
Eric Eldon / VentureBeat:
Kleiner steals Chi-Hua Chien, Web 2.0 guru, from Accel — For quite some time, renowned venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers has been looking for a partner who can focus on investing in web startups, we've been hearing. — Now they've finally found somebody.
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Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Digg And Others Sued For Infringing Infamous Computer Solitaire Patent — from the aren't-patents-great? dept — The Patent Troll Tracker is back from holiday vacation and he's got quite a post listing out a bunch of interesting (i.e., depressing) lawsuits involving questionable patents and even more questionable patent holders.
RELATED:
Troll Tracker / Patent Troll Tracker:4 Interesting New Cases From Last 2 Weeks of December
Discussion:
WebProNews
The Macalope:
Yes, Virginia, any idiot CAN file a lawsuit! — Congratulations, Stacie Somers of San Diego County! You're the first jackass of 2008! — Well, OK, technically, since the suit was filed on December 31, you're the last jackass of 2007. But as it's already prompted some very silly analysis …
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
Will fans pay? Reznor opens books on 'Net music experiment — Radiohead isn't talking numbers, but Trent Reznor is. After producing Saul Williams' The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust and offering it to fans online, Reznor yesterday laid out the numbers from his experiment.
Discussion:
ParisLemon, John Carroll, mathewingram.com/work, Bubblegeneration Strategy Lab, Mashable! and Digg
Joe Wilcox / Microsoft Watch:
Scoble's Scrape with Facebook Isn't Friendly … On Wednesday, Facebook suspended the former Microsoft evangelist blogger for a terms-of-service violation. He had used a testing Plaxo tool to mine, or “scrape” information from about 5,000 of his contacts. — Scoble is back on Facebook now, but he shouldn't be.
Peter Kafka / Silicon Alley Insider:
NY Google Vet Hirsch Leaving For Startups — David Hirsch, an eight-year Google sales vet who helped open the company's New York office, is leaving the company at the end of January. The 36-year-old is looking, he tells us, to invest in and advise Web startups, with a focus on “helping incubate and accelerate the early stage game.”
