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10:40 AM ET, March 13, 2008

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Business Wire:
AOL to Acquire Global Social Media Network Bebo  —  NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—AOL announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Bebo (http://www.bebo.com), a leading global social media network.  Together with its AIM and ICQ personal communications network …
RELATED:
Allen Stern / CenterNetworks:
Bebo To AOL for $850 Million  —  AOL has announced this morning that they have acquired social networking service Bebo for $850 million in cash.  Bebo has 100 employees operating in offices in the UK, San Francisco and Austin, TX.  Bebo is the third-largest social networking service in the U.S. behind MySpace and Facebook.
AOL News:
AOL to Acquire Social Media Network Bebo  —  AOL has entered into an agreement to acquire Bebo, a leading global social media network.  Founded in 2005, Bebo now has 40 million members worldwide.  Together with AIM and ICQ, AOL will have a social network of approximately 80 million unique users worldwide …
Caroline McCarthy / The Social:
AOL buys social network Bebo for $850 million  —  AOL issued a press release on Thursday morning to announce that the company has acquired social-networking site Bebo.  The price tag, according to the AOL statement, is $850 million in cash.  Neither company has yet stated when the deal is expected to be closed.
Kenneth Li / Reuters:
AOL to buy Bebo social network  —  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Time Warner Inc's AOL Internet division said on Thursday it will buy social network Bebo for $850 million in cash, bolstering its consumer Internet offerings even as the media conglomerate mulls splitting off the business.
Allen Stern / CenterNetworks:
Live Blog: AOL / Bebo Acquisition Call  —  Below are my live notes from the call discussing the acquisition of Bebo by AOL.  This post will remain live until I note that the call has concluded so keep refreshing to see the newest notes — newest content on the top.  —  9:34 - the call has concluded.
Robert Andrews / paidContent.org:   AOL-Bebo Call: Bebo Hadn't Planned Sale; All About 'Engagement …
Robert Andrews / paidContent.org:
AOL-Bebo: Balderton VCs Reap $140 Million From Acquisition
Discussion: HipMojo.com and Fred Destin
Duncan Riley / TechCrunch:
The Future Of Voice May Be Voiceless  —  The above video is a little rough in terms of processing delay, but it's staggering.  Voice without voice.  —  According to New Scientist, the neckband translates thought into speech by picking up nerve signals; “with careful training a person …
Discussion: The Register, Inquirer and Engadget
RELATED:
Tom Simonite / New Scientist:
Nerve-tapping neckband allows ‘telepathic’ chat  —  A neckband that translates thought into speech by picking up nerve signals has been used to demonstrate a “voiceless” phone call for the first time.  —  With careful training a person can send nerve signals to their vocal cords without making a sound.
Elinor Mills / CNET News.com:
Google testing service to let publishers manage ads  —  Google is testing a new service called Ad Manager that will give Web site publishers more control over their ad sales and ad serving, The Wall Street Journal reported late on Wednesday.  —  Publishers can sell their own ads …
RELATED:
Scott Hillis / Reuters:
Microsoft says no Blu-ray for Xbox 360  —  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) is not in talks to include Sony Corp's (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) Blu-ray high-definition DVD technology in its Xbox 360 video game console, an executive said on Wednesday.
RELATED:
Mark Raby / Tom's Hardware Guide:
Blu-ray Player Prices Hit 2008 Highs As Competition Dwindles
Discussion: CrunchGear, Gizmodo, Engadget HD and MCV
MG Siegler / VentureBeat:
With only Blu-ray left standing, player prices rise
Discussion: Inquirer
Matt / Photo Matt:
WordPress is Open Source  —  Six Apart has recently decided that the best way to win back customers fleeing their platforms is to target WordPress, which is a new strategy they call competing.  (What have they been doing the past 7 years?)  A good example is this exchange between a commenter …
PC World:
BlackBerry Pearl 8120  —  RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8120 Cell Phone  —  The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 is the first in RIM's line of petite handsets to support Wi-Fi for speedy Web surfing and e-mail management.  —  Research in Motion's latest BlackBerry Pearl handset, the 8120 …
Discussion: BlackBerry Cool
RELATED:
Steve Lohr / New York Times:
Video Road Hogs Stir Fear of Internet Traffic Jam  —  Caution: Heavy Internet traffic ahead.  Delays possible.  —  For months there has been a rising chorus of alarm about the surging growth in the amount of data flying across the Internet.  The threat, according to some industry groups …
louisgray.com:
Elite Bloggers Joining FriendFeed In Droves  —  Although it hasn't even been a month since FriendFeed opened up to the masses, and announced Series A financing of $5 million, momentum is definitely on the company's side.  Garnering incredible media and blog coverage, FriendFeed has also been a magnet …
Matthew Lasar / Ars Technica:
Congress dons rubber glove, prepares probe of FCC chairman  —  Federal Communications Commission Chair Kevin Martin has two weeks to deliver a truckload of written records to Congress related to over a dozen hot-button FCC issues and policies.  They're being demanded by House Energy …
Discussion: Orbitcast and Engadget
BBC:
BBC releases fix for iPlayer hack  —  The BBC has issued a fix to stop people downloading programmes from the iPlayer website that were intended for streaming on an iPhone of iPod only.  —  Hackers had discovered an exploit that allowed them to save the programmes to hard disk and share them with others.
RELATED:
Bobbie Johnson / Guardian:
BBC ‘opens floodgates’ to iPlayer hackers
Discussion: Guardian Unlimited
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
User Interfaces Rapidly Adjusting to Information Overload  —  People who in the next few years solve big problems in Information Overload are going to be very important, and some of them are going to be UI and UX (user experience) designers.  —  German ISP T-Online demonstrated …
Discussion: Fresh Creation
 
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 More Items: 
Frank Rose / Wired News:
Music Industry Proposes a Piracy Surcharge on ISPs
Discussion: DSLreports and MacDailyNews
Vishesh Kumar / Wall Street Journal:
DirecTV to Start On-Demand
Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:
SALE OF JOSSIP GOSSIP
Reuters:
Toshiba faces $986 mln loss on HD DVDs: Nikkei
PC World:
RFID-Hack Hits 1 Billion Digital Access Cards Worldwide
Robert McMillan / InfoWorld:
Password-stealing hackers infect thousands of Web pages
Discussion: The Register
Canon USA:
CANON'S TRENDSETTING TRIO OF NEW DIGITAL ELPH SUPERMODELS INSPIRE …
Steven Musil / CNET News.com:
Report: EA goes hostile for Take-Two
 Earlier Items: 
Michael Masnick / Techdirt:
Activision Sues Gibson In Response To Claims That ‘Guitar Hero’ Violates Patent
Walter S. Mossberg / Personal Technology:
Hulu Is a Good Site For Online Shows, But Fare Is Thin
Slash Lane / AppleInsider:
“Too much interest” in iPhone SDK presents challenges
Paul Krill / InfoWorld:
IBM moves on secure mashups
Discussion: Computerworld
Owen Thomas / Valleywag:
Kevin Rose's parties bid SXSW goodbye
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Amazon's Latest Product Launch is a Couple of Facebook Apps
Discussion: Geek Madness and All Facebook
Jason Calacanis / The Jason Calacanis Weblog:
Note to self: stop promoting, start thinking again (or “Scoble's Law")
Discussion: Valleywag
Cade Metz / The Register:
Skype blames eBay for killing ‘our innovation buzz’
Discussion: VentureBeat
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced she will leave the agency on January 20; she was the first woman to be confirmed to lead the agency

Lachlan Cartwright / The Ankler:
Sources: MSNBC renewed Rachel Maddow's contract early this fall, but with a pay cut; MSNBC bosses' plan to shake up daytime and weekend programming

Evan Drellich / New York Times:
The MLB is planning national packages for streaming companies to bid on in 2028, when its national TV deals with ESPN, Fox, and Turner expire

 
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