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 …
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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.
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.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
AOL Buys Bebo For $850 Million — I'm not going to say that we told you so, but we told you so. — AOL has acquired social networking site Bebo for $850 million in cash. AOL CEO Randy Falco (left in picture) sent an email to all AOL employees this morning. Allen Stern's press call notes are here.
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 …
Discussion:
Download Squad, Digital Daily, paidContent.org, The Next Web, Digital Trends, TECH.BLORGE.com, Creative Capital and ResourceShelf
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 …
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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.
Discussion:
Today @ PC World, Boing Boing Gadgets, Gizmodo, BUZZYEAH, GottaBeMobile, Tom Raftery's Social Media, textually.org, VoIP Blog, jkOnTheRun, Boing Boing and Slashdot
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.
Discussion:
GamePro.com, TechConsumer, Thomas Hawk's Digital …, I4U News, Joystiq, GamesIndustry.biz, Silicon Alley Insider, Kotaku, MCV, Engadget and Game|Life
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Mark Raby / Tom's Hardware Guide:
Blu-ray Player Prices Hit 2008 Highs As Competition Dwindles — Pricewatch - Blu-ray Disc players from Samsung, Sony and Sharp are now the most expensive they have been all year, presumably because HD DVD's exit from the high-def disc arena has removed some of Blu-ray's pricing pressure.
Bonnie Cha / Crave: The gadget blog:
RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8120 lands at AT&T — You knew it was just a matter of time before one of the GSM carriers got a hold of the next-generation RIM BlackBerry Pearl after Verizon Wireless released the RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130. That lucky carrier would be AT&T. Today …
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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 …
Discussion:
The Blog Herald, Mark Evans, The Last Podcast, Susan Mernit's Blog, SheGeeks, Scobleizer and broadstuff
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 …
Discussion:
CinemaTech, Know It All, Enterprise 2.0 Blog, IP Democracy, 901am, VCMike's Blog, Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check and isen.blog
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 …
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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 …
Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:
SALE OF JOSSIP GOSSIP — Jossip Initiative, the company that owns the snarky, mediacentric Website jossip.com and other ventures, is on the block, sources say. — The company, founded by David Hauslaib in late 2003, is believed to be making money, although it remains something of a boutique industry.
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 …
David Kaplan / paidContent.org:
@ Media Summit: CBS' Moonves: We Still Like Hulu, But We'll Continue Going It Alone - For Now — As a self-described “old TV guy,” Les Moonves, president and CEO, CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS), probably has some personal reasons to feel mildly defensive when he's repeatedly asked about the network's older audience demos.
