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Breaking News: Google CIO Douglas Merrill Quits Becomes President of EMI — Update: People within EMI are saying that they are lining up mainstream media exclusives for tomorrow either NY Times or WSJ and want to kill all blog coverage. — More brain drain at Google.
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Another Google Exec Bails: VP Leaves To Head EMI Group — Add another one to the list of Google employee departures: Google VP Engineering Douglas Merrill has resigned, a source says (and confirmed here), and will be joining UK and NY-based big music label EMI Group as President.
Discussion:
Outside the Lines


Google's CIO leaves search giant for job at EMI — Updated 5 p.m. PDT with more information and context. — Google Chief Information Officer Douglas Merrill is leaving Google to become president of EMI's digital unit, according to sources. — A Google spokesman confirmed that Merrill …
Discussion:
Mashable!

Google VP leaves — to help EMI, as it starts trying out free, ad-supported music
Discussion:
Coolfer


Sprint's Samsung Instinct: At Last, a Decent iPhone Competitor — Samsung's Instinct may be the best stab at the coveted title of iPhone killah this CTIA. The 3.1-inch touchscreen phone has localized haptic feedback, plus three hard navigation keys. If it sounds familiar …
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Sprint Instinct: Could this thing beat the iPhone? — When I first saw the Instinct a few weeks ago I said “Finally.” Finally, someone, somewhere, has created an interface and a device that follows the spirit and ease-of-use of the iPhone without resorting to wholesale mimicry.


The anatomy of an iPhone user (and why they want new form factors) — The average Apple iPhone user is an avid email reader (not writer) under age 30, browses the Web heavily and may carry a second phone. Meanwhile, a lot of these folks would like a few physical tweaks to the iPhone.
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Apple Stores Out of iPhones, Piper Says; 3G Soon? — Will Apple (AAPL) surprise everyone with an earlier-than-expected debut of the next generation iPhone? — Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster raised that possibility today. He writes in a research note that calls today to 20 Apple retail …
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Apple iPhone Shortage! 20 Stores Sold Out. 3G Coming Soon? — Turns out the iPhone shortage isn't limited to New York Apple stores: Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster called 20 Apple (AAPL) stores nationwide today — and all of them were sold out of iPhones.


Microsoft's Office Open XML now an official ISO standard — Microsoft's embattled Office Open XML (OOXML) document format received ISO fast-track approval today after receiving support from approximately 86 percent of the national bodies that participated in the vote.
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Police: Couple covered up theft with Craigslist post — MEDFORD, Ore. — It wasn't a hoax or revenge that cost a Southern Oregon man many of his belongings when people responded to a Craigslist posting and nearly emptied his rural home, officers say: It was a pair of thieves covering their tracks.


Analyst: Apple's U.S. consumer market share now 21 percent — The iPhone gets the most press and the iPod sells in the largest quantities, but it's the Macintosh that really drives Apple's growth, says Gene Munster. — In the second installment of a multipart report on Apple's …
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Microsoft Unveils Smartphone Advancements to Improve Ability to Work and Play With One Phone — Company demonstrates new version of Internet Explorer Mobile with desktop-grade Web browsing, introduces updated Windows Mobile operating system. — Windows Mobile is improving smartphones …
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Nokia N810 WiMAX Editon Tablet Now Offical — Nokia took the shroud off its WiMAX-capable N810 Tablet today, which promises 4g mobile broadband speeds for the hand-held internet tablet. The updated N810 will use Sprint's Xohm service, and adds a new mobile dimension to the device, which was previously wi-fi only.
Discussion:
Ars Technica, Engadget, Electronista, WebProNews, Dan's Tech-n-Stuff Weblog and Sidecut Reports
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Flickr's New Friend Finder: Data Portability or Privacy Violation? — Late last night Yahoo! owned photo sharing site Flickr launched a new feature - the ability to search your Gmail, Yahoo! Mail or Hotmail contacts list for people on Flickr so you can add them as contacts.

Mobile operators avoid potential regulation — Updated 12:30 p.m. PDT with comment from the Open Internet Coalition. — LAS VEGAS—It seems mobile operators have dodged a regulatory bullet by promising to open up their networks on their own. — On Tuesday, Federal Communications …
Discussion:
Tech Beat, The Technology Chronicles, Ars Technica, Techdirt, The Register, IDG News Service, Gearlog and GigaLaw.com Daily News
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Introducing AdSense for conversations — We're happy to announce the launch of AdSense for conversations, a new type of monetization solution that “puts the ‘context’ in contextual advertising”. Now, in just a few simple steps, you can begin displaying ads that are relevant …
Discussion:
Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, TechCrunch, Quick Online Tips and Google Operating System


Has Microsoft lost its way on desktop computing? — Based on recent comments by top Redmond strategists, it appears that Microsoft has no credible vision for the future of desktop computing. Apple appears to have skirted this strategic black hole and despite the distractions …
Discussion:
The Mac Observer


I'm skipping April Fools this year — I've decided to skip April Fool's Day this year, and I'll tell you why: I'm April Fools'ed out. I've done a bunch of April Fools jokes in the past, and this year I'm just too tired to do it. Plus I'm worried that if I escalate the jokes much further, things will get out of control.
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All the April Fools' news that's fit to print
Discussion:
Jeremy Toeman's LIVEdigitally, Elliott C. Back, Valleywag, Coop's Corner and FaceReviews