Top Items:
Peter Kafka / Silicon Alley Insider:
Starbucks (SBUX) Dumping CDs, iTunes Gift Cards (AAPL) — Starbucks, which has been scaling back its once-grand ambitions to turn itself into an entertainment hub, is about to shrink its plans yet again. We hear that by September, the chain will have dumped almost all of its in-store music retail offerings.
Discussion:
Infinite Loop, CNET News.com, Brier Dudley's blog, GMSV, VoIP & Gadgets Blog, CrunchGear, Macsimum News and hypebot
Jesusdiaz / Gizmodo:
iPhone 2.0 Golden Master Could Hit this Friday — According to a sources inside the Cupertino's iPhone software development effort, it is “highly probable” that the iPhone 2.0 Golden Master will hit this Friday. The final version could arrive two weeks before the introduction of the new iPhone 3G …
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Kasper Jade / AppleInsider:
Secure data wipe built into iPhone Software v2.0 — Responding to concerns over the integrity of the iPhone's data reset methods, Apple has taken the extra step and built a more secure data wipe function into the next version of the handset's software, AppleInsider has learned.
Eric Savitz / Tech Trader Daily:
Google Names Former Bell Canada Exec Pichette As CFO — Google's (GOOG) long search for a CFO to replace the departing Geroge Reyes has come to an end: the company this afternoon announced that it named Patrick Pichette to the job. He starts work on August 1, and will officially take the CFO slot August 12.
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Business Wire:
Bell Canada Executive Patrick Pichette to Join Google Executive Team — MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - News) today announced that Patrick Pichette will be named Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Most recently, Mr. Pichette served …
Discussion:
Silicon Alley Insider
Caroline McCarthy / The Social:
Facebook adds to the chatter with Mini-Feed comments — Facebook will soon be making it possible for members to leave comments on each others' “mini-feeds” of activity, according to an announcement Wednesday from the social network. The development is slated to go live later on Wednesday.
Discussion:
L.A. Times Tech Blog, VentureBeat, Mashable!, Valleywag, WebProNews and Industry Standard
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Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Deal or No Deal? Oops, No Deal! — Look, a Yahoo-Microsoft deal could happen anytime. Just not yesterday, as it turns out. — It's easy to be taken in by so-called “sources,” chatting up a new series of talks between Microsoft (MSFT) and Yahoo (YHOO), either to do a deal to revisit …
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Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:
Yahoo Wilts as TechCrunch “Microsoft Takeover!” Sources Sober Up — Anyone else spoken to any Microsoft or Yahoo sources who think the two companies are discussing a full takeover deal? Everyone we've talked to thinks that TechCrunch's sources must have been drunk.
Discussion:
Tech Confidential
The Boy Genius / Boy Genius Report:
BlackBerry Bold delayed on AT&T until at least mid-August! — We know what you're thinking... but this is for reals! We've just confirmed this now with two high-level sources: the Bold is actually delayed until August on AT&T. It seems like AT&T and RIM are still having software issues with battery life and overheating.
Sundeep Tucker / Financial Times:
Virgin Mobile and SK to combine operations in the US — Virgin Mobile USA is to acquire the US mobile phone operation controlled by SK Telecom of South Korea, after each side decided to combine their struggling businesses to build scale in the fast-maturing market.
Discussion:
CNET News.com, InformationWeek, Tech Trader Daily, FierceMobileContent, mocoNews.net and paidContent.org
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Market Wire:
Research In Motion Reports First Quarter Results — Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (NasdaqGS:RIMM - News)(Toronto:RIM.TO - News), a world leader in the mobile communications market, today reported first quarter results for the three months ended May 31, 2008 (all figures in U.S. dollars and U.S. GAAP).
Arn / MacRumors:
Time of iPhone 3G Launch Remains Unclear — Unconfirmed reports claim that the U.S. iPhone launch will take place starting at 8am, July 11th at AT&T stores nationwide. A screenshot posted to our forums claims to depict the actual email sent to AT&T managers.
Discussion:
Hardware 2.0, AppleInsider, The Unofficial Apple Weblog, Electronista, IntoMobile, Gizmodo and Boy Genius Report
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Jason Perlow / Between the Lines:
I'm sticking with Windows XP — You've heard it all before — the bell tolls for Windows XP. The governor isn't calling to give it a reprieve — Microsoft is officially declaring it end of life for system OEMs on June 30. On April 14, 2009, mainstream support dies.
Leslie Katz / CNET News.com:
Photoshop expert sings: Ctrl-J, yo! — Anyone who grew up in the era of Schoolhouse Rock's “I'm Just a Bill” knows the lasting educational value of a memorable ditty. If that little song could teach a generation about the progress of legislation on Capitol Hill, it's fair to assume …
Josh Lowensohn / Webware.com:
Plan trips based on likes and dislikes with TripSay — This afternoon TripSay, a travel site that's currently in private beta is opening up to a larger group of testers and launching a few new features. The service will help you figure out places you should go on your vacation based …
Peter Burrows / Business Week:
Bloggers: Big Media Is Watching — As content recognition software gets more sophisticated, expect more copyright-related battles online like the recent AP-blogger flap — The Associated Press unleashed a firestorm in the blogosphere earlier this month when it demanded that a political site …
Discussion:
UMPC Buzz