Top Items:
Ed Bott / Ed Bott's Microsoft Report:
First hints of Microsoft's “fight back” ads appear — I just noticed this teaser on Microsoft's home page: — If this is going to be the overall message of Microsoft's much-vaunted new $300 million ad campaign, it might be money well spent. According to the folks at LiveSide …
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Harry McCracken / Technologizer:
Microsoft's Vista Mea-Sorta-Culpa — Over at ZDNet, Ed Bott has posted an intriguing item on Microsoft's attempt to reintroduce Windows Vista to a world that seems to have its fair share of Vista skeptics. Ed noticed the image at left, comparing Vista doubters to flat-earth believers, on the Microsoft.com home page.
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
Apple hints at lower prices as iPod, notebook refresh on tap — Amid all the chatter about Apple's fiscal third quarter results, which were strong, most concerns about the future revolve around two words: Gross margins. The big takeaway for technology buyers: Those lower margins hint …
Discussion:
9 to 5 Mac, Seeking Alpha, Byte of the Apple, DailyTech, Scripting News, Gearlog, InformationWeek, Startup Meme and TechWeb
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Joe Wilcox / Apple Watch:
What Is Apple's Mystery Product? — I contacted several analysts, looking for sound or even silly speculation about the product. Nobody wants to guess wrong about Apple, so what I got was more sheepish speculation. — Quick recap: During Apple's fiscal third-quarter conference call this afternoon …
Discussion:
Apple 2.0, PDA, One More Thing, Guardian, Bits, GottaBeMobile, Startup Meme, VentureBeat and Infinite Loop
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Land:
Google Maps Walking Directions Now Live — Earlier this month, I reported that Google Maps was testing walking directions on a small subset of users. This morning, I noticed that Google Maps now is offering walking directions for all Google Maps users. — For example, conduct a search …
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Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Roundtable:Google Maps Now Has Walking Directions
Discussion:
Bloggle
Robert Scoble / Scobleizer:
Has/How/Why tech blogging has failed you — Oh, what a hoot. I've been taking a break from blogging just to relax and invest my time in other places. Like FriendFeed. Or downloading iPhone apps. — Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about Tech blogging and my role in it. I've increasingly become saddened.
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Dennis Crouch / Patent Law Blog:
The Death of Google's Patents — By John F. Duffy* [PDF Version (42 KB)] — The Patent and Trademark Office has now made clear that its newly developed position on patentable subject matter will invalidate many and perhaps most software patents, including pioneering patent claims to such innovators as Google, Inc.
Discussion:
Search Engine Land, WebProNews, broadstuff, Beyond Search, Smalltalk Tidbits … and /Message
Brad Stone / New York Times:
TiVo and Amazon Team Up — SAN FRANCISCO — TiVo, the Silicon Valley company that introduced millions to the joy of skipping television commercials, is trying to crack a decades-old media dream. It wants to turn the television remote control into a tool for buying the products being advertised …
Discussion:
Ars Technica, NewTeeVee, Screenwerk, Today @ PC World, Technically Incorrect, paidContent.org, dailywireless.org, Startup Meme, TECH.BLORGE.com, MarketingVOX, TiVo Lovers, CrunchGear, everwas, The Pondering Primate, VentureBeat, Silicon Alley Insider, Gizmodo, MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer and WatchingTV Online
Brooke Crothers / CNET News.com:
SanDisk: Windows Vista not optimized for solid-state drives — SanDisk said Monday that Windows Vista is not optimized for solid-state drives, delaying the delivery of optimized drives until next year. — Solid-state drives (SSDs) are used instead of hard disk drives in select high-end notebook PCs today …
Discussion:
DailyTech, CrunchGear, The Tech Report, Lockergnome, MacDailyNews, Engadget, Inquirer and GottaBeMobile
Kit Eaton / Gizmodo:
Sony Pushes Out Three New Walkmen Phones, the W302, W902 and W595 — It's the third birthday of Sony Ericsson's Walkman phone label, and to celebrate it's launching three new music-based cellphones. The W302 and W902 (left, center in the image) are both candybar cells, with the 302 having an FM radio …
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Mark Sweney / Guardian:
BSkyB and Universal to launch digital music service — BSkyB is to break into the digital music market with a new business, launched in conjunction with Universal Music, that aims to take on Apple's iTunes in the UK. — The new as-yet-unnamed venture, in which BSkyB is the majority shareholder …
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Ryan Block / Engadget:
Some news from the editor's desk — For most of us here, at some point the sensation of breaking the news takes hold and turns into something else, something much more like an addiction. It really gets into you, keeps you up at night, makes you stay in on weekends.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
MySpace Confirms OpenID Support, Launches Data Availability On Flixster and Eventful — MySpace is rolling out a couple of announcements this morning a day ahead of Facebook's F8 developer conference. — The first is confirmation of our story that they are supporting OpenID …
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Propeller 2.0 Launches: Ditching The Vote Count, Adding A Mascot — Propeller, AOL's Digg-like news site, launches version 2.0 later this morning. The site sports a new design and logo and now has a mascot - described as “part professor, part citizen journalist” (see image below).
Chris Pendleton / Virtual Earth, An Evangelist's Blog:
Virtual Earth Imagery Release - July 2008 — 14.3 TB of new imagery for Microsoft Virtual Earth. Save money on gas....use Live Search Maps powered by Virtual Earth. — Ortho — United States (UltraCam, Microsoft Proprietary) — Elizabeth, NJ — West Allis, WI — Paterson, NJ
Eric Savitz / Tech Trader Daily:
Apple Slides On Margin Worries; Estimates, Targets Fall — Several issues emerged for Apple (AAPL) in the wake of last night's earnings report for the company's fiscal third quarter and the subsequent conference call with the Street. — Yes, one issue is the company's refusal to directly respond …
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes / Hardware 2.0:
If you don't like AAPL's “Steve's health is a private matter” statement, then sell — Steve Jobs' health is once again being debated, and Apple's “Steve's health is a private matter” statement seems to have done nothing to put investors at ease. But the honest trust is that if you don't like that statement …
