Top Items:
Cedric Dupont / The Official Google Blog:
Knol is open to everyone — A few months ago we announced that we were testing a new product called Knol. Knols are authoritative articles about specific topics, written by people who know about those subjects. Today, we're making Knol available to everyone.
Discussion:
HipMojo.com, Journalistopia, Search Engine Journal, Pixel Bits, The Inquisitr, The Register, ProBlogger Blog Tips, Lifehacker, InformationWeek, VentureBeat, Communications …, Maximum PC all, Chris Pirillo, ReadWriteWeb, BetaNews, Guardian Unlimited, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, Brij's One More Idea, Google Blogoscoped, Pulse 2.0, Tech Beat, SEO and Tech Daily, Bits, Podcasting News, Webware.com, CyberJournalist.net, WebProNews and greg hughes
RELATED:
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Google's Knol Launches: Like Wikipedia, With Moderation — After six months of testing, Google has formally rolled out Knol, a service designed to let people create pages of knowledge on any topic they choose. While Google says Knol is not designed to compete with Wikipedia …
Steven Levy / Wired News:
Google Throws Open Rival for Wikipedia — Anon Authors Discouraged — Google announced on its official blog Wednesday the debut of Knol, a Wikipedia-like online encyclopedia penned by authoritative sources. — Udi Manber loves cartoons. Not animations, but the single-panel graphics that appear in magazines like The New Yorker.
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Google Launches Knol, The Monetizable Wikipedia
Google Launches Knol, The Monetizable Wikipedia
Discussion:
Technologizer, Download Squad, Silicon Alley Insider, Confessions …, Beyond Search and 901am
Microsoft:
Microsoft Announces Reorganization of Windows and Online Services Business — Platforms & Services Division to Split Into Two Groups and Report to CEO Steve Ballmer. — Microsoft Corp. today announced that the Platforms & Services Division (PSD) will be split into two groups …
RELATED:
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Microsoft's Latest Web Stumble: Kevin Johnson Out — Kevin Johnson (pictured here), the point person for Microsoft's failed bid to buy Yahoo, is leaving the company to run Juniper Networks. — As the president of its Platform and Services Division, the smooth Johnson has been trying …
Robert A. Guth / Wall Street Journal:
Microsoft's Johnson Heads to Juniper — The head of Microsoft Corp.'s online business, who led the company's bid to buy Yahoo Inc., is leaving the software giant to run Juniper Networks Inc., according to people familiar with the situation. — The departure of Kevin Johnson …
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's Full Memo to the Troops About New Reorg — Here is the full memo Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer sent out to the troops about the big changes in its organization, including the departure of Platform and Services Division President Kevin Johnson, and in which he addresses Apple, Yahoo, Google and more:
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft:
Microsoft splits its Platforms & Services unit in two
Microsoft splits its Platforms & Services unit in two
Discussion:
Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Liveblogging the Facebook Developer Conference — The TechCrunch team is on site at the Facebook Developer conference, and we'll be live blogging the news. Mark Zuckerberg's Keynote starts at 1:30 pm PST. — Facebook's press release is here. — Live Coverage
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Justin Smith / Inside Facebook:
Facebook Announces “Great Apps” and “App Verification” Certification Programs for Good App Developers — As speculated earlier this week, Facebook is announcing two new programs today that will give greater visibility within the News Feed and possibly other communication channels for applications that …
Kevin Rose / Digg the Blog:
Digg partners with Facebook to “connect” users — Today we're announcing more details around the new Facebook Connect feature. This feature will allow anyone who currently uses Facebook to seamlessly become a Digg user and start sharing and Digging stuff right away.
Discussion:
VentureBeat
Kevin Michaluk / CrackBerry.com blogs:
BlackBerry Kickstart 8220 Hands-On Hardware Review — The Web's First Review of the BlackBerry KickStart 8220. — Grab a cup of coffee, sit back and relax! It's time for another hands-on review of a yet to be officially announced or released BlackBerry smartphone.
Discussion:
Engadget, Boy Genius Report, Mobility Site, BlackBerry Sync, BlackBerry Cool, Electronista, InformationWeek Weblog, IntoMobile and Ubergizmo
Fred / A VC:
Our Newest Portfolio Company: Meetup — My partner Brad starts his post on our newest investment, Meetup, with a rumination on what's causing the introspection that we in web investing land are going through. And he ends his thoughts on that topic with the following:
Discussion:
Tech Confidential
RELATED:
Brad Burnham / Union Square Ventures:
Meetup - The Original Web Meets World Company
Meetup - The Original Web Meets World Company
Discussion:
SmoothSpan Blog
Matt Buchanan / Gizmodo:
Why We Still Need the iPhone App Black Market — A year ago, we said that no iPhone SDK meant no killer apps. It came, and the apps are here in staggering numbers. But many of the amazing apps and concepts we grew to love as unofficial apps aren't here, and only about 100 of the 900+ apps …
Walter S. Mossberg / Personal Technology:
Apple's MobileMe Is Far Too Flawed To Be Reliable — People who work for large corporations are used to having their email, contacts and calendar appointments synchronized instantly among their various computers and smart phones. But average consumers haven't had an easy way to do that.
Discussion:
Apple Watch
Mike Atherton / Times of London:
Hackers start to target Apple Macs — As more and more PC users switch to Macs, they're bringing viruses and other malicious software with them — When Apple beat Wall Street expectations convincingly on Monday after its best quarter ever, its share price fell.
Datamation:
Why Apple and China are Simply Incompatible — The Beijing Olympics begin in two weeks. But for Apple, the China games have already begun. The company opened a shiny new Apple store in Beijing Saturday — the “first of many” in China, according to an Apple official. The race is on.
Discussion:
MacUser
Amazon.com:
Amazon.com Announces Second Quarter Sales up 41% to $4.06 Billion; Sales Growth Accelerates to 31% in Media and to 58% in Electronics and Other General Merchandise — Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2008.
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Trouble in Online Travel: American Airlines Ditches Kayak (Maybe Orbitz Too) — After years of ceding the upper hand in online travel to booking sites like Kayak and Orbitz, American Airlines is about to fight back. According to the CEO of a competing travel site, American Airlines …
Michal Lev-Ram / Techland:
Neil Young takes on the iPod — HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — In the iPod age, music sound quality has been dumbed down to “Fisher-Price toy” levels, rock star and tech enthusiast Neil Young said Wednesday at Fortune's Brainstorm Tech Conference. — “Apple has taken a detour down the convenience highway …