Top Items:
Ina Fried / CNET News:
Ballmer on search: 'I don't like not being No. 1' — SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said his company may be the only one with a chance to rival Google in search over the long term, but acknowledged that it will take several more years and a whole lot of money.
Discussion:
Search Engine Journal, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, WebProNews, Beyond Binary and Tech Trader Daily
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James Niccolai / Industry Standard:
Ballmer still searching for an answer to Google — Microsoft may be the only company in a position to provide “any real competition” for Google in the online search business, CEO Steve Ballmer said Thursday. But first it will need to figure out a way to do it.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:Steve Ballmer Visits Silicon Valley, Talks About Microsoft's Future …
Discussion:
Datamation, Industry Standard, InfoWorld, Reuters, Valleywag, Beyond Binary and VentureBeat
Thom Weidlich / Bloomberg:
Apple Won't Face Lawsuit Over Limited Life of IPhone Batteries — Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) — Apple Inc. won't face a lawsuit claiming it didn't immediately tell customers about the limited life of batteries for its iPhone or their $86 replacement cost, including delivery.
Discussion:
CNET News, Technology blog, AppleInsider, MacRumors, Macworld, MacNN, Macsimum News and textually.org
BIZ / Twitter Blog:
Of The People, By The People, For The People — Politweets was one of the first to mix Twitter and politics. Other interesting mash-ups were created by C-SPAN for both the RNC and the DNC. There's also the amazingly cool Perspctv and of course there's Current TV's plan to Hack The Debate.
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MG Siegler / VentureBeat:Twitter to launch election site tonight
Discussion:
The Social, TechCrunch, SitePoint Blogs, The Universal Desktop, Podcasting News, Lifehacker, AppScout, TechBlog, Bits, Valleywag, The Toybox, Epicenter, Media Bullseye and The Inquisitr
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
What Is The Deal With This Stupid Lighter iPhone App? — Everyone keeps talking about Smule's virtual lighter iPhone application called Sonic Lighter (iTunes link). — I wasn't impressed: there are no less than ten different virtual lighter apps in iTunes, which is what I'd call a saturated market.
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
Apple cuts iPhone 3G build plan; Suppliers to take a hit — Apple reportedly plans to build 14 million to 15 million iPhone 3Gs from a previous target of 18 million for 2008, according to a report from Pacific Crest. — Citing “supply chain channel checks” Apple's is cutting its iPhone 3G buildout.
Fred / A VC:
To Splurge Or Not To Splurge — I went to bed with the news that McCain wasn't sure if he would support the splurge. Not that anyone needs my vote on this thing, but I woke up trying to figure out if I am in favor of it. So I'll read (links) and think outloud and hopefully get somewhere.
Tarmo Virki / Reuters:
Nokia to unveil touch-screen phone Oct 2: sources — HELSINKI (Reuters) - The world's top cellphone maker Nokia (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will unveil its first touch-screen phone at a media and analyst event in London next week, two industry sources told Reuters on Friday.
Eric Savitz / Tech Trader Daily:
Yahoo: Collins Stewart Says Fundamentals “Deteriorating” — More trouble lurks ahead for Yahoo (YHOO), Collins Stewart analyst Sandeep Agrawal warned this morning. — “We believe that the fundamentals at YHOO are deteriorating,” he writes in a research note.
Kelly Hodgkins / Boy Genius Report:
Some screen shots from Vodafone-branded Blackberry Storm emerge — Some purported screen shots of Vodafone-branded Blackberry Storm have emerged today. If you believe what you see is for real, then you may be a bit disappointed. The resolution on the screen is quite nice but the interface, well, looks just like a Blackberry.
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Charlie Sorrel / Gadget Lab:
Griffin iPod Dock Simplifies Cluttered Desks — Look what Griffin did! It's another iPod dock, but this time it's actually useful. The Simplifi comes in at $70, but for that you get to toss out your media card reader and your USB hub. There's also an AC adapter for juice-sucking …
Discussion:
CrunchGear, Macworld, Newlaunches.com, GeekBrief.TV, Macsimum News, Obsessable and Gizmodo
Julian Sanchez / Ars Technica:
Larry Page blasts white space FUD on Capitol Hill — Google co-founder Larry Page says the time for delays has passed: he wants the Federal Communications Commission to open up fallow “white space” in the TV broadcast spectrum for unlicensed use, and to do it before November's presidential election.
Charlie Sorrel / Gadget Lab:
IPhone 2.2: Safari Redesign, Possible Cut and Paste — With the iPhone v2.1 software out of the door, Apple is hard at work on v2.2. From this first glimpse it looks like Apple, now that the major bugs have been squashed, is adding some new features. — The screenshot, unearthed by iPhone Atlas, shows a new Safari interface.
Andrewbadr / Disqus:
Announcing the Disqus API — I'm happy to announce that the first official release of our public API is now online. The methods provided are enough to let you write your own comment import tools, export tools, or even a custom Disqus plugin for your platform.
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
Report: workers spend 25% of work time goofing around online — If you're reading this while your boss thinks you're hammering away on some code or updating that Excel spreadsheet, then you're likely one of the workers that spend about 25 percent of their work time doing personal stuff online.
Daniel Shen / DigiTimes:
Android and Windows Mobile smartphones are complementary, says HTC — Android and Windows Mobile handsets can complement each other in the market, offering consumers and telecom service providers more choice, according to John Wang, CMO, High Tech Computer (HTC), who added in saying the company …
John Timmer / Ars Technica:
College bookstores turn to kiosks to stem e-textbook tide — This week, the National Association of College Stores announced a new initiative that that will see digital vending kiosks tested at a number of major college campuses. The college bookstore trade group will form a distinct subsidiary …
Eric Krangel / Silicon Alley Insider:
Wall Street's Blowup Shrinks The Tech Market By Billions. Could Be Worse — The Wall Street collapse is terrible for tech, obviously. But it could be worse. — Forrester Research says the financial sector's troubled firms (Lehman, Merrill, Bear Stearns, AIG, Fannie, Freddie) all together equal about 2% of tech spending.
Discussion:
Beet.TV
Thomas Ricker / Engadget:
Apple now selling iPhone 3G unlocked in Hong Kong — If you can't get your goods into China via the front door, there's always the back. Apple is now selling its iPhone 3G unlocked via its on-line Apple Store in Hong Kong. The 8GB model sells for HK$5,500 (about US$694) or HK$6,200 (about $797) for the 16 gigger.
Discussion:
PC World, Gadget Lab, 9 to 5 Mac, Engadget Mobile, Macsimum News, Phones Review and Smalltalk Tidbits …
Georgina Prodhan / Reuters:
NBC says local TV profoundly affected by downturn — LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. economic downturn has had a severe effect on broadcaster NBC's local television stations but the company has not yet seen an advertising slowdown at a national level, its chief executive said.
Maciej Stachowiak / Surfin' Safari:
Full Pass of Acid3 — Today we would like to announce that WebKit is the first browser engine to fully pass Acid3. A while back, we posted that we scored 100/100 and matched the reference rendering. Now, thanks to recent speedups in JavaScript, DOM and rendering, we have passed the third condition …
Toshiba:
Toshiba Launches 256GB Solid State Drives with MLC — TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation today announced enhancements to its line-up of NAND-flash-based solid state drives (SSD) with the addition of an industry-leading 256-gigabyte (GB) SSD and the launch of a series of small-sized Flash Modules …
Dan Gallagher / MarketWatch:
Research In Motion's shares sink on forecast — Stock hits new low as analysts cut ratings on worries of weaker margins — SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Shares of Research In Motion tumbled more than 25% Friday to a new 52-week low after the company reported a strong surge …
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Roundtable:
Google Messes Up AdSense Exchange For Indian Rupee — A DigitalPoint Forums thread has a three page thread on the topic of Google messing up yet again with the exchange rate given to publishers. This time Google equated one US dollar to one Indian Rupee. The true current exchange rate is $1 US to 46.555 INR.
Farhad Manjoo / Slate:
The Cell Phone Wars — In August, a programmer named Alex Sokirynsky wrote a clever app to let iPhone users stream or download podcasts straight from their phones. (Ordinarily, the iPhone can play only the podcasts you've downloaded through your computer.)
