Top Items:
The Boy Genius / Boy Genius Report:
Apple to sell a $99 4GB iPhone at Walmart? — We just got a tip that in addition to the iPhone 3G actually making its way to Walmart, as we exclusively told you, there will be a 4GB model priced at $99 with a 2-year agreement. We're not putting our stamp of approval behind this one just yet …
Discussion:
CNET News, The Register, Good Morning Silicon Valley, Engadget, VentureBeat, MacRumors, TECH.BLORGE.com, IntoMobile, Tech Trader Daily, Cell Phone Deals …, Technologizer, Gadget Lab, CrunchGear, I4U News, SlashGear, DVICE, MacBlogz, TG Daily, Homotron.net, TUAW, Edible Apple, Unwired View, The iPhone Blog, iPhone Buzz, Pulse2, Gadgetell, Infinite Loop and iPhone Savior
Microsoft:
Microsoft Appoints Dr. Qi Lu to Run Online Services Group — Yahoo! veteran to oversee Internet offerings for consumers, advertisers and publishers. — Microsoft Corp. today announced that Dr. Qi Lu will join the company as president of the Online Services Group.
RELATED:
Ina Fried / Beyond Binary:It's official: Qi Lu to head Microsoft's online effort
Discussion:
Between the Lines
Mark Zuckerberg / Facebook Blog:
Facebook Across the Web — Over the summer we announced an extension of Facebook Platform called Facebook Connect. Facebook Connect makes it easier for you to take your online identity with you all over the Web, share what you do online with your friends and stay updated on what they're doing.
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Rafe Needleman / Webware.com:
Facebook Connect officially open — Facebook is officially announcing on Thursday that its log-in system, Facebook Connect, is officially open for business for non-Facebook sites. — The social network is making the implementation of Facebook Connect self-service, so anyone who has a site …
Avner / boxee blog:
boxee <3 Netflix — when we planned the Dec 4th release we had minor changes in mind, mainly bug-fixes.... but we were undisciplined and immature.. and it turned from a minor release into a big one.. — we could not ignore the number of people asking for Netflix on boxee.. so we called …
Discussion:
Epicenter, Beet.TV, Technologizer, NewTeeVee, Boing Boing Gadgets, 9 to 5 Mac, eHomeUpgrade, Lifehacker, SlashGear, TUAW and VC Cafe
RELATED:
Josh Lowensohn / Webware.com:
Boxee gets support for Netflix streaming — Boxee is releasing on Thursday a new version of its media center software that adds support for Netflix Watch Instantly streaming movies. — Unlike streaming solutions from Roku and Microsoft's Xbox 360, Boxee's effort includes the option …
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Google Friend Connect Now Open To All Websites — Update: Facebook just opened up FB Connect as well in a self-serve fashion. It's mano-a-mano. — The battle over who will control access to your online identity is heating up. In the wake of more and more partners finally starting …
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Mussie Shore / The Official Google Blog:
Google Friend Connect: now available — We're pleased to share that Google Friend Connect is now available in beta to any webmaster looking to add a “dash of social” to his or her site. This service lets webmasters add social features to their sites by simply copying and pasting a few snippets of code …
Jenna Bilotta / Google Reader:
Square is the new round. — On the Reader team, we know that the old adage “change is good” isn't always true. Sometimes, change is just change. In this case, we hope that these decisions both improve your Reader experience today, and pave the way for additional improvements down the line.
Sam Oliver / AppleInsider:
Apple proposes infrared matrix to aid larger multi-touch designs — A fairly new filing from Apple discusses the advantages of using proximity sensors more generously to aid its multi-touch technology on devices larger than the iPhone, which would allow certain functions to be invoked without …
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David Pogue / New York Times:
Readers React to David Pogue's Review of the BlackBerry Storm — I learned something last week. — In my Times print column, I reviewed the BlackBerry Storm, by far the worst product Research in Motion has ever produced. I had problems with its concept, problems with its clicky touch screen …
Simon Sage / IntoMobile:
World's Second Android Phone Now on Presale — Kogan's Agora and Agora Pro hinted at last month is now ready to roll, costing AU$299 and AU$399, and shipping on January 29th. The Agora Pro's specs are as follows: — Operating System: Android™ — Google Mobile Functions …
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Shanan Delp / Flickr Blog:
Going More Mobile — Over the last year we've seen an explosion of mobile devices uploading to and browsing Flickr. It's rapidly becoming the norm for our members to use a camera phone to share their immediate world with others, and a mobile browser to keep track of friends and family.
RELATED:
Gartner:
Gartner Says Worldwide Smartphone Sales Reached Its Lowest Growth Rate With 11.5 Per Cent Increase in Third Quarter of 2008 — Apple Overtakes Microsoft As No. 3 Smartphone OS Vendor — In the third quarter of 2008, the global smartphone market reached its weakest year-on-year growth since Gartner, Inc. began tracking the industry.
Discussion:
Engadget, Portfolio, CNET News, mocoNews.net, InformationWeek, Edible Apple, dailywireless.org, jkOnTheRun and TeleRead
Opera Community:
Peregrine takes flight... Opera 10.0 Alpha 1 is here! — It seems like yesterday we released Opera 9.6 and now you can all get your hands on Opera 10.0. Rather than ramble on, here's a quick list of what's new: — Presto 2.2 Engine — Performance boost — 100/100 and pixel-perfect on the Acid3 test
Discussion:
Hardware 2.0, Opera Press Room, ReadWriteWeb, Download Squad, BetaNews, TechSpot, Technologizer, jkOnTheRun and Lifehacker
Rick Turoczy / ReadWriteWeb:
Times Extra: The New York Times Opens Web Front Page to Outside Content — New York TimesAt a time when the online world is continually seen as a more trusted source of news, mainstream media outlets find themselves forced into the position of becoming more and more open to keep their readers coming back.
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AT&T:
AT&T Announces Job Reductions — AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) today announced a planned reduction of approximately 12,000 jobs, or about 4 percent of the company's total workforce, citing economic pressures, a changing business mix and a more streamlined organizational structure.
Discussion:
PC World, Electronista, E-Commerce Times, Between the Lines, NewTeeVee, GigaOM, CNET News, Good Morning Silicon Valley, BloggingStocks and DSLreports
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Report from AlwaysOn Venture Summit: We're not dead yet! — About 500 people converged this week on the AlwaysOn Venture Summit West at the luxurious Ritz Carlton hotel in Half Moon Bay, Calif. Apparently shell-shocked investors, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs still want to commiserate and await the upturn in a group setting.
John Timmer / Ars Technica:
FBI: widespread copper theft puts US infrastructure at risk — Up until recently, economies around the globe were on a fairly steady upward trajectory, a growth that put pricing pressure on some of the raw materials needed for both production and infrastructure.
i2:
i2 Announces Termination of Merger Transaction with JDA Software Group, Inc. — i2 Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITWO) today announced that it has terminated its Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of Aug. 10, 2008, with JDA Software Group, Inc. ("JDA") (NASDAQ: JDAS), and Iceberg Acquisition Corp, a wholly-owned subsidiary of JDA.
Caroline McCarthy / The Social:
Sources: Layoffs hit RealNetworks — Media and music company RealNetworks started to conduct companywide layoffs on Thursday, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the events. One source said that employees were being notified over the course of the day in a series of meetings.
Scott Cleland / The Precursor Blog:
Google uses 21 times more bandwidth than it pays for — per first-ever research study — The 27 page research study can be accessed at this link: — Contact: Scott Cleland 703-217-2407 — First-Ever Study of U.S. Consumer Internet Usage and Cost Finds — Google Uses 21 Times More Bandwidth than it Pays For
Discussion:
Tech Daily Dose, Law & Disorder, DSLreports, Google Public Policy Blog and The Technology Liberation …
Oliver Marks / Collaboration 2.0:
Open source thrives in downturn — Collaboration initiatives are all about streamlining business processes, and the interfaces between legacy closed systems and open source stacks are an increasingly common place to find business collaboration environments.
