Top Items:
Juan Carlos Perez / PC World:
Facebook, Google Launch Data Portability Programs to All — Google and Facebook separately announced the general availability of their respective data portability programs on Thursday. — Google Friend Connect and Facebook Connect are generally designed to extend social-networking capabilities broadly across the Web.
Discussion:
Economist
RELATED:
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.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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:
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Microsoft Officially Confirms Qi Lu Hired As Digital Chief; McAndrews Out — Microsoft moved up its official announcement of former Yahoo (YHOO) tech star Qi Lu to be the head of its Online Services Group. — BoomTown reported the selection earlier this morning.
Ina Fried / Beyond Binary:It's official: Qi Lu to head Microsoft's online effort
Discussion:
Between the Lines
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:
Hardware 2.0, Digital Noise, Engadget, The Register, GMSV, MacRumors, TECH.BLORGE.com, VentureBeat, IntoMobile, Tech Trader Daily, Cell Phone Deals …, Gadget Lab, Technologizer, CrunchGear, I4U News, DVICE, MacBlogz, TG Daily, Homotron.net, TUAW, Edible Apple, Unwired View, The iPhone Blog, iPhone Buzz, Pulse2, Gadgetell and SlashGear
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.
Discussion:
Silicon Alley Insider, CNET News, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Lifehacker, Mashable! and CostPerNews
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, NewTeeVee, Technologizer, Boing Boing Gadgets, eHomeUpgrade, 9 to 5 Mac, Lifehacker and SlashGear
RELATED:
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 …
Discussion:
MSNBC, Gadget Lab, mocoNews.net, The iPhone Blog, Industry Standard, MacDailyNews and Boing Boing Gadgets
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 …
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:
Business Technology, Engadget, Portfolio, CNET News, mocoNews.net, InformationWeek, Edible Apple, dailywireless.org and jkOnTheRun
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:
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
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 …
RELATED:
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 …
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, GigaOM, CNET News, GMSV and NewTeeVee
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Land:
“You Could Go To Google,” Says Yahoo — But Why Not Stay Here? — Yahoo has changed the way they handle a query for a competing search engine. Now, if you search at Yahoo for google, live or ask.com, Yahoo will tell you, “You could go to [Search Engine Name Goes Here].
Discussion:
WebProNews
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.
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.
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.
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.
