Top Items:
BIZ / Twitter Blog:
Monday Morning Madness — This morning we discovered 33 Twitter accounts had been “hacked” including prominent Twitter-ers like Rick Sanchez and Barack Obama (who has not been Twittering since becoming the president elect due to transition issues). We immediately locked down the accounts and investigated the issue.
Discussion:
Technically Incorrect, Chicago Sun Times, Security Watch, unstruc chitchatting …, PC World, Computerworld, Don Park's Daily Habit, L.A. Times Tech Blog, internetnews.com, The Social, The Register, MarketingVOX, TechCrunch, InformationWeek, Washington Post, Technologizer, paidContent.org, SC Magazine US and Guardian
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Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Following The Twitter Hack Trail To DigitalGangster — One thing that didn't make a lot of sense about the 33 celebrity Twitter accounts hacked this morning - the messages left on the various accounts weren't consistent and were clearly written by different people with different agendas.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Celebrity Twitter Accounts Hacked (Bill O'Reilly, Britney Spears, Obama, More) — My guess is this has nothing to do with the phishing attacks that started on Twitter a couple of days ago. But a few minutes ago the official Fox News Twitter account posted “Breaking: Bill O Riley is gay” …
Greg Sandoval / CNET News:
Sources: Apple to expand DRM-free music, new pricing — Apple has cut deals that will finally enable iTunes to offer songs free of copy protection software from the three largest music labels, according to two sources close to the negotiations. In exchange, Apple has agreed to become more flexible on pricing, the sources said.
Discussion:
VentureBeat, AppleInsider, louisgray.com, 9 to 5 Mac, Mashable!, Boy Genius Report, The iPhone Blog, CrunchGear, MacNN, Macsimum News and Insanely Great Mac
Jessica Dolcourt / CNET News:
SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone announced — Six months after announcing its intention to bring SlingPlayer to the iPhone 3G, Sling Media has another announcement to make—just not the one you're wishing for. — SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone isn't ready yet, Sling said on Tuesday, but it is on its way.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Macworld, The Technology Chronicles, TUAW, Boy Genius Report, Gizmodo, Mobility Site and I4U News
Susanna Leng / The Official Google Blog:
Introducing Picasa for Mac (at Macworld!) — Sometimes I find it hard to describe Picasa without sounding like a late-night infomercial for a multi-bladed thingamabob: “It's a photo organizer! A photo editor! A web-savvy photo sharing and management system in just one tiny package!”
Discussion:
Google Photos Blog, Google Mac Blog, O'Grady's PowerPage, Gear Live, Lifehacker, MacRumors and Mashable!
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Michael Calore / Epicenter:After an Agonizing Wait, Picasa for Mac Finally Arrives
Discussion:
Macworld, Google, TechCrunch, Underexposed, InformationWeek, The Mac Observer, Infinite Loop, Google Operating System and AppleInsider
Dan York / Disruptive Telephony:
Skype 2.8 Beta for Mac OS X provides screen sharing, WiFi access, chat features and Twitter-like mood messages — Tonight out at the “ShowStoppers” event at MacWorld in San Francisco, Skype announced the new 2.8 Beta for Mac OS X. The new version will apparently be available for download tomorrow, January 6, 2009, from Skype's website.
Daniel Terdiman / CNET News:
Early returns show strong holiday video game console sales — Updated at 5:28 p.m. to include additional data and analyst perspective. — Though the retail economy suffered what appears to be one of the bleakest holiday seasons in recent memory, it looks as though the video games industry bucked that disastrous trend.
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Apple:
Letter from Apple CEO Steve Jobs — For the first time in a decade, I'm getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote. — Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health …
Discussion:
Macworld, CrunchGear, Computerworld, Wall Street Journal, VentureBeat, Coop's Corner, Gadget Lab, internetnews.com, Connecting the Dots, Tech Trader Daily, CNET News, ParisLemon, ZDNET.com.au, Homotron.net, Coolest Gadgets, Neowin.net, Apple 2.0, MacDailyNews, TheNextWeb.com, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Wireless Week, techblog.dallasnews.com, The Technology Chronicles, dailywireless.org, Silicon Alley Insider, Forbes, the Econsultancy blog, Engadget and Elliott C. Back
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Nicholas Carlson / Silicon Alley Insider:Gizmodo Gets Steve Jobs Macworld Story Right, CNBC Gets It Wrong
Discussion:
Business Week, Infinite Loop, Gizmodo, mathewingram.com/work, Gawker, The Digital Home and CNET News
Liz Gannes / NewTeeVee:
Time Spent Watching Video Jumps 40% in One Year — One way to think about online video is to consider how big a chunk it takes out of our daily lives. The amount of time U.S. Internet users spend watching video is up an impressive 40 percent year over year.
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Om Malik / GigaOM:
With Microsoft in Sight, Cisco invests in Xobni — Xobni, a San Francisco-based maker of software for email services, has raised $7 million in fresh funding led by Cisco Systems. Existing investors Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, Baseline Ventures and Atomico also invested in this round of founding.
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Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
HP unleashes a series of new low-cost computers at CES — Hewlett-Packard is launching a bevy of new products today that show it is designing its products to take into account the lighter pocketbooks and energy usage concerns of consumers. — These products being unveiled this week …
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Truphone Brings Skype To iPhone & iTouch — I have been a frequent user of Truphone since it launched its mobile VoIP service over two years ago. What started as a simple VoIP client for Nokia Symbian S60 devices is fast becoming a unified client that does it all.
Judy Lin / Associated Press:
Ex eBay CEO prepares run for Calif. governor — Former eBay Inc. chief executive Meg Whitman has edged closer to a run for California governor, with a spokesman confirming on Monday that she has resigned from three corporate boards. — Whitman's spokesman, Henry Gomez …
Darren Murph / Engadget:
Samsung debuts H-Series of HD camcorders, first with 64GB SSD — You should've known that Canon wouldn't be able to introduce a new family of HD camcorders without Samsung hitting back with a crew of its own, so it's with that in mind that we present Samsung's H-Series.
Ina Fried / Beyond Binary:
Microsoft elevates server unit, promotes Muglia — Microsoft started off its new-year executive shuffling by promoting longtime Server and Tools unit head Bob Muglia to president, a title he shares with entertainment boss Robbie Bach and business software chief Stephen Elop.
Discussion:
Microsoft Watch, TechCrunchIT, Microsoft Pri0, Wall Street Journal, The Microsoft Blog and Computerworld
Electronista:
HP updates Mini 2x netbooks with Atom, 10in LCD — HP in its pre-CES run-up introduced its first major update to its Mini 2100 netbook. The Mini 2140 replaces the Mini-Note 2133 and abandons VIA's C7-M processor in favor of a 1.6GHz Intel Atom that HP claims should extend its battery life …
Eric M. Zeman / Phone Scoop:
Motorola Rolls Out Eco, Touch and PTT Phones — Today Motorola announced three new handsets that will become available through several different carriers over the course of the next few months. — Renew W233: According to Motorola, the W233 is the first phone made from recycled water bottles.
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
VixML: A Revolutionary New iPhone Development Platform For The Masses — The iPhone is the hottest platform around, leading some small-time developers to overnight riches and spawning over ten thousand apps in only a few months. But without knowledge of Objective-C or the intricacies of the iPhone SDK …
Discussion:
SitePoint
Brooke Crothers / CNET News:
New HP ultraportable first to use AMD Neo chip — Another Netbook? No, not exactly. Hewlett-Packard's new Pavilion dv2 is an ultraportable, thank you. And the new Athlon Neo silicon inside from Advanced Micro Devices will try to prove that point. — AMD is introducing new chips …
David Kravets / Threat Level:
Top Internet Providers Cool to RIAA 3-Strikes Plan — Two weeks after the Recording Industry Association of America announced it had struck deals with top internet service providers to cut off unrepentant music sharers, not a single major ISP will cop to agreeing to the ambitious scheme …
Ina Fried / CNET News:
Microsoft still pushing ‘Apple tax’ notion — With Apple's last Macworld keynote speech just hours away, Microsoft is again talking up the idea of an “Apple tax” that people pay when they opt for a Mac over a Windows PC. — It's a concept that Microsoft started touting in the fall.
Michael Rose / TUAW:
Rumor watch: AT&T tethering plans may be announced this week — It's been under the rumor banner for some time now, but we've been told by a trusted source that the long-awaited AT&T iPhone-as-modem tethering plans (preliminary details in MacBlogz' post from November: 5 GB data cap …
Discussion:
Gizmodo, Gadgetreview, Mobilewhack.com, Gear Live, The iPhone Blog, Infinite Loop, Boy Genius Report and Tech-Ex
Emily Steel / Wall Street Journal:
Ad Shops Eye Web Space — Firms Customize Digital Marketplaces to Stay in the Game — Madison Avenue took a back seat as technology companies created the tools to buy advertising space online. Now, major ad holding companies are developing their own systems.
Discussion:
paidContent.org
