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:
Bits, bit-tech.net, Chicago Sun Times, Technically Incorrect, Security Watch, unstruc chitchatting …, Don Park's Daily Habit, PC World, Computerworld, internetnews.com, L.A. Times Tech Blog, MarketingVOX, The Register, InformationWeek, The Social, TechCrunch, Technologizer, Washington Post, paidContent.org, Guardian, SC Magazine US, VentureBeat, techblog.dallasnews.com, Pulse2 and The Drama 2.0 Show
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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)
Celebrity Twitter Accounts Hacked (Bill O'Reilly, Britney Spears, Obama, More)
Discussion:
Music Ally, Twitter Status, Infosecurity.US, the Econsultancy blog, Digits, Threat Level and Gawker
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.
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.
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:
Technologizer, The Technology Chronicles, Macworld, TechCrunch, Boy Genius Report, Gizmodo, Mobility Site, I4U News, TUAW and Ubergizmo
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, geeksugar, O'Grady's PowerPage, Gear Live, Lifehacker, MacRumors, Macsimum News, Obsessable, Mashable! and Googling Google
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Michael Calore / Epicenter:
After an Agonizing Wait, Picasa for Mac Finally Arrives
After an Agonizing Wait, Picasa for Mac Finally Arrives
Discussion:
Macworld, Google, TechCrunch, InformationWeek, The Mac Observer, Infinite Loop, Google Operating System, AppleInsider and Pulse2
Motorola Media Center:
Motorola Unveils World's First Mobile Phone Made Using Recycled Water Bottle Plastics and New 3G Touch Tablet with Customizable Home Screen — Latest devices to be displayed at 2009 International CES in Las Vegas — Las Vegas - CES - Jan. 6, 2009 - Today Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) …
Discussion:
PhoneNews.com
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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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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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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:
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.
RELATED:
Jeremy Kirk / Computerworld:
Amazon adds new S3 twist: Make people pay to access your data — Requester Pays option lets data owners shift Amazon's bandwidth fees to external users — IDG News Service) Amazon.com Inc. has rolled out a new option for its Simple Storage Service (S3) that lets data owners shift the cost …
Discussion:
InfoWorld
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 …
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.
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
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:
Network World, Microsoft Pri0, Microsoft Watch, TechCrunchIT, The Microsoft Blog and Computerworld
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
Mininova's Torrent Downloads Double to 7 Billion in a Year — Mininova, founded in January 2005, soon became one of the most successful torrent sites. The site has grown steadily over recent months, and for a few weeks now the millions of daily users have been downloading well over 10 million torrents a day.
Darren Murph / Engadget:
LaCie intros 22x d2 external DVD burner, 2TB Hard Disk MAX — Two new ones have arrived today from the labs of LaCie, and neither are destined to ever end up inside of your PC. Up first, we've got the slightly speedier d2 external DVD±RW drive with LightScribe …
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
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 …
Discussion:
P2P Blog