Top Items:
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Google Ends Google Video Uploads, Shutters Notebook, Catalog Search, Dodgeball & Jaiku — Google's announced they're closing or ceasing development of a variety of products as part of an already continuing move to keep efforts focused on other products with greater usage.
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Vic Gundotra / Google Code Blog:
Changes for Jaiku and Farewell to Dodgeball and Mashup Editor — Google has long believed that thoughtful iteration is the best way to build useful products for our users. As part of that process, we are always looking for ways to better focus our teams on the products that can have the most impact.
Raj Krishnan / Notebook Blog:
Stopping development on Google Notebook — At Google, we're constantly working to innovate and improve our products so people can easily find and manage information. At times though, we have to decide where to focus our efforts and which technologies we expect will yield the most benefit to users in the long run.
MG Siegler / VentureBeat:
Google's new years revolution: Six products slashed or maimed — Well, Google picked a good day to announce layoffs and kill a bunch of products. While everyone is busy reading about Apple chief executive Steve Jobs' leave of absence for health related issues, Google has more or less killed six of its products.
Discussion:
Guardian
Michael Cohen / Google Video Blog:
Turning Down Uploads at Google Video — At Google, we like to launch early, launch often, and to iterate our products. Occasionally, this means we have to re-evaluate our efforts and make difficult decisions to be sure we focus on products that make the most sense for our users.
Apple:
Apple Media Advisory — Apple CEO Steve Jobs today sent the following email to all Apple employees: — Team, — I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very personal with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Music Ally, Neowin.net, Gadget Lab, PC World, The Ponderings of Woodrow, PhoneDog.com Cell …, geeksugar, Tech Sanity Check, I4U News, Computerworld, mobilesyrup.com, Silicon Alley Insider, Digits, TUAW, Forbes, TidBITS, RCR Wireless News, VatorNews, VentureBeat, Contentinople, InfoWorld, MacDailyNews, iLounge, Homotron.net, Apple 2.0, Open Sources, WebProNews, Creative Capital, Network World and InformationWeek
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Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
Steve Jobs Takes Leave (AAPL) — Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs will take a medical leave of absence until the end of June. Apple COO Tim Cook will take over for Steve until then. Apple shares are down about 7% in after-hours trading. — The Latest: — Apple Without Jobs: Fine For Now, But...
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Yukari Iwatani Kane / Wall Street Journal:
Apple's Steve Jobs Takes Medical Leave — Just a week after reassuring investors and employees about his health, Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs disclosed he has a “more complex” medical condition and would take a leave of absence until the end of June.
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
Fake Steve Jobs Banned From CNBC For Life — Newsweek's Dan Lyons — “Fake Steve Jobs” — is banned from CNBC for life because of his appearance on the cable network earlier this evening, we have learned. — In a special report about Steve Jobs' stepping down from day-to-day operations at Apple …
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Matt Buchanan / Gizmodo:
On Apple Reporting: Fake Steve Rips CNBC a New One — When this rumor broke we got raked across the coals by Jimbo over sources. Wrongly. UPDATE: Video clip of Fake Steve Jobs asking Jim to apologize on CNBC. Now he's banned. — Here's Dan Lyons, AKA, Fake Steve Jobs on CNBC …
Laszlo Bock / The Official Google Blog:
Changes to recruiting — As we made clear during our last quarterly earnings call in October, Google is still hiring but at a reduced rate. Given the state of the economy, we recognized that we needed fewer people focused on hiring. — Our first step to address this was to wind down almost …
Discussion:
PC World, MediaMemo, Silicon Alley Insider, Wall Street Journal, InformationWeek, Engadget, CNET News, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Tech Beat and VentureBeat
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Nick Wingfield / Wall Street Journal:
Microsoft Is Exploring Job Cuts — Microsoft Corp. is seriously exploring significant work force reductions that could be announced as early as next week, in a sign that the weak economy is prompting tough decisions even at one of the steadiest ships in the technology industry.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Facebook Blows A Whopper Of An Opportunity — Burger King, through their insanely creative advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky (see their recent Burger King perfume launch), launches a Facebook application that encourages users to remove Facebook friends. Sacrifice ten of them and you got a free Whopper.
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Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
How Warner Music Killed Facebook Music — Facebook's ongoing effort to launch a free streaming music service is stalled, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation. The company was close to a deal that would bring free streaming music from three of the four big labels …
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Mark Milian / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Rose to co-host live Web game show at Sundance — If you're attending the annual Sundance Film Festival, which kicks off Thursday in Park City, Utah, don't be alarmed by the person running around with a canned ham or the lunatic who seems convinced that Ashton Kutcher …
Discussion:
The Social
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Amanda Lenhart / Pew Internet:
Adults and Social Network Websites — The share of adult internet users who have a profile on an online social network site has more than quadrupled in the past four years — from 8% in 2005 to 35% now, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project's December 2008 tracking survey.
Discussion:
Ars Technica
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Jeff Widman / TechCrunchIT:
Salesforce.com Launches The Service Cloud, A Customer Service SaaS Application — These days, when I have technical question, I reach for Google long before customer service. What if customer service could reach for Google? — Salesforce.com just launched a new customer service application called Service Cloud.
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft:
Windows 7 on older hardware: A Catch 22 for Microsoft — There are a few bloggers wondering aloud about how well Windows 7 ultimately is going to run on older hardware. That's an interesting question, given Microsoft's symbiotic relationship with its hardware partners who constantly …
Brent Frei / Smartsheet:
Value Investing? Answer: Invest in Yourself — The last 8 months I've gone few days without an investment-related question from a friend, colleague or distant relative. Should I stay in? Should I get out? Where should I invest? Should I maintain a cash position? What about T-bills?
Diane Garrett / Variety:
Blockbuster links with CinemaNow — Movielink got $150 million from studios to build a download service that was supposed to transform digital delivery. Now Blockbuster, the vidtail chain that picked it up at a fire-sale price little more than a year ago, has abandoned the technology all together.
Discussion:
paidContent.org
Alistair Croll / GigaOM:
Identi.ca Gets Funding to Make Open-source Twitter Variant — Identi.ca's plans to build an open-source alternative to Twitter got a vote of confidence this week with an investment from the VCs at Montreal Start Up. While the amount of the financing wasn't disclosed, Montreal Start …
Discussion:
VentureBeat
