Top Items:
Enigmax / TorrentFreak:
50% of Charges Against Pirate Bay Dropped — What has been shown in court today is that the prosecutor cannot prove that the .torrent files he is using as evidence actually used The Pirate Bay's tracker. Many of the screenshots being used clearly state there is no connection to the tracker.
Discussion:
Techdirt, Contentinople, NewTeeVee, Technologizer, DSLreports, Ars Technica, Music Ally, Digital Daily, Digits, Download Squad, The Register, IFPI, Mashable!, The Local, TECH.BLORGE.com, TeleRead, paidContent, Neowin.net, CNET News, Gizmodo, Threat Level, p2pnet and blogs.telegraph.co.uk …, Thanks:salmosri
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Vodafone:
Vodafone and HTC unveil Android-powered HTC Magic — Vodafone extends world-class range of Internet phones with latest Android™-powered smartphone from HTC — HTC Magic smartphone exclusive to Vodafone customers initially in UK, Spain, Germany and France (SFR) and non-exclusively in Italy.
RELATED:
Jason Palmer / BBC:
Second ‘Google phone’ is unveiled — Science and technology reporter, BBC News, Barcelona — A second phone based on Google's operating system Android has been unveiled by Vodafone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. — The touchscreen HTC Magic will feature a 3.2 Megapixel camera …
Discussion:
Agence France Presse, Music Ally, dot.life blog, Gizmodo, Search Engine Watch, MarketingVOX, TUAW, PSFK and TeleRead
Jesus Diaz / Gizmodo:
Android G2 Hands On: Close to Perfection — HTC and Google are getting closer to perfection with the new Android G2, the HTC Magic. Nice finish, great form factor. Check out our video, including the obligatory comparison with Apple's iPhone, and hands-on impressions:
Zach Spear / AppleInsider:
Apple absent from universal phone charger push — Although AT&T and several other iPhone partners joined an industry initiative to standardize mobile phone chargers over the next few years, Apple has yet to follow suit and may remain committed to its proprietary dock-connector interface .
Discussion:
Between the Lines, Electronista, Obsessable, GSM World, TECH.BLORGE.com and MobileCrunch
RELATED:
Richard Wray / Guardian:
Universal mobile phone charger unveiled — The mobile phone industry plans to introduce a universal charger as part of a drive to improve its previously patchy environmental record. — The plan from industry body the GSM Association (GSMA) is just one of a raft of “green” announcements at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Jon Swartz / USA Today:
New tech start-ups can rise from the economy's ashes — SAN FRANCISCO — It's boom — and bust — for Silicon Valley companies these days. Literally. — Facing their worst economic climate since the dot-com bust in the early 2000s, high-tech companies are treating 2009 with dread …
Discussion:
Mercury News
Yahoo!:
Introducing Yahoo!(R) Mobile - Your Starting Point to the Internet — Improving Consumers' Ability to Use Their Phones to Discover, Stay Connected and Stay Informed — Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) today announced the upcoming launch of its new Yahoo! Mobile service - a highly-personalized mobile starting point to the Internet.
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Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land:
Yahoo Reorganizes, Rebrands Mobile Offerings As “Yahoo Mobile” — In Barcelona at the GSMA Mobile World Congress event, which has been mostly about new handsets so far, Yahoo announced what it's calling “Yahoo Mobile.” I haven't yet been able to talk to anyone at Yahoo about this …
Marguerite Reardon / Webware.com:
Skype strikes deal with Nokia — BARCELONA—Skype is racking up deals with mobile handset makers here at GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009. — On Tuesday, the company, which is owned by eBay, announced a partnership with Nokia, the largest cell phone maker in the world, to put the Skype Internet calling software onto its phones.
Discussion:
Nokia, The Register, eWeek, IntoMobile, The Toybox, Reuters, Voice on the Web, Mashable!, jkOnTheRun, MobileCrunch, Crave and VoIP Watch
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John Markoff / New York Times:
The Cellphone, Navigating Our Lives — The cellphone is the world's most ubiquitous computer. The four billion cellphones in use around the globe carry personal information, provide access to the Web and are being used more and more to navigate the real world.
Caroline McCarthy / CNET News:
Sirius XM agrees to $530 million Liberty stake — Troubled Sirius XM Radio announced Tuesday, following reports, that it will accept an investment from cable giant Liberty Media. — The investment, which will save the satellite radio company from bankruptcy or a hostile takeover …
RELATED:
LG:
LG Brings Its Stylish New 3G LG-X120 Netbook to Barcelona — Barcelona, Spain, February, 16, 2009 - LG Electronics, a worldwide technology and design leader in mobile communications, today announced the launch of its smart and stylish new netbook, the LG-X120.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes / Hardware 2.0:
Worst. Windows 7. Piece. EVER! — Over on Slashdot is perhaps the worst piece on Windows 7 that I've see so far (I find it hard to believe that this one will be beaten anytime soon ...). … OK, just a few points worth making: — Someone messes about with Photoshop in order to crack it …
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Ustream Launches Watershed, A Pay-As-You-Go Live Streaming Service For Enterprises — Live video streaming service Ustream is rolling out a white-label service today called Watershed for Websites and businesses that want to broadcast their own live streams.
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb
Liam Vaughan / Wall Street Journal:
Tech-Boom Flashback for Bankers — While much of the investment-banking community looks on the current crisis with a mixture of horror and bemusement, technology bankers have been here before. — When the dot-com bubble burst at the beginning of the decade, hundreds of technology companies folded and the flow of deals dried up.
Amol Sharma / Wall Street Journal:
Verizon May Offer Landline Plan for $5 — In a sign that the recession is forcing phone companies to take bold measures to hold onto landline customers, Verizon Communications Inc. is considering a $5 monthly voice plan that would let customers receive calls but dial only 911 and Verizon customer service.
Guy Griml / Haaretz:
Microsoft in talks to acquire local startup 3DV Systems — The first Israeli exit of 2009 is hitting the road. Software giant Microsoft is negotiating to acquire the Israeli startup 3DV Systems for about $35 million, despite the alarming condition of the global economy and grim forecasts of more pain to come.
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Tech Layoffs Surge to 300,000 — Layoffs in the tech sector are accelerating. It took exactly three weeks for tech layoffs to surge to 300,000, according to our Layoff Tracker. Since late January, when the tracker hit 200,000 layoffs, another 100,000 job eliminations have been announced or completed.
Eric Savitz / Tech Trader Daily:
Google: The Case Against A Second Half Recovery — Time to take profits in Google (GOOG), advises ThinkEquity analyst William Morrison. — Morrison this morning cut his rating on the stock to “Source of Funds,” from Accumulate, and reduced his price target to $300 from $350.
Discussion:
Network World
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft:
Sign of the times: Microsoft holds ‘custom support’ pricing constant — Citing the “challenging economic conditions currently confronting enterprise customers,” Microsoft is planning to hold pricing constant on its “custom support” agreements through the end of 2009.
Discussion:
eWeek
Mark Naples / Yieldex:
Inventory Management Leader Yieldex Secures $8.5M in Series B Financing — and First Round Capital Participating — Yieldex Moves Headquarters to New York City from Boulder, CO — Yieldex, which provides advanced inventory management and forecasting technology solutions for addressable media …
Verne Kopytoff / San Francisco Chronicle:
Google-backed film is Oscar contender — Roll out the red carpet and air kisses for Google. — On Sunday, the Internet company will find out if a film that its philanthropic arm conceived of and bankrolled has won an Academy Award for best short documentary.
Discussion:
Network World
Xeni Jardin / Boing Boing Gadgets:
South Park iPhone App a No-Show in Apps Store; Cartman Blames Kyle's Mom. — Remember back in October when I blogged about a new iPhone app from the South Park guys? Not sure what the whole story is on this one, but our friends at South Park tell us the app has long been completed — so, well, where is it?
Pat Pilcher / New Zealand Herald:
Guilty by accusation copyright protestors paint it black — A protest campaign against the Copyright Amendment (New Technologies) Act appears to be gaining momentum as protesters, including high profile UK celebrity Stephen Fry, black-out photos on Twitter, Facebook and various other social networking sites.
Discussion:
The Register
Matt Marshall / VentureBeat:
Get Satisfaction gets new CEO and funding, amid growth — [Disclosure: Get Satisfaction was founded by Thor Muller, who is an advisor to VentureBeat.] — Get Satisfaction, a company that aims to improve online customer service by letting the customers take over much of the process, has raised an additional $1.25 million in funding.
Discussion:
Demand Satisfaction!
Jenna Wortham / Bits:
Offerpal Media Raises $15 Million to Peddle In-Game Ads — For most casual gamers on social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, tricking out their avatars is almost more fun than playing the game. — One way to build an impressive inventory of virtual goods is by earning them through hours of game play.
Discussion:
Webware.com, paidContent.org, VentureBeat, GigaOM, MarketingShift, Virtual Worlds News and Inside Facebook
