Top Items:
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Skype for iPhone to Be Released as Early as Next Week — Exclusive Heads up: A few months ago, I asked Skype CEO Josh Silverman when was he going to launch the iPhone version of the P2P voice and IM service that has now been downloaded more than 405 million times. He smiled and said, “Stay tuned.”
Discussion:
CNET News, PC World, TheAppleBlog, The iPhone Blog, Local Mobile Search, VentureBeat, Gizmodo, CrunchGear and VoIP Watch, Thanks:mrinaldesai
The Official Google Blog:
Changes to our sales and marketing organizations — Google has grown very quickly in a very short period of time. When companies grow that quickly it's almost impossible to get everything right—and we certainly didn't. In some areas we've created overlapping organizations …
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Spencer E. Ante / Business Week:
Facebook Is Hunting for More Money — The social-networking site wants as much as $100 million in debt financing, sources say. Facebook's accelerating user growth carries huge tech costs — Facebook, the fast growing social-networking Web site, is one of the many companies looking …
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
End-of-Quarter Layoffs Hit Amazon, IBM, Google, and The New York Times — With the end of the first quarter of the 2009 almost here, even the strongest companies companies are making last-minute layoffs to shave costs. Today, layoffs were announced across the tech sector, from IBM to Google to Amazon.
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Dawn C. Chmielewski / Los Angeles Times:
Hottest tracks to cost $1.29 at iTunes starting April 7 — The online music store, under pressure from record labels, is abandoning its 99-cent-only strategy. — The world's largest music store, Apple's iTunes, plans to boost the price of many hit singles and selected classic tracks to $1.29 on April 7 …
Discussion:
Digital Noise, Ars Technica, CrunchGear, Gizmodo, iTWire, MacRumors, TUAW, VentureBeat, Technologizer, TheAppleBlog, PC World, Between the Lines, iLounge and Digital Daily
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Michael Masnick / Techdirt:Music Industry Folks Worried About iTunes Variable Pricing
Discussion:
TomsTechBlog.com
Nancy Gohring / PC World:
Controversy Erupts Over Possible MS Mobile App Fee — Microsoft may charge developers if they submit within a year more than five applications or application updates to the Windows Mobile Marketplace, a move that has some developers concerned that the store won't be able to compete with the iPhone App Store or the Android Market.
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Emil Protalinski / Ars Technica:
Windows 7 RC download page goes up early, coming in May — Details on the Windows 7 Release Candidate public download have leaked, straight from Microsoft. — It looks like someone flipped the switch a little early. The Windows 7 Release Candidate download page on TechNet …
Discussion:
Microsoft TechNet, CNET News, PC World, Industry Standard, Microsoft Watch, WinExtra, Microsoft Pri0, TechFlash, OSNews, Gizmodo, Bink.nu, All about Microsoft and TechSpot
Liz Gannes / NewTeeVee:
BlackBerry to Launch TV Episode Service? — We've heard from multiple sources that RIM is planning to announce a full-episode television service for BlackBerry users as early as next week at CTIA. — Here's what we've heard so far: — It will be an unlimited monthly subscription service for a fee
Brandon Watson / Many Niches:
An Open Cloud Requires an Equally Open Manifesto — There's been a new round of noise in what I like to call the “What is the Cloud?” discussion. It never ceases to amaze me that so many people seem stuck on this one question, despite the fact that having an answer to it is not the asset people seem to think it is.
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Nick Wingfield / WSJ.com:
PC to Mac: I'm Cheaper — For months, Microsoft has jabbed at Apple with an, at times, baffling advertising campaign for Windows PCs. Now Microsoft may finally land a solid blow against its rival. — Video: Laptop Hunters $1000 - Lauren Gets an HP Pavilion
Discussion:
All about Microsoft, The Windows Blog, Microsoft Pri0, The Microsoft Blog, TechCrunch, TechFlash, Digital Daily and Neowin.net, Thanks:mrinaldesai
Nilay Patel / Engadget:
Apple announces WWDC 2009 dates; iPhone, Snow Leopard countdowns begin — Here we go: Apple's just announced that its Worldwide Developers Conference will take place June 8-12 in San Francisco. If you'll recall, last year's WWDC was where a little gadget called the iPhone 3G made its appearance …
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David Chartier / Ars Technica:Apple's WWDC 2009 dates announced: June 8-12
Discussion:
The Register, Between the Lines, Digital Daily, Silicon Alley Insider, internetnews.com and Pocket-lint.com
Business Week:
The Apps Battle Heats Up — Research in Motion will soon launch an online store to rival Apple's, with Nokia and Microsoft to follow — On Apr. 1, Mike Lazaridis, co-CEO of Research in Motion (RIMM), is expected to take the stage at the wireless industry's annual trade show in Las Vegas …
Discussion:
Technologizer, MobileCrunch, mocoNews, CNET News, SlashGear and Boy Genius Report, Thanks:mrinaldesai
Dave Kerpen / Buzz Marketing Daily:
Breaking News! Facebook To Add SMS Text Feature to Increase Fan Page Virality! — We just discovered an incredible new option (presumably in beta) for select administrators and promoters of Facebook Public Profiles - you can text to become a fan of select businesses, organizations, politicians, or official entities on Facebook!
Opera Press Room:
Opera announces the new Opera Mobile 9.7 at CTIA Wireless 2009 - a server-accelerated full Web experience for smartphones and mobile devices — Check out Opera's network-friendly solutions for carriers and mobile device manufacturers at Booth #6724 in Central Hall
Discussion:
mocoNews, Unwired View, Phone Arena, Smartphones and Cell Phones, UMPCPortal, pocketnow.com and InformationWeek
Eric M. Zeman / Phone Scoop:
Samsung's First Wimax Device Spotted — Today Samsung shared details on the unannounced SWD-M100 Mondi mobile Wimax device for the Clear network. According to Samsung, the Mondi has a touch screen and can access the Internet via Clear's mobile Wimax network.
Wall Street Journal:
Internet Industry Is on a Cloud — Ever since Google Inc. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt publicly uttered the term “cloud computing” in 2006, a storm has been gathering over Silicon Valley. — Companies across the technology industry are jockeying to associate themselves with clouds.
Lane LiaBraaten / Social Web Blog:
Take your Google Contacts with you — Lots of websites ask you to invite your friends when you sign up, and for good reason; the web is more fun when you can share your experiences with other people. However, too many of these sites access your list of friends by asking for your username …
visiblemeasures.com:
Visible Measures Raises $10 Million in Series C Financing — Latest Funding Positions Firm for Further Growth — Boston, March 26, 2009 — Visible Measures, the independent third-party measurement firm for Internet video publishers, advertisers, and viral marketers, announced today …
Jennifer Leggio / Feeds:
Fake Facebook group shows potential security issues, 1+ million gullible users — On Monday night I was up late surfing the Web when I noticed a problem (other than the fact that I was up late surfing the Web). It was a Facebook problem, relative to a group invitation I received.
Slash Lane / AppleInsider:
Apple selling 8GB memory upgrade kits for 15" MacBook Pros [u] — It will cost you an arm and a leg, but Apple is now offering an official 8GB memory upgrade kit for the mid- and high-end models of its current 15-inch unbibody MacBook Pro family, AppleInsider has discovered.
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
Apple Kicking Butt Without Steve Jobs — Assuming Steve Jobs returns in late June, as scheduled, his medical leave is approaching its halfway point. So how's Apple doing in his absence? Very well, we'd say — almost as if he hadn't left. — Apple has rolled out several product updates …
Mobile Today:
Orange and Apple negotiations for laptop deal nearing completion — Discussions at final stages as dongle subsidy lands Apple — Orange will sell Apple laptops on its network from this summer, and will be the first company to subsidise Apple's laptops with mobile broadband.
Discussion:
AppleInsider
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
Carol Bartz's Yahoo Paying More Attention To Mobile — One of many changes at Yahoo (YHOO) since Carol Bartz took over as CEO: Its mobile unit is working closer with other business units as the company makes mobile a bigger priority than it was under Jerry Yang.
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
The Pirate Bay to roll out secure €5 per month VPN service — The Pirate Bay is planning to launch a paid VPN service for users looking to cover their tracks when torrenting. The new service will be called IPREDator, named after the Swedish Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive …
Anthony Ha / VentureBeat:
Obama administration to tighten regulation on VCs? — Venture capitalists may soon be facing more stringent reporting requirements, according to testimony from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner today about the Obama administration's plans to overhaul the country's financial regulations.
Rod Humble / thesims3.ea.com:
The Sims 3 Copy Protection — Hello everyone I wanted to share news with you regarding our copy protection plans for The Sims 3. — We'll have more information for you as we get closer to launch about everything we'll have to offer on TheSims3.com and The Sims 3 Store …
Discussion:
L.A. Times Tech Blog
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Apple 2.0:
iPhone App Store: 30,000 apps, but slowing — Shortly before 4 p.m. EDT on Thursday, eight months after it opened with 500 applications for the iPhone and iPod touch, Apple's (AAPL) App Store passed the 30,000 mark, according to the count maintained by 148Apps, which updates its list automatically.
