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:
PC World, CNET News, Mark Evans, TheAppleBlog, Local Mobile Search, VentureBeat, The iPhone Blog, Neowin.net, VoIP Watch, The SiliconANGLE, louisgray.com, CrunchGear, Mobile Tech Addicts, Gizmodo, The Toybox and SlashGear, 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 …
Discussion:
The Register, Search Engine Land, CNET News, PC World, internetnews.com, eWeek, SearchViews, Pocket-lint.com, WebNewser, Bits, paidContent.org, Epicenter, AdAge and MediaMemo
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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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Brad Stone / Bits:
Amazon to Close Three Distribution Centers — Apparently, today's a good day for bad news, with Google laying off 200 employees, our own cutbacks here at The Times, and now, Amazon.com weighing in with some cost-cutting of its own. Over the next two months, the online retailer …
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 …
Discussion:
Gawker, paidContent.org, Inside Facebook, Dealscape and Silicon Alley Insider, Thanks:dmac1
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, Technically Incorrect, The Microsoft Blog, Technologizer, The Windows Blog, Microsoft Pri0, TechCrunch, Electronista, Neowin.net, Digital Daily and TechFlash, Thanks:mrinaldesai
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.
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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:
Ars Technica, Digital Noise, CrunchGear, TUAW, Technologizer, TheAppleBlog, VentureBeat, Gizmodo, iTWire, Digital Daily, Macworld, Between the Lines and MacRumors
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Michael Masnick / Techdirt:Music Industry Folks Worried About iTunes Variable Pricing
Discussion:
TomsTechBlog.com
Enomaly / ElasticVapor:
Introducing the Open Cloud Manifesto — Over the last few weeks I have been working closely with several of the largest technology companies and organizations helping to co-author the Open Cloud Manifesto. Our goal is to draft a document that clearly states we (including dozens of supporting companies) …
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Joseph Tartakoff / paidContent.org:
Microsoft Hires Yahoo Veteran As Live Search's Chief Scientist — Microsoft's new search team is starting to look a lot like Yahoo's old one. In just the latest example, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has brought on Jan Pedersen, a Yahoo search veteran, to be chief scientist of Live Search, a spokeswoman confirmed Thursday.
Dan Goodin / The Register:
Webmail bug puts 40m accounts in jeopardy — One attack pwns all — Free whitepaper - Trend Micro threat management solution — A web-borne vulnerability lurking in a popular email application seriously compromised the security of 40 million accounts until it was fixed early last month, independent researchers said.
Eric Lai / Computerworld:
Dreaming of a PC with 192GB of RAM? Dell makes it reality — The catch: Despite a depressed memory market, it's going to cost you — Computerworld) Dell Inc. announced on Tuesday a new PC that, among its other impressive specs, can be upgraded to sport as much as 192GB of ultrafast DDR3 RAM.
Noam Cohen / New York Times:
When Stars Twitter, a Ghost May Be Lurking — The rapper 50 Cent is among the legion of stars who have recently embraced Twitter to reach fans who crave near-continuous access to their lives and thoughts. On March 1, he shared this insight with the more than 200,000 people who follow him …
Amy / Slash7 with Amy Hoy:
Google is Evil, Worse than PayPal: Don't use Google Checkout for your business — Wanting to offer an alternative to PayPal, we set up a Google Checkout account for people to buy our ebook. — The last email we received about our Google Checkout account was “Helpful tips regarding your first Google Checkout orders” on February 9th.
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!
Rafat Ali / paidContent.org:
IAC-Owned CollegeHumor Buys SportsPickle.com — And while IAC (NSDQ: IACI) is selling off some of its assets to focus on the core, it is still bullish on its CollegeHumor franchise: the online comedy site has bought sports satire site SportsPickle, for an undisclosed though likely a small amount.
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:
internetnews.com, Microsoft TechNet, Microsoft Watch, PC World, Bink.nu, InfoWorld, WinExtra, OSNews, Gizmodo, TechSpot, Industry Standard, CNET News and TechFlash
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, Phone Arena, UMPCPortal, Unwired View, Smartphones and Cell Phones, pocketnow.com and InformationWeek
Jessica E. Vascellaro / Wall Street Journal:
Google to Link Ads for TV, YouTube — Google Inc. is developing technology to connect its TV-ad brokering business to video site YouTube and eventually other video sites, as it struggles to lure bigger advertisers to both services. — Separately, Google said it is cutting its sales …
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.
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.
Prince McLean / AppleInsider:
Apple stores now selling iPhone 3G without a contract — Some Apple retail stores as of Thursday are selling unrestricted quantities of the iPhone 3G at the full, non-subsidized price of $599 for the 8GB version and $699 for the 16GB models. — The move follows AT&T's plans to sell …
Discussion:
MacRumors
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 …
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 …
adafruit industries blog:
Tweet-a-Watt kits now available... Tweet-a-Watt kits are now available! A few months ago, using “off-the-shelf hardware”, we modified a Kill-a-Watt(TM) power meter to “tweet” (publish wirelessly) the daily KWH consumed to the user's Twitter account (Cumulative Killowatt-hours).
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 …
Amy Thomson / Bloomberg:
Verizon Wireless Said to Be Planning to Offer Netbooks Some Time This Year — Verizon Wireless will start selling a so-called netbook as early as next quarter, stepping up competition with AT&T Inc. for the cheap personal computers, according to a person close to the project.
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 …
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.
Jeff / Jeffrey Veen:
Announcing Wikirank: Tracking what's popular on Wikipedia — A few months ago, the four of us in Small Batch Inc were kicking around ideas for what we should build next. We had just launched the Twitter Election site — a fun real-time data visualization project — and wanted to keep building things …
