Top Items:
The Official Google Blog:
Teaching computers to read: Google acquires reCAPTCHA — The image above is a CAPTCHA — you can read it, but computers have a harder time interpreting the letters. We tried to make it hard for computers to recognize because we wanted to give humans the scoop first, but we're happy to announce …
Discussion:
Softpedia News, PC Pro, Seth H. Weintraub's blog, NEWS.com.au, The Microsoft Blog, Financial Times, ChannelWeb, InformationWeek, The Register, Zero Day, Bits, Wired Campus, Download Squad, Bronte Media, TidBITS, Ars Technica, Digital Daily, Dealscape, Pulse2, Search Engine Land, bub.blicio.us, ClipperHouse, Computerworld, TechCrunch, Google Blogoscoped, Mashable!, ReadWriteWeb, WebProNews, Techgeist, Google Watch, Tech Central, Tech Trader Daily, TeleRead, The Next Web Blog, CenterNetworks, VatorNews, eWeek, Between the Lines, Silicon Alley Insider, Pocket-lint.com, Search Engine Watch, silicontap.com, The Web Life, paidContent and Seeking Alpha
RELATED:
Philipp Lenssen / Google Blogoscoped:
By Acquiring ReCaptcha, Google Acquired a Crowd Computer Along the Way — As previously mentioned, Google has acquired reCaptcha, a company providing those hard-to-read Captcha tests to tell robots and humans apart on websites (e.g. to protect a comment form against automated spamming).
Thanks:atul
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Twitter Closing New Venture Round At $1 Billion Valuation — Fast growing startup Twitter will soon be joining a select group of startups with private venture round valuations of $1 billion, we've heard from multiple sources. CEO Evan Williams disclosed the round to employees at a recent all hands meeting.
RELATED:
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
The long-awaited DreamScreen tablet computer comes from HP, not Apple — Hewlett Packard has beaten Apple to the punch in coming up with a beautiful tablet-like computer. The company's just-announced DreamScreen products represent a new category of wireless connected screens.
Brad Stone / New York Times:
Skype Founders File Copyright Suit Against eBay — SAN FRANCISCO — The founders of Skype are escalating their legal battle with eBay. — Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, who became billionaires after selling Skype to eBay in 2005, have filed a copyright lawsuit against Skype in United States district court in Northern California.
Discussion:
Mashable!, Techdirt, CNET News, GigaOM, Techgeist, DailyFinance, Times of London and GigaLaw.com Daily News
RELATED:
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
Zune HD apps are here... complete with pre-roll ads — The first batch of apps for the Zune HD can now be freely downloaded from Microsoft, and they come with an unexpected “present”: static and video ads that play during launch. — Apps for the new Zune HD (read our review) are now available …
Priya Ganapati / Gadget Lab:
Why You Can't Get a Good Phone With Verizon — Why does the U.S. carrier known for the best network have the worst smartphones? — Verizon gets plaudits for its coverage and call quality, but consistently loses out to AT&T, T-Mobile and even Sprint when it comes to getting the newest high-end handsets.
Thanks:atul
RELATED:
Electronista:
BlackBerry Tour facing 50% return rate? — The BlackBerry Tour is suffering from a widespread defect that could seriously impact Research in Motion's bottom line, an analyst cautioned on Wednesday. The trackball on the smartphone is reported as clogging so quickly that it requires users …
Discussion:
Tech Trader Daily, Softpedia News, CrackBerry.com blogs, Engadget Mobile, Phone Arena, The Toybox, Maximum PC, MacDailyNews and Gizmodo
Lance Whitney / CNET News:
Bing grabs 10 percent of search market — Microsoft's new Bing search service is the fastest-growing U.S. search engine among the top 10, according to a Nielsen report released Monday. — The total amount of searches on Bing rang in at 1.1 billion for the month of August …
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Google's Schmidt To Book Settlement Critics: What's Your Solution? — As the proposed Google Book Search lawsuit settlement is debated, I've read calls from various critics that everything should go back to “square one” for a solution. Would Google be willing to do this?
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Google Eyeing 10% Market Share For Chrome. Mac Version Due By The End Of The Year. — As we noted yesterday, version 3 of Google's Chrome web browser is now available for PC users. But in an interview yesterday with Reuters, Google revealed a couple of interesting tidbits about the project.
Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:
Taming Your Digital Distractions — Is there any human invention more duplicitous than the personal computer? These machines were manufactured and initially marketed as devices to help us at work. We were told they would perform amazing feats of office derring-do …
Andy Greenberg / Forbes:
The Man Who's Beating Google — Robin Li has built the most popular search site for the world's biggest audience—in China. That's round one in epic battle. — On a smoggy August morning outside Beijing's China World Hotel, Li Yanhong's fan club is assembling.
Caroline McCarthy / CNET News:
At TechCrunch50, sexy yields to sensible — SAN FRANCISCO—At some point during the TechCrunch50 conference it became evident that the Web 2.0 floodgates are no longer open. — Maybe it was when conference co-organizer Jason Calacanis asked one of the panels of judges what they'd thought …
The Business Of Online Video:
Confirmed: Google Rumor False, Not Acquiring Brightcove — I received a call from one of the parties involved in the Google/Brightcove rumor who would not talk on record but confirmed with me that the rumor that Google is buying Brightcove is in fact false.
Zee / The Next Web Blog:
Phone Calls Come to Twitter. … JAJAH, a VOIP company, will announce the beta-launch of its Twitter calling solution, JAJAH@call tomorrow. — You'll be able to make phone calls via Twitter free of charge to anyone in the world, so long as they follow you back and have JAJAH accounts.
Paul Boutin / VentureBeat:
TC50: TechCrunch50 founders' feud: “It's over” for the startup conference — “I can tell you that this is the last TechCrunch50,” event co-founder Jason Calacanis told humorist Loren Feldman last night in a video interview after the close of the third annual TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco.
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols / Computerworld:
Shh!!! HP sneaks Linux in on new laptops — Except for Dell, the major PC vendors are reluctant to admit they actually sell and support Linux. For instance, HP supports Linux quite well on its servers but is very reluctant to support it on its desktops.
Joanna Stern / Gizmodo:
Hands-On With The Redfly That Turns Your BlackBerry Into A Psuedo-Netbook — Turns out the Redfly, that netbook looking device that extends a smartphone to its 8.9-inch display via Bluetooth or USB, is doing all right. So all right that they rolled out support for BlackBerry. I still would rather a netbook.
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Former Bebo CEO and AOL Top Exec Shields and Shine's Murdoch to Form Interactive Content Start-Up — Former Bebo CEO Joanna Shields and Shine Group Chairman and CEO Elisabeth Murdoch have formed a content start-up to produce across media platforms, both online and offline, with a focus on social engagement, according to sources.
Discussion:
paidContent
Rafe Needleman / CNET News:
Aviary launches impressive audio editor, Myna — Aviary is great at making advanced Web-based artists' tools that I haven't a hope of being able to fully use. Case in point, the new audio editor, Myna, that joins the company's suite of graphics tools like the Phoenix image editor and the Raven vector editor.
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb, Aviary Blog, Maximum PC, Podcasting News, Brad Linder's digital home and Download Squad
Miles Weiss / Bloomberg:
Paul Allen Sells Wireless Spectrum Licenses to AT&T — Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) — Paul Allen, the billionaire co- founder of Microsoft Corp., agreed to sell wireless airwaves he acquired in 2003 to a unit of AT&T Inc. for an undisclosed price, according to government filings.
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Is a trade battle looming with China over World of Warcraft? — World of Warcraft, one of the most successful fantasy online role-playing games of all time, was recently shut down in China for weeks. On June 7, Activision Blizzard changed its Chinese online operator from the9 to NetEase …
Matt Rudd / Times of London:
Music industry ready for climbdown on internet piracy demands — The music industry is preparing to back down from its demands that people caught downloading songs illegally be disconnected from the internet after a revolt by leading musicians. — UK Music, the body that represents …
