Top Items:
Boy Genius Report:
Motorola Droid Preview — If you're a Droid-chaser, you've no doubt been hooked to BGR for the past few weeks (more than normal, maybe?). We have our very own Motorola Droid handset, and although the software isn't final, it's solid enough where we feel comfortable giving you a nice preview of the unit.
Discussion:
Computerworld, eWeek, Engadget, Gizmodo, Android Phone Fans, Electronista, Phone Arena, Obsessable, AndroidGuys, Internet2Go, Edible Apple, AndroidOS.in, MobileTechWorld, 9 to 5 Mac, MacRumors and The Toybox
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Chris Ziegler / Engadget:
Verizon's Droid is a series, not just a phone; Droid Eris coming from HTC — We just got some wild information from a trusted source about Verizon's Android strategy, and let's just say this shakes things up a little bit. Here are the big takeaways: — Droid is the brand name being applied to Verizon's Android devices.
Discussion:
Android Phone Fans, AndroidGuys, IntoMobile, Mobilewhack.com, Gizmodo, Electronista and MobileCrunch, Thanks:mrinaldesai
Greg Kumparak / MobileCrunch:
Motorola Droid ("Sholes") hits the FCC with AT&T-friendly 3G - for real this time. — Looks like Verizon might not be the only one getting the Moto Droid. A few days ago, we wrote a post highlighting the fact that a GSM version of the oh-so-hypetastic Motorola Droid (otherwise known as “Sholes” or “Tao") had cleared the FCC runway.
Google LatLong:
Evolving the look of Google Maps — Today the Google Maps team is rolling out a number of refinements to the look and feel of our maps, the biggest such changes since we first launched about 4.7 years ago. In that time we've been steadily adding details like walkways, address labels …
Raylene Yung / Facebook Blog:
New Views for Your Home Page — At Facebook, one of our main priorities is helping you stay on top of what is going on with the people and things you care about most. That's why today we are beginning to roll out some changes to the home page that simplify your experience by offering …
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Full Circle In Sight As Inventor Of The World Wide Web Signs Up For Twitter — Sir Timothy John “Tim” Berners-Lee, credited for inventing this little thing called the World Wide Web, has signed up for Twitter in a move that could potentially rip a hole in the time/space continuum.
Discussion:
Xconomy, Mashable!, internetnews.com, Technologizer, eSarcasm, Web 2.0 Summit 2009, Maximum PC and Erictric
BBC:
Universal phone charger approved — A new mobile phone charger that will work with any handset has been approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations body. — Industry body the GSMA predicts that 51,000 tonnes of redundant chargers are generated each year.
Nicholas Deleon / CrunchGear:
Video hilarity: Windows 7 launched on a MacBook Pro on NBC's The Today Show — Oh, dear. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was on The Today Show (international viewers: The Today Show is a morning news and entertainment program that airs on NBC, a big TV network here) to unveil Windows 7.
Daniel Eran Dilger / AppleInsider:
Apple shuts down ZFS open source project — Apple's efforts to support the development of ZFS, an advanced file system originally created by Sun, were officially terminated today in a notice posted by MacOS Forge. — The tersely worded message only stated that “The ZFS project has been discontinued.
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Video: Symbian Executive Rips into Google's Android — Yesterday, Lee Williams, executive director at Symbian stopped by in our office to brief me on a new version of Symbian that is going to be released soon. He talked about SEE09, their developer conference in London next week.
Discussion:
Tech Beat
Douglas MacMillan / Tech Beat:
Million-Dollar Apps — In the course of reporting my feature story on apps for the Web and mobile phones, I asked developers how much money these little pieces of software are actually bringing in. While they are certainly the exception in the sea of 80,000 programs on Apple's App Store …
Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:
Amazon Blasts To New All-Time High Of $700 A Share! — Okay, okay, it took about a decade longer than I would have hoped. — But I'm happy to say that Amazon (AMZN) has finally hit a new all-time high of $116 a share. — The previous highest close, back in 2000, was about $105 a share.
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John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Herd Mentality — Conformity is a powerful instinct. There's safety in numbers. You have to be different to be better, but different is scary. — So of course there's some degree of herd mentality in every industry. But I think it's more pronounced, to a pathological degree, in the PC hardware industry.
Diane Bartz / Reuters:
U.S. closer to filing complaint against Intel: sources — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. antitrust regulators are moving toward filing a complaint against Intel Corp after the European Union fined the world's biggest chipmaker $1.45 billion for engaging in anticompetitive practices, sources said.
Deborah Gage / PE Hub Blog:
Box.net's Unannounced Funding — The company raised another $7.1 million this month from its current investors — Draper Fisher and U.S. Venture Partners — but kept mum, allowing the new money to be revealed instead by an SEC filing. — Marketing VP Jen Grant told me it's not a new round …
Chris Ziegler / Engadget Mobile:
Verizon launching Storm2 on October 28 for $179.99? — Say you're North America's largest wireless carrier — how do you go about burying a product you're about to carry that you secretly wish didn't exist? One creative option would be to opt out of announcing it when its manufacturer does …
Brainstorm Tech:
Sequoia branches too far — A storied financier of startups expands — but its new businesses have yet to take root. — A year ago, when venture capital firm Sequoia Capital ordered its portfolio companies to slash costs in the face of a sick economy, even healthy businesses, such as LinkedIn and Zappos.com, complied.
Discussion:
VentureBeat
Elizabeth Woyke / Forbes:
Google's Navigation Bombshell — Location-based service providers suspect the search giant is working on a free navigation app. — Google has a tendency to enter a market, undercut its competitors' prices and put established players out of business. Navigation service providers are wondering if they're next.
Nilay Patel / Engadget:
Windows 7 student upgrade installer not working for many — The Windows 7 launch seems to have gone off mostly roses and sunbeams, but we're hearing today that quite a few people have had issues installing the downloadable $29 student upgrade edition on 32-bit Vista — apparently the file …
Discussion:
Computerworld, Lockergnome Blog Network, Erictric, TechSpot, 9 to 5 Mac, I4U News, Lifehacker and Download Squad
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Investors Bet on Another Real-Time Start-Up. Next Up for Hot Potato: Product, Users. — Here's a good way to get your hands on scarce venture capital money: Create a start-up geared around “real-time” sharing and conversations. — That's the core of Twitter's pitch, of course …
Wine Business:
Amazon Puts Wine Program on Hold — Amazon.com, considered the world's largest online retailer, may be bailing on its wine program, which never really got going, winebusiness.com has learned. After some two years of preparation, Amazon.com appears to be pulling the plug.
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
How Much Will You Have to Pay for Hulu? Nothing. How Much Will You Pay for “Hulu Plus”? Good Question. — Is Hulu putting up a pay wall around its Web TV site? Nope. — Does Hulu want to charge people to watch Web TV? Yes. — Confused? Don't be.
Stephanie Ebbert / Boston Globe:
Apple gets to fly banner, despite rules — State advertising panel says billboard ‘illegal’ — An ad for the Apple iPod Touch is displayed on the side of a Planet Self Storage site in Boston. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe staff) — The mayor's campaign treasurer acknowledged this week …
Kim Zetter / Threat Level:
Nation's First Open Source Election Software Released — LOS ANGELES — A group working to produce an open and transparent voting system to replace current proprietary systems has published its first batches of code for public review. — The Open Source Digital Voting Foundation (OSDV) …
Discussion:
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