Top Items:
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Exclusive: Google Has Acquired Gizmo5 — Last month Skype was in talks to acquire VoIP startup Gizmo5. It was a perfect backup plan in case all that IP litigation didn't work out. - Gizmo5's SIP infrastructure could theoretically replace Skype's proprietary P2P back end.
Discussion:
Softpedia News, PC World, Engadget, Latest VoIP, Voice 2.0 …, InformationWeek, Pulse2, Gadgetell, OSNews, Xconomy, alarm:clock, The SiliconANGLE, Electronista, FierceVoIP, GigaOM, Download Squad, ChannelWeb, Boy Genius Report, mocoNews, GottaBeMobile.com, EverythingiCafe and The Next Web
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The Official Google Blog:
Investing in a mobile future with AdMob — We're happy to announce today that we have signed an agreement to acquire AdMob, a mobile display advertising company based in San Mateo, CA. AdMob is a great Silicon Valley story — founded in 2006 by Omar Hamoui when he couldn't find good ways to generate traffic for his mobile site.
Discussion:
Google, Google Blogoscoped, Googling Google, TechCrunch, Mashable!, Wall Street Journal, AdMob, CNET News, Download Squad, Gizmodo, MediaNama, Kelsey Group Blogs, the Econsultancy blog, Computerworld, Bloomberg, Forbes, pluGGd.in, paidContent, VentureBeat, The Register, HighContrast, blogs.ft.com, BoomTown, Maximum PC, The Blog Herald, Search Engine Land, The Forrester Blog …, AppScout, internetnews.com, GigaOM, dailywireless.org, App Advice, ChannelWeb, ReadWriteWeb, Mobile Knots, www.pocketgamer.biz and Mobile Industry Review
Tricia Duryee / mocoNews:
Is Google Gearing Up To Buy A Second Mobile Ad Network? — Google (NSDQ: GOOG) may be paying $750 million in stock for AdMob, but even once the acquisition closes, it will continue to have a significant hole in its mobile advertising offerings. — That's because neither Google or AdMob …
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Social Networks Continue To Rally Around Twitter As LinkedIn Goes Tweet Crazy Too — Professional social network LinkedIn has long had a feature that lets users update their status on their profile. But it's plainly obvious that LinkedIn users don't nearly use the status feature …
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Emma Barnett / Telegraph:
Google: Rupert Murdoch can block us if he wants to — Google has clarified that it will not index publishers against their wishes, in response to Rupert Murdoch's threat to block the search engine from his newspapers' websites. — A spokesman for the search giant said …
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Markcuban / blog maverick:
Rupert Murdoch to Block Google = Smart = Twitter has changed it all. — Rupert Murdoch has said that his Newscorp sites are going to block Google indexes. Of course, all the netizens freak out when this happens. Which I love. — I love to tweak all the internet information must be free bigots.
Discussion:
I, Cringely, Hitwise Intelligence, Sky News, Technologizer, Search Engine Watch, Kindle Review, Digits, InfoWorld, Mashable!, Lockergnome Blog Network and Techdirt
Rob Jackson / Android Phone Fans:
Motorola Droid OTA Update Coming December 11th? — The Motorola Droid was launched less than a week ago but we're already eying a December 11th OTA update that will cure a defined list of software issues. Defined by who, you ask? Verizon Wireless themselves.
Discussion:
Softpedia News, MobileContentToday, Engadget Mobile, PC World, Boy Genius Report and Mobile Knots
Brad / Liliputing:
OS X 10.6.2 is out: Intel Atom support not included — Apple pushed out OS X 10.6.2 today, and while the latest Snow Leopard update fixes a whole slew of bugs, it introduces one major problem for netbook hackintosh builders: It doesn't seem to work with the Intel Atom processor.
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Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Intel introduces a digital book reader that reads aloud to the blind — Ben Foss grew up with dyslexia, a visual impairment so severe that his mother had to read books to him throughout his school years, all the way through college. Now 36, he is spearheading the launch of a remarkable device …
Laura Melahn / The Official Google Blog:
Fifty states of Street View — In 1959 Hawaii became the 50th state admitted to the union. Today, 50 years later, we're including Hawaii as the 50th state in Street View on Google Maps. With our imagery of Oahu and Maui, you can now take a virtual vacation to white sandy beaches …
Todd Bishop / TechFlash:
Microsoft patent controversy? Not much anymore, Novell says — Microsoft and Novell today are marking the third anniversary of what was, at the time it was announced, a surprising business and technical agreement bridging proprietary and open source software.
Laurie Sullivan / MediaPost:
Microsoft Bing Gives WiFi Users Free Search — Microsoft's Bing and JiWire will announce Monday an advertising campaign, along with the results, that lets consumers gain free WiFi Internet access at participating hot spots in exchange for one search on the engine.
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Kip Kniskern / LiveSide:
Hey, a new Bing maps interface! — Just saw a tweet by Doc Searls (who likes the Birds Eye View) saying that the Bing Map Server was “temporarily unavailable”, so we checked and found a new interface: — The navigation bars look to be simplified, and “Get Directions” is featured prominently on the www.bing.com/maps page.
Dan Goodin / The Register:
Bot herders hide master control channel in Google cloud — Google AppEngine co-opted — Cyber criminals' love affair with cloud computing just got steamier with the discovery that Google's AppEngine was tapped to act as the master control channel that feeds commands to large networks of infected computers.
OUT-LAW News:
Consent will be required for cookies in Europe — EDITORIAL: A law that demands consent to internet cookies has been approved and will be in force across the EU within 18 months. It is so breathtakingly stupid that the normally law-abiding business may be tempted to bend the rules to breaking point.
Jeremy Wagstaff / loose wire blog:
Hundreds of Facebook Groups Hacked — A hacker, or group of hackers, has found a back door into taking over Facebook groups, and is now doing so, claiming it to be a public service. It has taken over up to 300 different Facebook groups so far. — This is an example of one:
Caroline McCarthy / The Social:
‘Elf Yourself’ returns with Facebook and Twitter power — It's that time of year again, when you trawl the Web for unflattering mugshots of your boss to embed on the bodies of dancing elves with the “Elf Yourself” holiday card promotion, going live for the fourth consecutive year on Tuesday.
Bankston / Electronic Frontier Foundation:
From EFF's Secret Files: Anatomy of a Bogus Subpoena — Can the U.S. government secretly subpoena the IP address of every visitor to a political website? No, but that didn't stop it from trying. — In a report released today, EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston tells the story …
Discussion:
CNET News
Tom / Tom's MAD Blog:
Apple Rejects My Caricature App — Just yesterday I was complaining about how Apple sometimes treats its customers as if they were stupid. — I had no idea how right I was. — Back in the late summer movie director/entrepreneur Ray Griggs, for whom I did all that art for his movie …
Wei Zhu / Facebook Developers:
Start Building with the Microsoft SDK for Facebook Platform — We're excited to announce our official support for the Microsoft SDK for Facebook Platform, which Microsoft released today. This SDK contains rich social features and offers something for almost any kind of Facebook developer …
Brier Dudley / Seattle Times:
New handbook for Google, Droid users — Before buying one of the new Google-powered “Droid” phones from Verizon Wireless, you may want to read the manual. — Not the setup directions in the box. — No, the essential guide for Droid owners — and anyone else moving their life onto Google …
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
Rdio: First Screenshots Leaked of Skype Founders' New Music Service — We've been lucky enough to get our hands on leaked screenshots from one version of Rdio, the forthcoming music app from Skype, KaZaA and Joost creators Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis. Zennstrom and Friis …
Discussion:
The Next Web Appetite
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
Sprint to cut 2,000 to 2,500 jobs — Sprint Nextel said it will cut 2,000 to 2,500 positions in the fourth quarter in an effort to save $350 million. — The cuts will be completed by Dec. 31. — According to a statement, Sprint will cut jobs across the company, including its wholesale unit and contractors.
