Top Items:
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
Does Apple need to refresh iTunes? Probably — Apple's purchase of streaming music service Lala reportedly represents a shift in the company's iTunes strategy. The aim: Make iTunes more Web friendly. — The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is looking to give consumers more ways …
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Wall Street Journal:
Apple Plots Reboot of iTunes — Apple Inc., the company that restructured the music industry around its iTunes service, is exploring an overhaul of the way it sells and stores music that is aimed at extending its influence to the Web, according to people briefed on the strategy.
Discussion:
MediaPost, Fast Company, VentureBeat, Mashable!, iLounge, TUAW, The Atlantic Business Channel, Gizmodo, Gadgetsteria, MacRumors, AppleInsider, Tech Central, Electricpig.co.uk, The Apple Core, The iPhone Blog, Webmonkey, Macsimum News, Electronista, Lifehacker, Pocket-lint.com, Silicon Alley Insider, Digits, EverythingiCafe, 9 to 5 Mac, The Huffington Post, AppScout, Voices on All Things Digital, MacDailyNews and Gawker, Thanks:atul
Alastair Tse / Google Mobile Blog:
New version of Google Mobile App for iPhone in the App Store — Hello, iPhone users! We have just received the good news that our new version of Google Mobile App for iPhone was approved and is now available on in the App Store everywhere. — In this version, we have a redesigned search results display …
Discussion:
eWeek, PC World, CNET News, MobileCrunch, Search Engine Land, MacRumors iPhone Blog, Obsessable, Search Engine Watch, InformationWeek, FierceMobileContent, EverythingiCafe, Softpedia News, IntoMobile, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, Internet2Go, The Apple Core, Pocket-lint.com, The Next Web Network, 9 to 5 Mac, ReadWriteWeb, Phone Scoop, AppScout and Lifehacker, Thanks:atul
Thomas Ricker / Engadget:
Eldar Murtazin: “Foxconn received order for next generation iPhone” — You've heard of Twitter, right? What about Eldar Murtazin, heard of him? He's editor in chief of Mobile Review and the ultimate insider when it come to all things mobile. So when we see a Tweet like this:
Tom Krazit / CNET News:
Yahoo joins the real-time search parade — Yahoo is ready to integrate real-time results from Twitter directly onto its search pages. — Not to be outdone by its rivals, Yahoo is getting into the real-time search business as well. — Days after Google announced its plan for integrating content …
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MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
There Are Already 500 Chrome Extensions. They'll Work On Mac Chrome By Week's End. — Tonight at the Googleplex in Mountain View, Google held an event to formally unveil and showcase the new Google Chrome Extensions. The browser add-ons, which launched just yesterday are already proving …
Discussion:
Macworld, The Apple Core, Gadgetsteria, Gadgetell, Maximum PC, Chromium Blog and CNET News
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Stuart Miles / Pocket-lint.com:
Dell Android tablet hitting CES 2010 — Dell is to launch an Android-based tablet device, Pocket-lint has learnt, possibly beating the also rumoured Apple tablet to the market. — The new model, which will go up against the currently available Archos Internet Tablet and recently announced JooJoo …
Discussion:
VentureBeat, PC World, Engadget, SlashGear, GottaBeMobile.com, I4U News and Android Central
DigiTimes:
Asustek planning to launch Eee Pad device — Asustek Computer is making preparations to launch a new device named Eee Pad featuring a 4- to 7-inch panel, and which will offer a combination of tablet PC and MID functions, according to industry sources. Current details of the Eee Pad suggest …
Discussion:
Engadget, VentureBeat, TeleRead, I4U News, Liliputing, SlashGear, The Tech Report, 9 to 5 Mac, Maximum PC, GottaBeMobile.com and Pocket-lint.com
Janko Roettgers / NewTeeVee:
Buy a DVD on Amazon; Start Watching the Movie in Minutes — Amazon.com just launched a promotion dubbed Disc+ On Demand that may well be the start to the industry's first major multi-platform retail experience. Customers who buy select movies on DVD or Blu-ray will be offered the chance …
Discussion:
PC World, Kindle Review, Technologizer, Mashable!, Gadgetsteria, the Econsultancy blog, 901am, MediaMemo, Engadget, /Film, GottaBeMobile.com, Electronista, 9 to 5 Mac, The Equity Kicker, Download Squad, AppScout and Gizmodo
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Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
WiGig alliance creates next-generation wireless networking standard — By next year, the speed of Wi-Fi networks could be significantly faster thanks to a new generation of technology being announced today by the Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig). — The WiGig 1. standard combines …
Discussion:
DailyTech, Softpedia News, Wireless Gigabit Alliance, PC World, SlashGear, GigaOM, TG Daily, Electronista, TechSpot and Gizmodo
Nick Bilton / New York Times:
Cable Freedom Is a Click Away — Welcome to our living room. Take a seat, make yourself comfortable. Would you like to watch a movie, or the new “Family Guy” episode? — Oh, that, over there. You want to know why there's a pile of gadgets and wires on the floor?
Tom Warren / Neowin.net:
Windows Live Messenger 2010 revealed — We promised you a look at Windows Live Messenger 2010 earlier this week when we revealed Microsoft is planning both Bing and Messenger iPhone applications next year. — Thanks to an anonymous tipster we received several screenshots of Microsoft's upcoming Messenger client due in 2010.
Discussion:
LiveSide, Download Squad, GeekSmack, Softpedia News, ithinkdifferent, Redmond Pie and The Next Web Network
Liz Gannes / GigaOM:
How the iPhone Changed Kayak's Business — A mobile app needs to be more accessible than a web site, that's for sure. But it doesn't necessarily need to be simpler and dumber, as travel search service Kayak learned this year. Now, the company is changing its overall business strategy …
Lee Mathews / Download Squad:
Jolicloud pre-beta now ready for download, and I love it — While Chrome OS has been getting the lion's share of netbook/smartbook buzz of late, Tariq Krim and company have been steadfastly plugging away at Jolicloud. — Today, the Jolicloud pre-beta has been released and is ready …
Chris Ziegler / Engadget Mobile:
Motorola Motus AT&T rumor gains momentum — We can't confirm the details here, but we've received some pretty in-depth information about the Motorola Motus' possible launch on AT&T that would seem to largely corroborate what we've been hearing so far: — Sure enough, the keyboard flips backwards …
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft:
Microsoft adds another company to its healthcare portfolio — Microsoft is continuing to add to its family of healthcare sofware and services with yet another purchase: Sentillion Inc. — On December 10, Microsoft announced its intentions to purchase for an undisclosed amount the privately held Andover …
Dana Oshiro / ReadWriteWeb:
Netvibes Launches Ultimate News and Lifestyle Dashboard — In late November, ReadWriteWeb asked the question, Can Netvibes pull off integration of real-time feeds into its existing dashboard product?. At the time, early testers were just gaining access to Wasabi beta.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
VeriFone Rushes To Announce Square Competitor; Jack Dorsey Comments — It's been just a week since the debut of Square, a service that lets people take physical credit card payments via their mobile phone. Given how much positive press the new service has received, it's no wonder that traditional payment providers are taking notice.
Erik Sherman / industry.bnet.com:
AOL Spinoff Faces Not Challenges, Not Hurdles, But Steep Cliffs — Today's the day — AOL (AOL) gets spun off and out of the hair (and off the balance sheets) of Time Warner (TWX), which hopes to look better in the stock race by not having to run carrying dead weight on its back. And how is it going to do?
Discussion:
PC World, Search Engine Watch, Bits, Tech Trader Daily, Digits, CNET News, TimeWarner and AOL Corporate
Alexander Vaughn / App Advice:
Microsoft Asked Apple To Pull 360 Live — We've told you about 360 Live a little while ago but it seems like it wasn't of Microsoft's taste apparently since they just contacted Apple to have it pulled. — Not that they have an issue with the app itself it's actually the price that bothers them …
BBC:
Facebook faces privacy criticism — Digital rights groups and bloggers have heaped criticism on Facebook's changed privacy policy. — Critics said the changes were unwelcome and “nudged” people towards sharing updates with the wider web and made them findable via search engines.
Andrea Tse / TheStreet.com:
Panasonic Buys Sanyo for $4.6 Billion — NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Panasonic(PC Quote) has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in smaller, ailing competitor Sanyo(SANYY Quote). More on PCPanasonic Gets Majority Stake in SanyoHoning in on E-House Holdings: China WatchI'm All Charged Up …
Discussion:
Electronista
Quentin Hardy / Forbes:
When Google Runs Your Life — Forbes Magazine dated December 28, 2009 — Eric Schmidt wants to merge play and work on the desktop. Is that such a terrible thing? … Your day begins with a wake-up call from your Google Android phone. As you run to the shower, you hit Google News and check headlines, then Gmail.
Discussion:
NBC Bay Area
Ina Fried / CNET News:
Microsoft licenses another flash file format — Microsoft on Thursday said it has started licensing the technology behind another flash memory format. — The company announced a program to license out the Extended File Allocation Table (exFAT) format, which is an updated version of the file allocation table format.
Discussion:
Electronista
Ronny Kerr / VatorNews:
Pageonce has 1M users, gets $6.5M Series A — Reaching one million users, mobile finance assistant raises new funding — Pageonce, mobile productivity app for personal use, announced Thursday that it just closed a $6.5 million round of Series A funding, bringing total funds raised to $10 million.
Chris Mellor / The Register:
Microsoft is developing its own cloud storage O/S — Azure storage software looks home-grown — Comment Microsoft's Azure storage offering suggests it is developing its own cloud storage operating system. — Azure was developed in a Windows Azure Group which was separate from the Windows and Servers Group.