Top Items:
Om Malik / GigaOM:
MySpace, R.I.P — It's not a good idea to speak ill of the dead. It is OK, however, to speak the truth, however harsh it might seem, about the living dead. — Rupert Murdoch's $580 million MySpace purchase has outlived not only its utility, but has also finally hit its expiration date.
Discussion:
PC World, TechCrunch, Silicon Alley Insider, BoomTown, /message, Daily Patricia and Silicon Valley Watcher, Thanks:atul
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Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
MySpace CEO Van Natta Was Fired by News Corp. Digital Head Miller in Late Afternoon Meeting — The long-running telenovela that has been MySpace over the years took yet another dramatic turn late today when News Corp. Chief Digital Officer Jon Miller fired MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Silicon Alley Insider, Guardian, Beyond Search, Telegraph and Gawker
Nicholas Carlson / Silicon Alley Insider:Owen Van Natta Out As MySpace CEO (NWS)
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Guardian, Tech Eye, paidContent, MediaMemo, Music Ally, NBC Bay Area, PE Hub Blog, The Register, The Social, Fast Company, TechFlash, AppScout, VentureBeat, The Next Web, GigaOM and Mashable!
Brent Schlender / Perspective:
Bill Gates Joins the iPad's Army of Critics. Steve Jobs Couldn't Care Less. — With the sudden ridicule of Steve Jobs' new do-everything media player, Apple has abruptly become a ripe target for those who would like to take it down a notch. The tsunami of criticism is probably excessive …
Mark Mentovai / The Official Google Blog:
Bringing extensions to Google Chrome for Mac — As thousands of Mac fans and developers gather in San Francisco for this week's Macworld conference, we're particularly delighted to announce a new beta release of Chrome for Mac. Today's release includes some of our most requested features …
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb, Google Chrome Blog, TechCrunch, MacRumors, Geekword, Mashable!, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, Electronista, Lifehacker, Pocket-lint and The Next Web
Nicholas Carlson / Silicon Alley Insider:
WARNING: Google Buzz Has A Huge Privacy Flaw (GOOG) — There is a huge privacy flaw in Google's new Twitter/Facebook competitor, Google Buzz. — When you first go into Google Buzz, it automatically sets you up with followers and people to follow. — A Google spokesperson tells us …
Discussion:
Google Blogoscoped, Google Operating System, The Register, eWeek, Irregular Enterprise, GMSV, Fred Stutzman, Computerworld, Tech Eye, techPresident, Enterprise Irregulars, Collaborative Thinking, GottaBeMobile.com, CNET News, Techtonic Shifts, iGeneration, Security Bytes, ChannelWeb, Twittercism, Gizmodo, Zatz Not Funny!, InfoWorld, 1001 Noisy Cameras, AccMan, TechCrunch, Social Business, Techdirt, Between the Lines, Giles Bowkett, ReadWriteWeb, Shooting at Bubbles, bit-tech.net, The Jason Calacanis Weblog and Datamation
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Philipp Lenssen / Google Blogoscoped:
On Potential Privacy Problems With Gmail Buzz Exposing Email Contacts — Nicholas Carlson of Business Insider calls Gmail Buzz's (apparently default-settings) exposure of some of those you are in contact with - by auto-suggesting people to follow, and displaying that list on your public profile - a “huge privacy flaw”:
John Herrman / Gizmodo:
Office For Mac 2011 First Look: Ribbons, Sharing, and... Outlook? — Preemptive apologies to those of you who read Gizmodo to get away from work: Sorry! Now pay attention: The next version of Office for Mac is on its way, and we've got a sneak peak. — There's been a funny disconnect …
Discussion:
Macworld, The Microsoft Blog, Brainstorm Tech, MacRumors, CNET News, All about Microsoft, O'Grady's PowerPage, PR Newswire and Geekword
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Google Acquires Aardvark For $50 million — Google has acquired social search service Aardvark, says a source that has been briefed on the deal, for around $50 million. We first reported on the discussions between the two companies in December. Those discussions have now turned into a signed deal …
Declan McCullagh / CNET News:
Feds push for tracking cell phones — Two years ago, when the FBI was stymied by a band of armed robbers known as the “Scarecrow Bandits” that had robbed more than 20 Texas banks, it came up with a novel method of locating the thieves. — FBI agents obtained logs from mobile phone companies corresponding …
Thomas Ricker / Engadget:
Garmin-Asus nuvifone A50 runs Android, knows where you are turn-by-turn — The long rumored Nuvifone jump to Android is here just as we get set to kick off Mobile World Congress next week. Garmin and ASUS claim that the A50 brings “more location technology than any other smartphone” …
Discussion:
eWeek, Business Wire, MobileCrunch, Android Phone Fans, Softpedia News, Gearlog, TmoNews, GPS Tracklog, Android Community, MobileTechWorld, Android Central and Electronista
Stephen Chapman / MSFTKitchen:
Windows 8 to be “Completely Different” and “Mind-Blowing” — Over the course of the past week and a half, a couple of individuals from Microsoft have commented about Windows 8 in a rather excited manner. First, there was a blog entry on January 31, 2010 (which has since then been deleted) …
Sean Michaels / Guardian:
Google shuts down music blogs — Bloggers told they have violated terms without further explanation, as years of archives are wiped off the internet — In what critics are calling “musicblogocide 2010”, Google has deleted at least six popular music blogs that it claims violated copyright law.
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Zynga Buys Social Gaming Startup Serious Business — Zynga, the heavily-funded social gaming company, today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Serious Business, fellow creators of social games on Facebook. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed …
Wall Street Journal:
IPad Magnifies Apple's Flash Feud — Apple Inc. and Adobe Systems Inc. used to be cozy partners, but they have become increasingly estranged since the computer maker unveiled its iPad tablet late last month. — While Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs announced that the iPad will revolutionize Web surfing …
Kelly Hodgkins / Boy Genius Report:
Motorola has an oopsie, Android 2.1 update for the DROID not rolling out this week? — Potentially bad news for DROID owners as word out of Motorola's support forums suggest that the Motorola DROID will not see the rumored 2.1 update drop this week. According to Matt, forums manager over at Motorola …
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
iBooks Isn't Bundled With iPad — Apple didn't emphasize this heavily at the introduction, but the iBooks app is not going to be bundled with the iPad — it's an app you download from the App Store, putting it on an (at least somewhat) equal footing to e-book readers from other companies.
Matt Burns / CrunchGear:
TiVo schedules a March 2nd NYC event and we'll be there — We've known that TiVo was cooking up something tasty for a bit now. It could be the Premiere that leaked a few weeks back or something entirely different. We really don't know at this point. But what we do know is that we'll …
Olga Kharif / Business Week:
FCC May Pay Broadcasters for Airwaves — To relieve the strain on mobile networks caused by smartphones, the agency is considering a plan to pay broadcasters to vacate some of their airwaves — The Federal Communications Commission is considering a plan to pay broadcasters to vacate airwaves …
Ben Parr / Mashable!:
PayPal and Bebo Founders Invest in Mixpanel — Mixpanel, a real-time web analytics and analysis service for understanding how users behave with web apps, has just announced a $500,000 angel investment round coming from three of the web's most successful entrepreneurs: Max Levchin …
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TechCrunch
Bloomberg:
Microsoft Said to Be Among Suitors for Facebook Games Startup Crowdstar — Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) — Microsoft Corp. is among companies in talks to buy CrowdStar, the creator of games for social- networking site Facebook, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Michelle Megna / Enterprise Mobile Today:
BlackBerry OS: New BlackBerry Apps, MS Buying RIM? — Two new BlackBerry applications out today are aimed at helping mobile IT with wireless security and mobile device management issues relating to the BlackBerry OS. — But that's not the only news pertaining to Waterloo that's grabbing headlines …
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Ed Bott / Ed Bott's Microsoft Report:
Windows 7 activation update aims at high-volume pirates — Today, Microsoft announced the imminent release of a new Windows Activation Technologies Update for Windows. This update, which targets Windows 7, is the latest evolutionary step in the technologies that started with Windows Genuine Advantage in 2006.
Fox News:
Iran Shuts Down Gmail, Announces National E-Mail Service — Iran's telecommunications agency announced what it described as a permanent suspension of Google's e-mail services, saying that a national e-mail service for Iranian citizens would soon be rolled out.
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Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Hulu Could Still Launch On The iPad — When Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad last month, one notable potential partner absent from the stage was Hulu, now the second-largest video site on the Web. The launch event focussed more on the iPad as an eBook reader to rival the Kindle, but watching videos on it will be just as important.
New York Times:
The Cost of an E-Book Will Be Going Up — In the battle over the pricing of electronic books, publishers appear to have won the first round. The price of many new releases and best sellers is about to go up, to as much as $14.99 from $9.99. — But there may be an insurgency waiting to pounce: e-book buyers.
Andrew Warner / Mixergy:
How Y Combinator Helped 172 Startups Take Off - With Paul Graham — Want to see how much impact Paul Graham can have an a startup? Here are 3 examples from past Mixergy interviews. The first is Alexis Ohanion, who told me that his life changed when he headed to snowy Boston over Spring break …
Jonny Evans / 9 to 5 Mac:
Shazam for iPhone gets Last.fm, ticketing and more... Shazam has added Last.fm integration, geolocation and concert ticket purchasing features to the company's high-end music identification and discovery products. — The move means iPhone and iPod touch users can get tour and gig ticket info …
Discussion:
mocoNews
The Age:
Google baulks at Conroy's call to censor YouTube — Google says it will not “voluntarily” comply with the government's request that it censor YouTube videos in accordance with broad “refused classification” (RC) content rules. — Communications Minister Stephen Conroy referred …
