Top Items:
Cedric Dupont / The Official Google Blog:
Stars make search more personal — We've long believed that personalization makes search more relevant and fun. For nearly five years, we've been tailoring results with personalized search. Today we're announcing a new feature in search that makes it easier for you to mark and rediscover your favorite web content — stars.
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Jonathan Adams / New York Times:
Strain on HTC From Apple Suit Is Likely to Be Long-Term — TAIPEI — Apple's patent lawsuit against HTC will not cause major problems for the Taiwan technology company in the short term, analysts said Wednesday. But it could strain its relations with partners in the crucial U.S. market …
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John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
This Apple-HTC Patent Thing — There are two aspects surrounding Apple's patent litigation against HTC that demand further consideration. First, the severe problems with the U.S. patent system as a whole, particularly with regard to software patents. Second, the strategic implications of Apple's decision to file suit.
Scott Gilbertson / Webmonkey:
Microsoft to Double Down on HTML5 With Internet Explorer 9 — With the latest releases of Opera, Google Chrome and Firefox continuing to push the boundaries of the web, the once-dominant Internet Explorer is looking less and less relevant every day. — But we should expect Microsoft …
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Todd Bishop / TechFlash:
RealNetworks settles RealDVD case, drops product, pays $4.5m — Breaking News: RealNetworks says it has settled the litigation over RealDVD, its software for making copies of DVDs on PC hard drives, agreeing to a permanent injunction against the product and paying $4.5 million in legal costs …
Discussion:
Digital Daily, Macworld, Between the Lines, BetaNews, NewTeeVee, RealNetworks.com, paidContent, Bits, Silicon Alley Insider, CNET News, Electronista and Wall Street Journal
Cade Metz / The Register:
Google Research head dubs holy PageRank ‘over-hyped’ — Google research head Peter Norvig says that the search giant's hallowed PageRank link-analysis algorithm is overrated. And always has been. “One thing that I think is still over-hyped is PageRank,” Norvig said this morning during …
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Ryan Paul / Ars Technica:
Ubuntu dumps the brown, introduces new theme and branding — Canonical has revealed the style of the new default theme that will be used in Ubuntu 10.04, the next major version of the popular Linux distribution. In a significant departure from tradition, Ubuntu is shedding …
Discussion:
Maximum PC
Reuters:
AT&T CEO sees iPad mostly used on Wi-Fi — * Does not see a lot of subscriptions for iPad — AT&T Inc (T.N) expects users of Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPad to connect to the Internet mostly using short-range Wi-Fi networks rather than AT&T's cellular network, the chief executive of AT&T said on Tuesday.
Discussion:
L.A. Times Tech Blog, Gadget Lab, Digital Daily, Computerworld, Sidecut Reports, displayblog, CNET News, Wall Street Journal, The Toybox, TUAW, jkOnTheRun, 9 to 5 Mac, TeleRead, ReadWriteWeb, DSLreports, FierceWireless, Mashable!, CrunchGear, techblog.dallasnews.com, SlashGear, Erictric, Engadget, DVICE, EverythingiCafe, iLounge, Electronista, Dow Jones Newswires, Shelly Palmer and Gizmodo
Gillian Reagan / Silicon Alley Insider:
Rupert Murdoch: WSJ iPad App ‘Under Padlock And Key’ (NWS) — News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch confirmed that the Wall Street Journal is planning on building an application for Apple's iPad. — “In fact, we've been allowed to work on one, and it's under padlock and key,” he told the crowd, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Discussion:
App Advice, TUAW, AppleInsider, Engadget, MacNN, EverythingiCafe, dailywireless.org, Erictric, Mashable!, 9 to 5 Mac and Wall Street Journal
Tim Difford / The Next Web:
First Google Buzz iPhone App Hits The Store - It's Buzzie! — Buzzie, the first iPhone app aimed squarely at users of Google's new social networking tool Google Buzz is in the iTunes App store. — The app gives non-Buzz users a taste of what the service is all about by letting them tune …
Discussion:
Gizmodo, TiPb, Mashable!, IntoMobile, VentureBeat, ReadWriteWeb, App Advice, 901am, Online Marketing Blog, Erictric, iLounge, Silicon Alley Insider, epic.org and Google Product Ideas, Thanks:m4tt
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Chris DeWolfe Makes His Move - Raises Big Round, Acquires Gaming Platform MindJolt — Last year we reported that MySpace founder and former CEO Chris DeWolfe was raising a big round of capital to start acquiring companies. He's now closed on that round of capital and has made his first acquisition.
Discussion:
Inside Social Games, VentureBeat, Business Wire, paidContent and Silicon Alley Insider, Thanks:mrinaldesai
Matt Burns / CrunchGear:
How TiVo missed the mark with the new Premiere — Excuse me while I let off a little steam. I was a tad hasty in my proclamation yesterday that the TiVo Premiere changes everything. It doesn't. In fact, it doesn't change anything. It's a big pile of disappointment and missed opportunity.
Doug Aamoth / MobileCrunch:
Virgin Mobile increases value for prepaid broadband data buckets — $60 for 5GB — Virgin Mobile's Broadband2Go prepaid 3G data service made a splash last summer by offering no-contract plans that came close to competing with two-year offerings from the likes of Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile.
Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
Twitter Staffer Stops Blogging After Backlash — Updated: Alex Payne, a Twitter engineer, is shutting down his personal blog after a comment he posted on Twitter became the subject of a TechCrunch blog post and caused a minor firestorm among Twitter application developers and others involved with the company.
Deborah Yao / Associated Press:
Charging fees for Hulu comes with its own problems — Hulu's days as a free online video site could be ending soon. — Comedy Central's decision to yank two of the most popular shows on Hulu — “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” — in a dispute over splitting ad revenue is the latest blow …
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Playdom Acquires Facebook Game Developer Offbeat Creations — Social gaming company Playdom has acquired Facebook game developer Offbeat Creations. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. — Offbeat Creations has developed several popular apps on Facebook including Super Farkle.
Discussion:
VentureBeat, Inside Social Games, PR Newswire, paidContent, VatorNews and silicontap.com
Olga Kharif / Business Week:
Gaga for Google Broadband — City residents across the U.S. are campaigning for a slice of the millions Google plans to spend on broadband — Jared Starkey is going all out for Google broadband. The day after Google (GOOG) said it would provide high-speed Internet access …
Andrew Nusca / Between the Lines:
IBM creates optical device to enhance inter-processor connections — IBM scientists on Wednesday announced the development of a device that uses light, instead of copper wires, to allow computer chips to communicate. — The advancement is a step toward replacing the electrical signals …
Peter Bright / Ars Technica:
Microsoft open-sources clever U-Prove identity framework — More and more personal, private information is being used and stored online than ever before, and at the same time, attacks on that information are increasing in frequency and sophistication. Phishing is a growth industry …
Robert McMillan / PC World:
Microsoft's Charney Suggests 'Net Tax to Clean Computers — How will we ever get a leg up on hackers who are infecting computers worldwide? Microsoft's security chief laid out several suggestions Tuesday, including a possible Internet usage tax to pay for the inspection and quarantine of machines.
Discussion:
Techdirt, MacDailyNews, Help Net Security, Hillicon Valley, Lockergnome Blog Network, FierceCIO News, bit-tech.net, Network World and GigaOM
Electronista:
Opera: browser downloads tripled since browser ballot — Downloads of Opera's web browser have tripled since the EU implemented the trial version of its Windows browser ballot two days ago, the company's chief strategy officer Rolf Assev said today. The combination of a new beta and a prominent …
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
Google Developing Real Time Index — Google is developing a system that will enable web publishers of any size to automatically submit new content to Google for indexing within seconds of that content being published. Search industry analyst Danny Sullivan told us today that this could be “the next chapter” for Google.
Venture Capital Dispatch:
Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard Keep ‘Methodical’ M&A Pace — Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. were among the most active acquirers of venture-backed companies last decade. And they're sitting on billions of dollars in cash. … But don't expect either of these tech giants to spend their money willy-nilly on start-ups this year.
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft:
Could (and should) Microsoft buy Twitter? — A number of Web pundits have suggested during the past year-plus that Microsoft should buy Twitter. (An equal number have advocated for Google to buy the company and save it from Microsoft's clutches.) — Would a Microsoft buy …
