Top Items:
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Exclusive: Facebook Poaches Yet Another Major Googler-This Time, Ad Exec David Fischer [UPDATED] — David Fischer-who was VP of Global Online Sales & Operations for Google and more recently was heading up its local efforts-is taking a job at Facebook as VP of Advertising and Global Operations, according to sources.
James Kelly / The Official Google Blog:
Next steps for our experimental fiber network — Since we announced our plans to build experimental, ultra high-speed broadband networks, the response from communities and individuals has been tremendous and creative. With just a few hours left before our submission deadline …
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Nick Saint / Silicon Alley Insider:
190,000 People Have Asked Google To Build Its Fiber Network In Their Neighborhoods — Google (GOOG) has been bombarded with requests from cities, towns, and individuals who want to host the ultra-high speed fiber optic broadband service announced by the search giant last month.
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Best Buy Preps for April 3rd iPad Launch — Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy has reportedly begun preparations for the launch of Apple's Wi-Fi iPad models on April 3rd, providing its retail store employees with details of events leading up to the launch.
Discussion:
Techland, Boy Genius Report, iLounge, CrunchGear, I4U News, 9 to 5 Mac, EverythingiCafe and Technology Questions
New York Post:
Radioshack search — RadioShack is looking to shack up with a deep-pocketed investor. — The Texas-based electronics chain is exploring strategic alternatives including a possible sale of the company that could fetch more than $3 billion, sources told The Post.
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Will Richmond / VideoNuze.com:
Here's How Google TV Will Work - And What It Might Mean — Last week, the NY Times shared some details of “Google TV,” the new set-top box Google is developing in partnership with Intel and Sony. The article provided a good outline, and now, based on additional information I've gathered …
Kristen Schweizer / Bloomberg:
Spotify Music Site Sees U.S. Start in Third Quarter; Plans BlackBerry App — Spotify, a virtual digital jukebox and Europe's largest legal online music site, aims to start U.S. operations in the third quarter. — The Stockholm-based company, which has 7 million users in Europe …
Discussion:
GigaOM, Silicon Alley Insider, Gizmodo, Epicenter, Mashable!, Pocket-lint, Electronista and TG Daily
Susie Pan / DigiTimes:
Apple reportedly shifts orders for iPad touch panels from TPK to Wintek — Taiwan-based TPK Touch Solutions has seen Apple shift orders for iPad-use projected capacitive touch panels to fellow maker Wintek because of TPK's delayed shipments, according to industry sources in Taiwan.
Elinor Mills / CNET News:
Web traffic redirected to China in mystery mix-up — Workers at Internet network operation centers around the world are trying to figure out why traffic to sites such as YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook was redirected to servers in China this week, giving Web surfers around the globe a glimpse …
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
iPhone Video Apps Must Downgrade Streaming Rates When AT&T's Network Is Too Weak — Video streaming apps on the iPhone in the U.S. have always had to contend with the limitations of AT&T's data network. For a long time, video streaming apps were not allowed in the App Store.
Royal Pingdom:
jQuery's triumphant march to success — Five years ago, no one had heard about jQuery. It was just an idea in the back of Javascript guru John Resig's head. Today, jQuery is by far the most popular Javascript library in the world and is used by over 28% of all websites on the internet.
Todd Bishop / TechFlash:
What Microsoft learned from Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates — Having followed Microsoft for a few years now, I like to think that I've figured out some of its mysteries, but there's a big one that I've just never been able to crack: What in the heck was the company trying to accomplish …
Major Nelson / Xbox Live's Major Nelson:
USB Memory Support for the Xbox 360 coming April 6th — On April 6th, we will be releasing a system update over Xbox LIVE for your Xbox 360 that will allow USB flash drives to be used for storing profiles, game saves, demos and more. I've been testing this feature out for a few weeks, and I have to say it's really great.
Discussion:
Engadget, Joystiq, ithinkdifferent, CrunchGear, VG247, Erictric, Gamasutra, SlashGear and Electronista
Naoko Komura / Wikimedia blog:
Wikimedia gets ready for some big changes — In April, the Wikimedia Foundation is rolling out the first of several significant changes to the user experience of Wikipedia as part of our usability and user experience program. — We are changing our default look to a new theme we call …
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Peter Svensson / Associated Press:
Verizon winds down expensive FiOS expansion — NEW YORK - If Verizon Communications Inc. hasn't already started wiring your city or town with its FiOS fiber-optic TV and broadband service, chances are you won't get it. — Where it's available, FiOS usually provides the only competition for cable TV apart from satellite service.
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Check.in Is A Potentially Brilliant Remedy For Check-In Fatigue — Last week, I wrote about check-in fatigue. While there is a lot of excitement right now surrounding location-based apps, and particularly the ones where you “check-in” places, trying to use all of them can be exhausting, as I found out at SXSW.
Discussion:
Silicon Alley Insider
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Nokia Buys Mobile Web Browser Company Novarra — Nokia has acquired Novarra, an Illinois-based company that develops mobile web browser technologies. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. — The acquisition makes sense, considering that Nokia builds its own browser.
Discussion:
VatorNews, Between the Lines, alarm:clock, Nokia, Tech Eye, CNET News, mocoNews, IntoMobile, Tech Trader Daily and Electronista
John Paczkowski / Digital Daily:
Confirmed: Intellectual Ventures Owns Smartphone Motion-Control Patent — Patent #7,679,604, “Method and apparatus for controlling a computer system,” the broad motion-control patent I've been writing about all week, has passed through a number of hands over the years.
Fred / A VC:
Startups Get Hit By Shrapnel In The Banking Bill — There is a big banking reform bill working its way through the Senate right now. It is sponsored by Chris Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. It has a long name I can't remember, so I'll call it the Dodd Banking Bill.
Julian Assange / WikiLeaks:
U.S. must stop spying on WikiLeaks — Over the last few years, WikiLeaks has been the subject of hostile acts by security organizations. In the developing world, these range from the appalling assassination of two related human rights lawyers in Nairobi last March (an armed attack …
Roger Entner / Nielsen Wire:
Smartphones to Overtake Feature Phones in U.S. by 2011 — Roger Entner, Senior Vice President, Research and Insights, Telecom Practice — The iPhone, Blackberry, Droid and smartphones in general dominate the buzz in the mobile market, but only 21% of American wireless subscribers are using …
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Four VC Firms Battle For Foursquare, Valuation Goes Stratospheric — What do Accel Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures and Redpoint Ventures have in common? Besides being tier one venture capitalists, at least one thing: They are all fighting furiously to be the lead investor in Foursquare's next venture round.
Discussion:
Venture Capital Dispatch, artificial ignorance, Genuine VC, GO2WEB20 Blog, Edelman Digital and The Microsoft Blog
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Google Nabs Longtime Top Oracle Exec to Run International Sales for Enterprise Unit — Amit Singh-a 20-year Oracle exec who has worked in product development, channel management, sales, strategy and acquisitions-has taken a job as its VP of International Sales for Google's enterprise business.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Facebook To Release A “Like” Button For the Whole Darn Internet — There will be lots of news leaking about Facebook's product announcements at their upcoming F8 Developer Conference in April. That's because they're already starting to test out a lot of the new stuff with third party developers …
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Congress On China: Google Gets A Big Wet Kiss. Microsoft Is “Enabling Tyranny” — This is why I have a strong dislike of government and our system of lobbyists. Many people in the tech community are becoming increasingly skeptical of Google's motives in partially pulling out of the Chinese markets …
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
280,000 pro-China astroturfers are running amok online — If you thought corporate “astroturfing” (fake grassroots activity) was a problem at sites like Yelp and Amazon that feature user reviews of products, imagine how much worse it would be if the US government employed a couple hundred thousand people to …
