Top Items:
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
J Allard's goodbye note: ‘No chairs were thrown’ — Microsoft Chief Experience Officer J Allard sent out a goodbye note of his own on May 25, the date that Microsoft announced officially that both Allard and Entertainment and Devices President Robbie Bach are leaving the company.
Discussion:
Gizmodo, Kotaku, The Official Microsoft Blog, Silicon Alley Insider and DailyTech, Thanks:atul
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Todd Bishop / TechFlash:
Bach, Allard leaving Microsoft in big shift for consumer business — Robbie Bach and J Allard, founding fathers of Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Division, are leaving the company as part of a broader restructuring that will give CEO Steve Ballmer more direct oversight …
Discussion:
PC World, Engadget, Gizmodo, Silicon Alley Insider, CNET News, BetaNews, The Next Web, VentureBeat, The Microsoft Blog, IBD Click, The Register, Computerworld, Kotaku, ZDNet, Digital Daily, paidContent, InformationWeek, Mashable!, internetnews.com, DailyTech, Network World, Gadgetell, I4U News, MacDailyNews, GottaBeMobile, WMExperts, Tech Trader Daily, Boy Genius Report, Ars Technica, Blue's News, SlashGear and GamePro.com
Horace Dediu / Asymco:
The reason Robbie Bach was fired — Vague justifications about under-performance of Windows Mobile or cancelled Courier miss the whole point. The chronic problems with Microsoft's consumer businesses cited as causes for dismissal have roots in core processes and priorities which management changes will not address.
Discussion:
Daring Fireball
Todd Bishop / TechFlash:
Q&A: Microsoft's Bach on his exit, and the future of the company — Q&A: Microsoft's Bach on his exit, and future of the company — Robbie Bach may have been viewed at one point as a potential successor to Steve Ballmer as Microsoft's chief executive — but Bach says he never aspired to the job …
Discussion:
Engadget, Microsoft, GigaOM, IntoMobile, Guardian, WMPoweruser.com, GameLife, Xconomy, MobileTechWorld, Technologizer, Seattle Times, ZDNet, Gizmodo and The Microsoft Blog
Brad Stone / New York Times:
U.S. Is Said to Scrutinize Apple's Online Music Tactics — SAN FRANCISCO — The Justice Department is examining Apple's tactics in the market for digital music, and its staff members have talked to major music labels and Internet music companies, according to several people briefed on the conversations.
Brian Rakowski / Google Chrome Blog:
A new Chrome stable release: Welcome, Mac and Linux! — In our most recent beta release, we fired up all engines to bring to life our fastest version of Chrome to date. — Today, we're bringing all this beta goodness to the stable channel so that it's available to all Chrome users.
Discussion:
Google Chrome Releases, Datamation, Chromium Blog, TUAW, Ars Technica, Computerworld, Boy Genius Report, 9 to 5 Mac, Google Operating System, The Register, MacRumors, InfoWorld, ExtremeTech, Telegraph, Erictric, BlogsDNA, Mashable!, Macworld, Lifehacker, TechSpot, Macsimum News, Techie Buzz, VatorNews, Daring Fireball, TechCrunch, Download Squad and AppleInsider
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MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
New “Drastically Simplified” Facebook Privacy Controls Start Rolling Out Tomorrow — On stage today at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York City, Facebook's vice president of product Chris Cox announced that starting tomorrow, Facebook will be rolling out “drastically simplified” and improved privacy controls.
Discussion:
eWeek, GigaOM, Epicenter, The Next Web, Mashable!, NBC Bay Area, Silicon Alley Insider, the Econsultancy blog, Erictric, Bloomberg, VentureBeat, Maximum PC, Bits and Inside Facebook
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Kat Hannaford / Gizmodo:
Motorola Droid Shadow Found In Gym — The story goes that this phone was left in a corporate Verizon gym in Washington, but before it was remotely locked the finder saw a text message confirming it was “unreleased”. What is it? Why, the Motorola Droid Shadow.
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
RealNetworks Founder Glaser Becomes a VC at Accel-the Venture Firm that Backed Him 15 Years Ago — Rob Glaser, the founder of RealNetworks, is joining Accel Partners as a part-time venture partner. — Ironically, it was Accel that first funded the digital media pioneer …
Lance Ulanoff / PC Magazine:
The Dell Streak is Not a Tablet — I get it. If I were a consumer electronics device in 2010, I'd want to be a tablet. Tablets are cool. They're now. They're hip. The hottest product on the planet right now is a tablet. But wanting to be one and actually being one are two very different things.
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Lionel Menchaca / Dell Community:
Dell Streak: The versatile 5-inch Android tablet
Discussion:
SlashGear, Boy Genius Report, GottaBeMobile, eWeek, BlogsDNA, Mobile Tech Addicts, Inc.com, PC World, AppleInsider, Liliputing, Electronic Pulp, Silicon Alley Insider and Go Rumors
Bill Kircos / Technology@Intel:
An Update On Our Graphics-related Programs — “Graphics.” I think the high-tech industry needs to do a better job defining this omnibus word. At a minimum, graphics can be divided into creating, consuming (viewing), interacting, playing and connecting digital media - visually rich computing experiences.
Discussion:
Engadget, ZDNet, CNET News, Digits, eWeek, HotHardware.com News, VentureBeat, The Register, AnandTech, Maximum PC, insideHPC, Electronista and VizWorld.com
Associated Press:
Amazon CEO: Color Kindle ‘still a long way out’ — A color version of Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle e-reader may come eventually, but it won't be soon. Speaking Tuesday at the online retailer's annual shareholder meeting in Seattle, founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said that adding color to the Kindle's …
Discussion:
MarketWatch, CNET News, Electronista, Tech Trader Daily, Wall Street Journal, Engadget, MacRumors, Maximum PC, The Next Web, Zatz Not Funny!, Kindle Review, mocoNews, Gearlog and Digital Daily
Barbara De Lollis / USA Today:
Holiday Inn to test smartphone as hotel-room key; some guests prefer to skip front desk — InterContinental Hotels Group next month will begin testing new technology at two Holiday Inns that lets guests use their smartphones to unlock their hotel-room door, Hotel Check-In has learned.
Stephen Lawson / Computerworld:
US ranks 26th in new broadband index — IDG News Service - South Korea has the fastest home Internet service in the world, with a downstream speed 100 times faster than the average in Sudan, the operator of Speedtest.net reported on a new Web site that compiles results from consumers running its online test.
Jennifer Jacobson / Retrevo:
New Data Shines Light on Future of Netbooks — In past years, the netbooks took the market by a storm. With Intel Atom chip sets, long battery life, small form factors, and low price they offered a great alternative to expensive, bulky laptops. However, the double whammy of cheaper laptops …
Nat Ives / AdAge:
New Yorker Plans One Price for Access Across Digital Platforms — Magazines' Current Model Charges Existing Subscribers Extra for IPad and Kindle Editions — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — The New Yorker wants to let readers pay once for digital access across the iPad, the Kindle and other platforms …
Matt Drance / Apple Outsider:
Whither Verizon? — Speculation over the iPhone coming to Verizon Wireless will continue until it actually happens. Loyal Verizon customers want iPhones, and AT&T continues to take it on the chin. The promise of a huge untapped market is enough to keep analysts and investors buzzing indefinitely.
Claire Cain Miller / Bits:
MasterCard Wants Programmers to Use Its Payment Technology — There has been a lot of talk about digital forms of payment replacing cash and even credit cards. But MasterCard intends to stay in the middle of the technological innovation. — On Tuesday, MasterCard announced …
Nick Saint / Silicon Alley Insider:
Mayor Bloomberg Announces First Investment By NYC-Sponsored Venture Fund: MyCityWay — Speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference, Mayor Michael Bloomberg just announced that the city-sponsored NYC Entrepreneurial Fund has made its first investment, $300,000 of a $500,000 seed round in local search startup MyCityWay.
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Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Mayor Bloomberg Calls For More NYC Startups At TechCrunch Disrupt …
Discussion:
Plain Dealer, The Next Web, Runnin' Scared, Darren Herman, The Snitch, ReadWriteWeb, Livestream Blog, VentureBeat and Lost Remote
Eric Savitz / Tech Trader Daily:
Apple iPad Production Could Hit 2.5M Units/Month, Analyst Says — Apple (AAPL) is cranking up production of the iPad. Sterne Agee analyst Vijay Rakesh writes this morning that his checks with the company's supply chain finds that the company has been been producing the tablet at a rate …
Washington Post:
Google tries its hand at influence in Washington — When someone as influential as Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV requests your presence at a hearing, Washington insiders know it's more of a summons than an invitation. — So for two hours on the morning of April 29, Microsoft, Facebook …
Amy Chang / Google Analytics Blog:
Greater choice and transparency for Google Analytics — Many website owners use Google Analytics and other web analytics tools to make business-critical decisions about how to improve their websites by understanding how users engage with their webpages. We've worked hard to make Google Analytics …
