Top Items:


Ballmer and Ozzie at D8 (live blog) — RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif.—Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie are slated to speak at the D: All Things Digital event on Thursday morning. — Check back around 8 a.m. PDT for live coverage from the event.
Discussion:
ZDNet, Engadget, AppleInsider, The Microsoft Blog, Tech Trader Daily, Silicon Alley Insider, TNW, Gizmodo, Tim Anderson's ITWriting, Redmond Pie and CNET News
RELATED:


Microsoft's Ray Ozzie says Chrome is the future, Android is the past
Discussion:
Ars Technica, D8 Conference, GigaOM, The Register, TNW, Tech Trader Daily, SlashGear, Neowin.net and TechFlash

Ballmer: The PC Will Continue to Thrive
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, VentureBeat, Yahoo! News, The Microsoft Blog, Xconomy, The Seattle Times, D8 Conference, Gizmodo and CNET News


AT&T: No iPhone-iPad tethering — We have some bad news for the clever geeks who were hoping to take advantage of the newly announced iPhone tethering capability in the U.S. to provide an Internet connection for their iPad, avoiding paying for an iPad-specific data plan. Looks like that won't be happening.
Discussion:
AppleInsider, MacStories, The Next Web, Engadget, Gizmodo and EverythingiCafe, Thanks:steverubel


AT&T apologizes to the guy they threatened to C&D for e-mailing their CEO — If you spend any more than a few minutes a day on the Internet, you've probably already heard the story of Giorgio G.: Upset with AT&T about his iPhone eligibility dates, he e-mails the company's CEO.
Discussion:
PC World, Engadget, Computerworld, the Econsultancy blog, TiPb, Lockergnome Blog Network and EverythingiCafe
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Countering the Perception That the iPhone OS Is Too Closed — Jason Snell calls for Apple to allow sideloading native iPhone apps: … Personally, I'd welcome such a move, but I don't think it would have the effect Snell envisions. Snell's argument is that Apple should do this to nip the argument that the iPhone is too closed.
RELATED:

Time for Apple to open up the iPhone
Discussion:
Michael Tsai, Electronista, Daring Fireball, Technologizer, Softpedia News and Silicon Alley Insider


Leroy Stick - the man behind @BPGlobalPR — My name is Leroy Stick and I am the man behind @BPGlobalPR. First, let me begin by explaining my name. — When I was growing up, there was a dog that lived on my block named Leroy. Leroy was a big dog with a disdain for leashes and a thirst for blood.
Discussion:
Groundswell, Fast Company, the Econsultancy blog, Paul Chaney, Mashable!, Future Tense and DailyFinance, Thanks:chrismessina

Google to hand over intercepted data — Google will begin handing over to European regulators the rogue data it intercepted from private WiFi internet connections within the next two days, in an effort to defuse growing controversy over its latest privacy blunder.
Discussion:
Computerworld, Search Engine Land, L.A. Times Tech Blog, CNET News, ReadWriteWeb, Silicon Alley Insider, Maximum PC and Gizmodo


Yelp and OpenTable Join Forces — On Thursday evening, Yelp.com, the user-generated review Web site, and OpenTable.com, the restaurant reservations site, announced an integration that will allow Yelp users to make a restaurant reservation directly from a Yelp.com review page.
Discussion:
Screenwerk, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Yelp Official Blog, ReadWriteWeb, TechCrunch, TechFlash, San Francisco Chronicle, Mashable! and Gizmodo


Facebook CEO has a Richard Nixon moment — Commentary: Mr. Social doesn't really want to share so much — RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Facebook Inc.'s 26-year-old chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, literally squirmed in his seat, took off his famous hoodie sweatshirt …
Discussion:
Mark Evans Tech, Switched, PC World, MediaPost, Sydney Morning Herald, Guardian, VentureBeat, D8 Conference and Velocity

Investing in exchange bidding — We're happy to announce that we've acquired Invite Media, an innovative start-up based in New York and Philadelphia. — The team at Invite Media has developed technology that enables advertisers and agencies to use “real time bidding” to buy display ad space …
Discussion:
GigaOM, AdExchanger.com, Media Decoder, AdAge, AppScout, Search Engine Journal, MediaPost, Nothing To Say, MediaMemo, CNET News, Fortune and Erictric
RELATED:

Google Confirms Invite Media Acquisition, Brings Bidding To Display Ads
Discussion:
paidContent, internetnews.com, Erictric, AdExchanger.com, Mashable!, MediaMemo, WebProNews and VentureBeat


HP says it's in the smartphone market, after all — HP CEO Mark Hurd certainly caused a few sad faces yesterday when he told investors and analysts that HP “didn't buy Palm to be in the smartphone business,” and now the company is trying to walk that back a little — rest easy, folks …
Discussion:
PhoneDog.com, Erictric, PreCentral.net, Boy Genius Report, Gizmodo, EverythingPre, MediaPost, Electronic Pulp, Phones Review and ZDNet, Thanks:hpnews


Court examines Gizmodo devices for iPhone info — Authorities have finally begun examining the computers, server, and other electronic gear seized from a Gizmodo editor as part of the investigation into a missing iPhone prototype. — Stephen Wagstaffe, chief deputy district attorney for San Mateo County …
Discussion:
Computerworld, Fortune, Maximum PC, TUAW, AppleInsider, MacNN, SlashGear, MacRumors, Macsimum News, Phones Review, MacDailyNews, EverythingiCafe and The Loop


How iTunes Genius Really Works — An Apple engineer discloses how the company's premier recommendation engine parses millions of iTunes libraries. — Ever since the feature debuted in 2008, there's been a lot of speculation about how iTunes Genius accomplishes its playlist-building magic.


Location 2012: Death Of The Information Silos — Editor's note: The following is a guest post written by Robert Scoble, who travels the world for Rackspace interviewing tech geeks for building43.com. He's one of the most popular (stalked) users of location-based services and has 8,215 friends on Foursquare.
Thanks:atul

Apple's supply of Mac minis dwindle ahead of new models — Supply of Apple's existing Mac mini lineup has become increasingly constrained over the past two weeks as the company prepares to introduce refreshed models that may serve as a harbinger for some new I/O technology on the Mac.


Google To Change Gmail, Add “Normal Email” Option Instead Of Just “Conversations” — Google is planning to offer a standard email option in Gmail in the next few months, two executives at the company say. — Currently, Gmail presents email in a “Conversations” format …


The Fastest Mobile Networks 2010 — It's a boom time for 3G. Where Americans were once happy with hotspots, now they're demanding to be connected anywhere—whether it's with their smartphones, iPads, or laptops. And 3G is beginning to turn into 4G, as wireless carriers start …
Discussion:
Bits, Technologizer, SlashGear, TNW, PhoneDog.com, Digits, WMExperts, Boy Genius Report and App Advice

AOL eyeing new search deal — RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif.—AOL CEO Tim Armstrong said on Thursday that the company has started the process of meeting with Google and others over who will power the site's search engine going forward. — The company's current deal with Google is set to expire …


Zynga Buys Austin-Based Challenge Games — Zynga, the online gaming powerhouse, has acquired Austin, Texas-based Challenge Games. — The social game start-up will be renamed Zynga Austin and be focused on product development. — Backed by Sequoia Capital and Globespan Capital Partners …


Boy do I disagree with this! Mike Shatzkin gets it 100% wrong about the agency model! — Mike Shatzkin publishes a blog that is always worth reading - The Shatzkin Files. One of his latest articles is Agency seems (to me) to be working; I hope its legal.
Discussion:
Kindle Review


Apple will Have a Powerful Search Engine for the “AppWorld,” John Battelle — LOS ANGELES — Despite the explicit denial by Apple CEO Steve Jobs on plans to build a search engine, the company is doing exactly that, says John Battelle. — On Tuesday night, during his on-stage dialogue …


Free Mobile Me Services Imminent? — We've reported rumors of Mobile Me getting some free services in the past, but here's some evidence. You can see in the screenshot that this user is now a full member. Judging by the word choice of ‘full’ we'll be seeing some free members very soon.


Bill Gates on Sparring Steve Jobs and the Imperfect iPad — Gizmodo's favorite reader appeared yesterday in Larry King, along with his dad (who is quite the cool guy too). They talked everything, from his philanthropic work to the iPad and his relationship with Steve Jobs. Here are the highlights:
Discussion:
techeblog.com