Top Items:
Bloomberg:
Apple Said to Prepare New 99-Cent TV Show Rental Service — Apple Inc. is in advanced talks with News Corp. to let iTunes users rent TV shows for 99 cents and is in discussions with other media companies about similar deals, said three people familiar with the plan.
Discussion:
MacRumors, 9 to 5 Mac, Wall Street Journal, paidContent, App Advice, VideoNuze, BusinessWeek, New York Times, TechCrunch, Engadget, Boy Genius Report, Fast Company, MacDailyNews, Epicenter, fierceonlinevideo.com …, Techland, TiPb, SFGate, Ars Technica, SlashGear, AppleInsider, Erictric, CNET News, The Toybox Blog, Neowin.net, Gizmodo, Velocity, USA Today, Electronista, Search Engine Land, DSLreports, Silicon Alley Insider, Tech Trader Daily, Crave, iLounge and TUAW, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:
99¢ TV shows coming Sept. 7 - report
Discussion:
MacRumors and Electronista
Tom Krazit / CNET News:
Google testing voice calling in Gmail — Google could be ready to turn Gmail into a communications hub by adding the ability to make phone calls from the Google Chat interface. — CNET has learned that Google is testing a Web-based service within Gmail that will allow users to place phone calls from their inboxes.
Discussion:
Fortune, Lifehacker, Neowin.net, TechCrunch, BlogsDNA, Erictric, The Next Web, Gizmodo and The Register
Aza Raskin / Aza on Design:
Firefox Panorama: Tab Candy Evolved — I am happy to announce that Tab Candy is coming to Firefox 4. Starting today, Tab Candy will be called Firefox Panorama and be available as a feature in Firefox betas. Head to the Firefox 4 feature list, or watch the video below …
Discussion:
Webmonkey, BlogsDNA, Startup Meme, Techie Buzz, TechCrunch, Electronista, MacStories, BetaNews, CNET News, Lifehacker, Read It Later Blog, WebProNews and ConceivablyTech
RELATED:
Mike Beltzner / The Mozilla Blog:
Firefox 4 Beta Updated with Sync and Panorama
Discussion:
Erictric, The Register, Pocket-lint, Mozilla Hacks and The Next Web
Chris Ziegler / Engadget:
Exclusive: HTC's Windows Phone 7-equipped T8788 breaks cover for AT&T — In case you needed any more evidence that AT&T is going all-in with Windows Phone 7, take a gander at this little beast, a phone known only as the HTC T8788 at this point (rest assured, you'll get a snappy, memorable …
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Motorola Snaps Up 280 North For $20 Million — Motorola has acquired Y Combinator startup 280 North, we've confirmed. We haven't confirmed, but have heard from multiple sources, that the price is around $20 million. This is a sizable exit for the founders - the company has raised just $250,000 in a 2008 angel round.
Discussion:
VentureBeat, IntoMobile, Electronista, Tech Trader Daily and Ajaxian, Thanks:atul
Shashi Seth / Yahoo! Search Blog:
Yahoo! Transitions Organic Search Back-End to Microsoft Platform — First let me say, wow, what a week! As I hope everyone saw our post from last week, Yahoo! began transitioning certain back-end functions for Yahoo! Search over to Microsoft's search platform.
Discussion:
Search Blog, SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog, Ars Technica, Mercury News, Search Engine Land, WebProNews, Computerworld, Erictric, ReadWriteWeb, Beyond Binary, Neowin.net, Softpedia News, The Next Web, The Register, TechFlash, UMBC ebiquity, The Microsoft Blog, Search Engine Journal, adCenter Blog, V3.co.uk, Digital Daily and silicontap.com
The JobsBloggers / Microsoft JobsBlog:
The Top Three hottest new majors for a career in technology — Have you ever wondered what fields of study are hot right now in the world of technology? Or maybe you're starting to think about declaring your major and you're looking for some real world guidance?
Joel Rosenblatt / Bloomberg:
Apple Manager Devine Must Allow Access to Safe Deposit Boxes — Paul Devine, the Apple Inc. manager accused of taking kickbacks in exchange for company secrets, must give the government access to two safe deposit boxes that a prosecutor said may contain “proceeds of the fraud.”
Discussion:
Gizmodo, V3.co.uk and The Register
RELATED:
Robert McMillan / Computerworld:
Apple exec stashed $150K in shoe boxes
Discussion:
CNET News, AppleInsider, Cult of Mac, TUAW, Gizmodo, everythingiCafe, CrunchGear and The Loop
Eric Eldon / Inside Facebook:
Facebook Updates Friend List Interface Again, Hoping to Increase Usage — In a small update that might be hinting at more changes to come, Facebook has altered how users select friends to add to their friends lists. Previously, when you approved a friend request, the interface included an option to add a friend to one or more lists.
Jessica Guynn / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Square hires Keith Rabois, Silicon Valley veteran and investor — Keith Rabois is paying it forward. — Not only did Google land technology to help boost its social networking ambitions when it bought Slide this month, it got PayPal veteran and Internet superstar Max Levchin as well.
Discussion:
Silicon Alley Insider, The Social and GigaOM, Thanks:mbaratz
Arron La:
Android Revenue - Advanced Task Manager — Background — “Advanced Task Manager” is an Android application I created in February 2009. At that time, it was needed mainly to kill running services that a number of applications spawned but never ended. Some of these services would start …
Discussion:
SFGate, IntoMobile, Silicon Alley Insider, FierceDeveloper, Mobile Marketing Watch, Android Phone Fans and Androinica
Audrey Watters / ReadWriteStart:
Where the Startups Are, By Zip Code — As part of our “Never Mind the Valley” series here, we often feature communities outside the Silicon Valley that have become thriving centers for entrepreneurship. We've profiled cities like Boston, Montreal, and Austin.
Discussion:
PeteSearch, Feld Thoughts and CloudAve
Greg Kumparak / MobileCrunch:
Virgin Mobile shifts up their MiFi plan: $40. Unlimited. Contract-free. Glorious. — Man, these pre-paid carriers are really learning to pull on a geek's heartstrings. Just months ago, Boost launched the US' first Android-powered prepaid phone, the Moto i1.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, IntoMobile, FierceWireless, PC World and MacDailyNews
Natasha Murashev / All Facebook:
What Your “Cool” Facebook Friend Is Really Like — You probably have at least one Facebook friend who is constantly posting pictures of themselves at bars and commenting on everybody's wall and regularly updates their status with “smart” comments and checking in to every place they go and just seem irresistibly cool.
Nielsen Wire:
African-Americans, Women and Southerners Talk and Text The Most in the U.S. — Think you can guess which Americans talk or text the most on their cellphones? — According to Nielsen, African-Americans use the most voice minutes - on average more than 1,300 a month.
Discussion:
Bits, IntoMobile, Hillicon Valley, Telecompetitor, GigaOM, Gizmodo and mocoNews
John Timmer / Ars Technica:
Users are still idiots, cough up personal data despite warnings — Study after study has shown that users are the weak link when it comes to security. Some of it, however, is not their fault: best security practices often go against everything we know about human behavior or mental capacity.
Brian Barrett / Gizmodo:
Please Stop Making New Phones With Old Firmware — We've reached the point where buying a “new” Android phone could still mean you're using firmware that's 18 months old. There's got to be a better way. — Today's release of the Android 1.5-laden Dell Aero might be the most recent …
Discussion:
eWeek, Engadget, Black Web 2.0, blogs.ft.com, Computerworld, VentureBeat, DSLreports and DailyTech
Keith Andrew / PocketGamer:
Qwiboo's Vladimir Roth on why piracy is thriving on iPad — Consumers don't like duplication. For the second time in as many weeks, a developer has been able to use OpenFeint's leaderboards to determine just how many people are pirating its games.Over the weekend, Qwiboo founder Vladimir Roth used Twitter …
Discussion:
TUAW and ReadWriteWeb
Amir Efrati / Digits:
Google Makes Change to Orkut as Facebook Wins in India — Facebook appears to have overtaken Google's Orkut in India. At the same time, Google has rolled out new changes to beef up Orkut. — In 2004, Google launched social-networking site Orkut, which didn't take off in the U.S …
Discussion:
Orkut Blog, ReadWriteWeb, Google Operating System, Pluggd.in and TechCrunch
Joseph Menn / Financial Times:
Alibaba makes a second US purchase — Alibaba.com, the top online service matching manufacturers and wholesalers, on Tuesday night announced its second US acquisition this summer as part of a $100m plan to boost its presence in the world's largest economy. — The company based in Hangzhou …
Ryan Singel / Epicenter:
Ad Firm Sued for Allegedly Re-Creating Deleted Cookies — Specificmedia, one of the net's largest ad-serving and tracking companies, has been hit with a federal lawsuit accusing the company of violating computer intrusion laws by secretly re-creating cookies deleted by users.
Thanks:atul
Jessica Heslam / Boston Herald:
Martha Coakley tells Craigslist: Abandon adult sex ads — Attorney General Martha Coakley fired off a letter to Craiglist yesterday, calling on the Web site to yank its “adult services” section as state attorneys general nationwide also stepped up the pressure.
Electronista:
Windows 95 marks 15th birthday in uncertain Microsoft future — Microsoft reached a milestone today as Windows 95 reached the 15th anniversary of its launch on August 24, 1995. The OS was the highest-profile debut ever for Microsoft and saw rare lines for a software launch …
Discussion:
TechRadar.com, The Microsoft Blog, Beyond Binary, BetaNews and Gizmodo
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Sketchy Startup Promises Facebook Stock To Investors — Oh, this is a huge mess in the making. A company called Freevi that has already had it's hand slapped for securities laws violations by the State of California is trying to raise funds from investors by promising to “secure” the investment with Facebook stock.
