Top Items:
Robin Schriebman / Gmail Blog:
Call phones from Gmail — Gmail voice and video chat makes it easy to stay in touch with friends and family using your computer's microphone and speakers. But until now, this required both people to be at their computers, signed into Gmail at the same time.
Discussion:
Crave, PC World, Computerworld, Google Voice Blog, PC Pro, Pocket-lint, GottaBeMobile, Silicon Alley Insider, Gadgetwise, Boy Genius Report, Lockergnome Blog Network, TechCrunch, InformationWeek, Newsome.Org, WMExperts, MobileContentToday, Don Dodge on The Next …, New York Times, Financial Times, eWeek, Gadgetell, textually.org, The Next Web, Techland, Pulse2, GigaOM, BlogsDNA, Gawker, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, VentureBeat, PhoneDog.com, Erictric, Telecom Trends, Relevant Results, dailywireless.org, Google Operating System, Lifehacker, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Startup Meme, Ars Technica, Go Rumors, 901am, techeblog.com, Technology Review, Geek.com, 9 to 5 Mac, Switched, Techie Buzz, TiPb, V3.co.uk, Softpedia News, Inc.com, TG Daily, Search Engine Journal, The Seattle Times, ReadWriteWeb, SlashGear, Fast Company, ResourceShelf, Future Tense, Between the Lines Blog, I4U News, Search Engine Land, Geekosystem, Digital Daily, GeekSugar, ConceivablyTech, DSLreports and The Huffington Post
RELATED:
Ryan Singel / Epicenter:
Gmail Phone Calls Are All About Facebook, Not Skype — Google just made it easy for U.S.-based Gmail users to make and receive calls right inside their browsers using technology from Google Voice. — The move has prompted some to speculate that Google is going after Skype …
Discussion:
CNNMoney.com
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Google Voice Phone Booths To Start Popping Up In Airports, Universities — Google wants to get you hooked on Google Voice, and it's got a new weapon in its arsenal: charming red telephone booths inspired by the sort that litter the UK. Today at a press event where it announced the launch …
Sean Hollister / Engadget:
Google introduces Call from Gmail, free calls to US and Canada (update: impressions)
Discussion:
Lockergnome Blog Network, Mashable!, TechCrunch, The Toybox Blog, Newlaunches.com, The Tech Report and Geek.com
David Pogue / New York Times:
New Kindle Leaves Rivals Farther Back — Too bad there's not a reality TV show called “America's Most Freaked-Out Tech-Company Meetings,” where you watch classic panicked board meetings. For example, when the Apple employee left an iPhone 4 prototype in a bar.
RELATED:
Harry McCracken / Technologizer:
New Kindle is Here, Selling Like an Unspecified Number of Hotcakes
Discussion:
MobileContentToday, PC World, eWeek, WebProNews, Gizmodo, Tech Trader Daily, Softpedia News, Silicon Alley Insider, Engadget, TechCrunch and MediaMemo
Kevin Rose / Digg Blog:
Digg Version 4 — I'm excited to announce that today we opened up the newest version of our Digg platform. We've been working hard on this next evolution of Digg (what we've been calling “v4") and everyone here is really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the changes we've made.
Discussion:
Telegraph, Softpedia News, the Econsultancy blog, VentureBeat, Pluggd.in, Search Engine Land, lalawag, ChasNote, The Social, AppScout, WebProNews, BetaNews and TechCrunch
RELATED:
Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
Digg Trying Hard — Maybe Too Hard — to Stay Relevant — The new version of Digg finally launched for all users today, although the site had some teething problems for much of the morning. It was unavailable for almost two hours, and remained slow for some time afterward …
Thanks:michaelklurfeld
Kim-Mai Cutler / Inside Facebook:
Slide's Max Levchin Becomes a VP of Engineering at Google — Max Levchin, who was the chief executive of Slide and a PayPal co-founder, has landed a new title at Google as a vice president of engineering, we've confirmed with the company. It's the latest leadership adjustment since …
Discussion:
Pulse2
Adam Rifkin / GigaOM:
Why Google Has No Game — A few weeks ago, I wrote Pandas and Lobsters: Why Google Cannot Build Social Applications, a post that dissected why Google doesn't get social. Since then, Google appears to have stepped up its efforts to develop a coherent social strategy.
Discussion:
FM Blog
Tim Stevens / Engadget:
Mophie and Intuit partner to create Complete Card Solution for iPhone, try to make Square look square — Who knew that credit card processing would be the new hotness for smartphones? The Square mobile payment system has been making waves by letting small businesses receive credit card payment directly on their smartphones.
Discussion:
Epicenter, Crave, Between the Lines Blog and Macworld
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Google's Nine Year Shopping Spree, Illustrated — For those that remember when Google Voice was GrandCentral ... Other than missing Like.com's acquisition on August 20th and having the DoubleClick grab plotted when Google revealed its intent to acquire in April 2007 and not when the official acquisition …
Discussion:
Startup Meme and Beyond Search
Adam Smith / Adam Smith's Blog:
Thoughts After Y Combinator Demo Day — There's lots of motion in the ocean in the early stage investing world. TechCrunch has a write-up on the companies that presented at Y Combinator's demo day yesterday. I had several of my own thoughts. — Quality — The average company quality is up.
Discussion:
VentureBeat
RELATED:
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Y Combinator's Biggest Demo Day Yet Draws Throng Of Investors
Discussion:
VentureBeat, Venture Capital Dispatch and L.A. Times Tech Blog
Evelyn Rusli / TechCrunch:
Has Google Purged Places Of Yelp? All Signs Point To Yes. — Well, this is curious. — From our checks, it seems like Google has completely omitted Yelp reviews from Google Places. As you may recall, Yelp has been frustrated by Google's recent decision to pump up its Places service with Yelp's content— without Yelp's consent.
Tim Conneally / BetaNews:
Adobe updates Web-based Photoshop, no longer demands membership — Now approaching its third year online, Adobe's Web-based photo editing suite Photoshop Express underwent a significant redesign which launched Wednesday. Adobe Photoshop Express Editor, Organizer, and Uploader are included in the refresh.
Discussion:
Pulse2 and Download Squad
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Sebastian Anthony / Download Squad:
Adobe Photoshop Express for Android taken for a spin, leaves me a little unsatisfied
Discussion:
CNET News, Macworld, Macsimum News and Imaging Insider
Mike Prospero / LAPTOP Mag:
Android Battery Test Reveals Droid X Lasts Longest, AMOLED Handsets Trail — Ever since the first Android phone appeared, we've been developing a battery test that would accurately gauge their endurance, and lend some objective data to our anecdotal tests.Finally, we've come up with one …
Discussion:
IntoMobile, Google Android News …, SlashGear, Phones Review, Android Phone Fans and Droid Life
Wall Street Journal:
The ABCs of E-Reading — New Devices Are Changing Habits. People Are Reading More, Even While in a Kayak — People who buy e-readers tend to spend more time than ever with their nose in a book, preliminary research shows. — A study of 1,200 e-reader owners by Marketing …
Discussion:
Fast Company, more at Mediagazer », Thanks:itsdae
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
SCVNGR's Secret Game Mechanics Playdeck — Some companies keep a playbook of product tips, tricks and trade secrets. Zynga has an internal playbook, for instance, that is a collection of “concepts, techniques, know-how and best practices for developing successful and distinctive social games”.
Discussion:
SmoothSpan Blog and Android and Me
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
Is Apple Really Going To Announce A TV Gadget At An Event With A Guitar On The Invitation? — Apple has invited reporters to an event in San Francisco on Sept. 1, with this guitar as the invitation art. — This tells us it's obvious that Apple will announce updates to its music lineup at the event …
Discussion:
iThinkDifferent, The Register, Fortune and DailyTech
RELATED:
Declan McCullagh / CNET News:
Intel CEO: U.S. faces looming tech decline — ASPEN, Colo.—Intel Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini offered a depressing set of observations about the economy and the Obama administration Monday evening, coupled with a dark commentary on the future of the technology industry if nothing changes.
Discussion:
Silicon Alley Insider, TechCrunch, Ezra Klein, The Register, Tom's Hardware Guide, TG Daily, Fudzilla and MacDailyNews
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
Is this Microsoft's new Internet Explorer 9 interface? — Microsoft has delivered four developer previews of Internet Explorer (IE) 9 so far, but has yet to show off the new interface for its next-generation browser. That is expected to happen on September 15, during Microsoft's beta launch event in San Francisco.
Discussion:
Boy Genius Report, Redmond Pie, VentureBeat, TechSpot, ReadWriteWeb, The Register, CrunchGear, Computerworld, Technologizer, Seattle Times, CNET News, Softpedia News, Neowin.net, Erictric, The Microsoft Blog, Ars Technica, LiveSide.net, Techie Buzz, Gizmodo, Web Browsers, Electronista, Engadget, Download Squad, The Next Web and ConceivablyTech
Walter S. Mossberg / Personal Technology:
Cell Towers For the Home Work Best in Worst Sites — If you have lousy cellphone reception in your house, you may have wished you had a cellular tower nearby. Well, now you can buy your own and plant it right inside your home. Verizon (VZ), Sprint (S) and AT&T (T) all have started selling gadgets …
Thanks:rawmeet
David Kravets / Threat Level:
Teachbook Vows Facebook Trademark Suit Fight — Social-networking upstart Teachbook said Wednesday it would challenge a trademark infringement lawsuit brought by Facebook, which is demanding the teacher-oriented site remove “book” from its name. — “It's a David and Goliath situation,” …
Discussion:
MediaPost, Guardian, Gawker, Los Angeles Times, Mashable! and The Social
Joab Jackson / PC World:
Red Hat Offers Its Cloud APIs as Industry Standard — As the industry call for cloud interoperability grows more fervent, open-source enterprise software company Red Hat has submitted its cloud platform, Deltacloud, to the DMTF (Distributed Management Task Force) as a potential standard …
Discussion:
The Register, Datamation, ReadWriteWeb, eWeek and internetnews.com
Matt McGee / Search Engine Land:
Bing's Market Share Up 51% In Past 12 Months — Bing's search engine market share has risen 51% in the U.S. over the past 12 months according to Nielsen stats announced today. — According to Nielsen, Bing's market share in July 2010 was up to 13.6%, a 51% jump from its 9% market share in July 2009 …
Discussion:
Nielsen Wire, Neowin.net and WebProNews
Quora:
Why does the Facebook Places icon so obviously contain a “four” in a “square”? — I've seen many people point this out on Twitter/etc, and all of them have had a (predictably) disparaging tone. Facebook must have been aware of the allusion to Foursquare in their new icon - how do they benefit by this?
Discussion:
TechCrunch
