Top Items:
Yinka Adegoke / Reuters:
Microsoft in talks for new TV service: sources — (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) has held talks with media companies to license TV networks for a new online pay-television subscription service through devices such as its Xbox video game console, two people familiar with the plans told Reuters.
Discussion:
Digital Trends, Engadget, AppleInsider, SAI, Microsoft Watch, Pulse2, Ars Technica, WebProNews, Reuters, Technologizer, Business Wire, Fast Company, VG247, Mashable!, FierceIPTV, The Next Web, Techland, I4U News, VentureBeat, BlogsDNA, DailyTech, eHomeUpgrade, TechFlash, Eurogamer, Gizmodo, The Seattle Times, Joystiq, Reuters, GigaOM, dailywireless.org, MediaMemo, Media Maverick, paidContent, Electronista, The Microsoft Blog, SlashGear and Erictric, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:
John Biggs / TechCrunch:
Microsoft TV: A Bold Move That May Blow Up Broadcast — From what we can tell from a brief Reuters report, Microsoft is in talks with HBO and Showtime to broadcast and sell a la carte video through the XBox. Microsoft already offers ESPN through XBox Live.
Discussion:
broadstuff and Digital Trends
Georgina Prodhan / Reuters:
Few smartphone owners are loyal to their brand: survey — (Reuters) - The booming smartphone market shows no sign of slowing but manufacturers will have to fight hard to keep their customers as smartphone owners show little loyalty to their current brands, a GfK survey shows.
Discussion:
BGR, GigaOM, Electronista, Pulse2, Examiner, The Toybox Blog, TUAW, IntoMobile, Android Community, PhoneArena, pocketnow.com, I4U News, Internet2Go, displayblog, Fortune, TechSpot, Inquirer, Daring Fireball, AppleInsider, MobileBurn.com, The Next Web and Phones Review
Larry Downes / Technology Liberation Front:
Domain Name Seizures and the “Limits” of Civil Forfeiture — I was quoted this morning in Sara Jerome's story for The Hill on the weekend seizures of domain names the government believes are selling black market, counterfeit, or copyright infringing goods. — The seizures take place …
Discussion:
DomainIncite.com, Techdirt and Post Tech
RELATED:
Sara Jerome / Hillicon Valley:
Government's Internet crackdown was timed to thwart ‘Cyber Monday’ crimes
Discussion:
techPresident
Courtney Comstock / SAI:
Morgan Stanley's Legendary Tech Analyst Mary Meeker Moving To Kleiner Perkins — Kleiner Perkins just poached Mary Meeker, Morgan Stanley's star tech analyst, says CNBC, citing WSJ. — Meeker has been a huge name since the .com days, and every year comes out with a hugely influential report/overview of the industry.
RELATED:
Bloomberg:
Apple Lawyers Up for Patent Showdowns With Nokia, Motorola, HTC — Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) — Steve Jobs made Apple Inc.'s iPhone one of the best-selling smartphones on the market with its touch screen, fast Web connection and access to more than 300,000 downloadable applications. Now he's adding lawyers to the mix.
Discussion:
PC World, eWeek, Macworld, GigaOM, KPCB, AppleInsider, LAPTOP Magazine, TechEye, Pulse2, MacNN, IntoMobile, SiliconANGLE, Edible Apple, DailyTech, PC Magazine, msnbc.com, FierceWireless, MacRumors, PhoneArena and iLounge
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
Kinect is Selling 2X as Fast as the iPad — The iPad was crowned the fastest-adopted consumer electronic device ever last month, stealing the title from the once-coveted DVD player. Records are made to be broken, though, and the Microsoft Kinect has already come out of the gate twice as fast.
RELATED:
Tiernan Ray / Tech Trader Daily:
Microsoft: Over 2.5M Kinect Sold
Discussion:
BetaNews, Ars Technica, The Seattle Times, Microsoft, VentureBeat, Insights on the tech industry, BGR, The Next Web, LiveSide.net, WinRumors and Electronista
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Zuckerberg Interviews Former President George W. Bush At Facebook HQ [Video] — Looks like President Obama isn't the only one resorting to Facebook as a way to reach the American people. In a first for a U.S. President past or present, former President George W. Bush will hold a discussion …
Discussion:
Forbes, Between the Lines Blog, Gov 2.0 and The Next Web
Karol Stosiek / Gmail Blog:
Optional attendees in Google Calendar — Time is one of our most precious resources. Despite their necessity, meetings tend to vary in importance for different attendees. John might be really interested in his team's weekly meeting, whereas Jane, who is working on a unrelated project, may want to skip it.
Discussion:
GottaBeMobile, Erictric, The Next Web, Examiner and Softpedia News
Dharmesh Mehta / The Windows Blog:
Over 500,000 Windows Live Spaces blogs migrated to WordPress.com — We're very excited to be working with WordPress.com to let customers connect the fantastic blogging capabilities of WordPress.com with the leading communications and sharing services of Windows Live.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Technologizer, LiveSide.net, WordPress.com News, Pulse2 and The Blog Herald
Tiernan Ray / Tech Trader Daily:
Level 3 Denounces Comcast ‘Toll’ On Internet Traffic — An interesting wrinkle today in the debate over net neutrality and broadband content accesss: Level 3 Communications (LVLT), which operates thousands of miles of fiber optic networks throughout North America, said this afternoon …
Discussion:
Comcast Voices, Techdirt, Media Decoder, GigaOM, Level 3 Communications, DSLreports, paidContent, SAI, Epicenter, Boing Boing, Electronista and Reuters, more at Mediagazer »
Nathan Olivarez-Giles / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Playboy Magazine releases every issue from 1953 to 2010 on a hard drive — Playboy Magazine is on magazine racks, on the Web, on iPad, and now it's also on a hard drive. — The iconic publication, which has struggled a bit as the world goes increasingly digital, is offering every issue of Playboy …
Discussion:
TeleRead
Zach Epstein / BGR:
WP7 developers complain of missing payments, broken reporting tools — Microsoft is making good progress in its efforts to woo developers to the new Windows Phone 7 platform, but we hope the company is equally devoted to keeping devs on board once they arrive.
Discussion:
SlashGear, AppleInsider, Know Your Cell, IntoMobile, WPCentral.com, Electronista and Ubergizmo
Courtney Boyd Myers / The Next Web:
Sneak Peak: Richard Branson's iPad Magazine launches tomorrow — Billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson's iPad magazine launches tomorrow. Project's blog looks pretty cool at first glance, covering topics like design, entertainment, technology and entrepreneurs.
Discussion:
Gizmodo, TUAW, Mashable!, MacStories, New York Observer, 9 to 5 Mac, BlogsDNA and Electronista
Faith Merino / VatorNews:
Google buys Groupon for $2.5 billion? — While neither company has confirmed the story, the acquisition follows a week of buyout rumors — Google has just purchased Groupon for $2.5 billion, according to an unnamed insider who spoke with VatorNews. Neither Google nor Groupon …
Discussion:
L.A. Times Tech Blog, Faster Forward, WebProNews, John Battelle's Searchblog, Epicenter, SAI, CenterNetworks, VentureBeat, Telegraph, Mashable!, USA Today, Examiner, NBC Bay Area, Silicon Valley Watcher, Tom Foremski, SiliconANGLE, Digital Trends, PC World, CNET News, SocialTimes.com, Network World, San Francisco Chronicle, alarm:clock, Pulse2, Softpedia News, TechCrunch, Gawker, Neowin.net, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, Tech Trader Daily and TechEye, Thanks:jasonlbaptiste
RELATED:
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
If Google Buys Groupon, It'll Be a Windfall for Investors, Bankers...and Regulators?
Discussion:
SiliconANGLE and TechCrunch
Avery Morrow / Avery's Diaspora News:
I'm Dropping Diaspora, This Site Is Now Closed — This blog was dormant for a while because I didn't want to give Diaspora bad press. There were security and licensing issues; the team claims that they have been fixed. There were issues with the very model of the code; they weren't game-enders.
Ernesto / TorrentFreak:
Anti-Piracy Lawyers Sued For Fraud, Abuse and Extortion — The US Copyright Group thought it had found the ideal scheme to turn piracy into profit when it started filing lawsuits against tens of thousands of BitTorrent users this year. But the defendants in the Far Cry lawsuits have now become …
Discussion:
GigaOM, Ars Technica, Techdirt, TechSpot, Forbes and THINQ.co.uk
Rand Fishkin / Rand's Blog:
The Algorithm + the Crowd are Not Enough — In the last decade, the online world has been ruled by two, twin forces: The Crowd and The Algorithm. The collective “users” of the Internet (The Crowd) create, click, and rate, while mathematical equations add scalability and findability …
Discussion:
Stage Two
Andy Greenberg / The Firewall:
WikiLeaks' Julian Assange Wants To Spill Your Corporate Secrets — In a rare interview, Assange tells Forbes that the release of Pentagon and State Department documents are just the beginning. His next target: big business. — Early next year, Julian Assange says, a major American bank will suddenly find itself turned inside out.
Tim Hirsch / BBC:
Rio favela tweets create overnight celebrity — A 17-year-old Twitter user gave Brazilians a rare insider's view of events in his favela — For the past few days, Brazilians watched transfixed as scenes more reminiscent of Iraq or Afghanistan than of their own “marvellous city”, Rio de Janeiro, unfolded live on TV screens.
Discussion:
GigaOM
Harry McCracken / Technologizer:
New Google Earth: Better Street View and More — Google is announcing version 6 of Google Earth, its geographical-exploration software for Windows, OS X, and Linux today. The update follows version 5.2, which was released last June, and while the revisions aren't enormous, they look neat.
Reuters:
News Corp weighs options for MySpace — (Reuters) - News Corporation (NWSA.O) Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey said his company is open to a sale of the beleaguered site MySpace although they are pleased with its new direction as a social entertainment destination.
Discussion:
Tech Trader Daily, MediaFile and paidContent
Ben Parr / Mashable!:
Google's Secret Social Initiative Delayed Until Spring 2011 [EXCLUSIVE] — Google's big social initiative, once thought to be a full-fledged social network named “Google Me,” is experiencing delays that have pushed back the launch until spring 2011. — Mashable has learned …
Eli Hodapp / Touch Arcade:
Apple Updates Game Center ToS to Include Use of Real Names — If you're a gamer who values anonymity, it might be time to abandon Game Center. Moments ago Apple pushed out an update to the Game Center terms of service that includes the following notice:
Discussion:
The Next Web
