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An update to Google Social Search — Today we're doing a little bit more to bring you all the goodness of Google, plus the opinions of the people you care about. As always, we want to help you find the most relevant answers among the billions of interconnected pages on the web.
Discussion:
NewsGrange, L.A. Times Tech Blog, John Battelle's Searchblog, Google Operating System, Googling Google Blog, SAI, CNET News, Digits, Fortune, Bits, GigaOM, paidContent, Fast Company, Macworld, Digital Trends, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, Pulse2, Local Media Watch, Adotas, Softpedia News, New York Magazine, MediaFile, MarketingVOX, PC Pro, The Next Web, Webmonkey, Techie Buzz, Lost Remote, Tnooz and Techland
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Google's Search Results Get More Social; Twitter As The New Facebook “Like” — Your friends' activity on Twitter, Flickr and elsewhere — but for now, not Facebook — will soon be a lot more visible in Google's search results, including having an impact on how pages rank.
Discussion:
Mashable!, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, The Atlantic Online, The Huffington Post, Neowin.net, SAI, Logic+Emotion, ReadWriteWeb, Fortune, NetworkEffect and Electronista


Redesigned Bing Bar Toolbar More Like A “Dashboard” — Bing is introducing a totally redesigned version of its toolbar, called the “Bing Bar.” Apparently it has been “rebuilt from the ground up,” says Microsoft's Stefan Weitz. Indeed, it operates more like a kind of “dashboard” …
Discussion:
Bing, The Microsoft Blog, LiveSide.net, TechFlash, SAI, TechCrunch, Mashable! and The Next Web
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Official list of attendees at Obama tech meeting: CEOs of Twitter, Netflix, Oracle, Yahoo, others — Here's the official list of attendees of Thursday evening's meeting of technology industry chiefs with President Obama in San Francisco. It includes many of Silicon Valley's biggest names.
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Apple secures 60% of global touch panel capacity, causing tight supply — In order to achieve its internal goal of shipping 40 million iPad products in 2011, Apple has occupied close to 60% of the global touch panel capacity causing tight supply among Apple's competitors, according to sources from upstream component makers.
Discussion:
Pulse2, Digital Daily, ConceivablyTech, AppleInsider, IntoMobile, Engadget, App Advice, SlashGear, PadGadget, TUAW, Geek.com, RazorianFly, SAI, TechEye, brian s hall, I4U News, thinq_, The Tech Trade, 9 to 5 Mac, MacRumors, The Apple Core Blog, iLounge and The Loop
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Redbox digital service will go toe-to-toe with Netflix — Redbox is gearing up to challenge Netflix head-on, the kiosk DVD rental company confirmed Wednesday. — At a meeting with analysts, Redbox President Mitch Lowe said his company's forthcoming digital option will be subscription-based …
Discussion:
TechFlash, GigaOM, VentureBeat, ReadWriteWeb, Engadget, SAI, Hollywood Reporter, Techland, TDW Geeks, NBC Bay Area, SlashGear, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, Digital Trends, The Digital Home, Electronista, DailyTech and Home Theater Blog

Foreign hackers attack Canadian government — An unprecedented cyberattack on the Canadian government, apparently from China, has given foreign hackers access to highly classified federal information and forced at least two key departments off the internet, CBC News has learned.
Discussion:
Help Net Security, CNET News, Bloomberg, Zero Day Blog, Digits, Computerworld, DailyTech, The Register, Post Tech, p2pnet and Inquirer
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Microsoft: Absolutely NO (GPLv3-or-compat-licensed) Free Software for Windows Phone and Xbox Apps. — This is rather uncool, IMHO, I stumbled upon this forum entry and was quite astonished. It points to the Microsoft Application Provider Agreement that governs the Windows Marketplace …
Discussion:
The Register, Computerworld, thinq_, Hardware 2.0 Blog, Arktronic's blog, ForeverGeek and ThinkMobile


FBI: We're not demanding encryption backdoors — The FBI said today that it's not calling for restrictions on encryption without backdoors for law enforcement. — FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni told a congressional committee that the bureau's push for expanded Internet wiretapping authority …
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Spotify Signs On EMI For US Launch. At Least One More To Go... It's getting closer: Spotify has finalized a U.S. distribution deal with EMI Music, multiple sources tell me. — Both EMI and Spotify declined to comment. — Coupled with last month's Sony deal, Spotify now has the approval …
Discussion:
SAI, Mashable!, The Next Web and Gizmodo

Motorola Executive Defends Tablet Price Tag … Motorola mobility chief Sanjay Jha confirmed that the company's new Xoom tablet will go on sale in the U.S. at $800, a higher price tag than current market leader Apple's iPad. — And in what has been described as the worst kept secret in the tech world …


Sony Exec: We Are Not Abandoning iTunes — Sony has no plans to withdraw Sony Music songs from Apple's iTunes as payback for Apple's decision to block the Sony e-reader app from the App Store. — Sony is launching its own subscription service, Music Unlimited, in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand today.
Discussion:
AppleInsider, Bloomberg, CNET News, MacStories, Techland, Mashable!, TiPb, MediaMemo, Electronista, MacRumors, SlashGear, TUAW, RazorianFly, Apple Bitch, ReadWriteWeb, Softpedia News and paidContent:UK

Confirmed: Apple To Build Biggest Store Yet In Grand Central Terminal [Exclusive] — Apple will be building a massive store in New York's Grand Central Terminal, we have independently confirmed. The store will open in the fall, likely early September — and it will be Apple's largest retail space in the world.
Discussion:
MacRumors, CNET News, VentureBeat, MacStories, RazorianFly and The Next Web


Confessions of an Apple Store Employee — Apple is famous for its secrecy, with a code of silence that runs from top management all the way down to its retail employees. One Apple Store employee decided to throw protocol to the curb and tell us what it's really like working at the vaunted retail outlets.
Discussion:
MacRumors, MacStories and TUAW


Mac Growth Outpaces Market for 19th Straight Quarter — The Mac has been on a growth tear for a few years now, outperforming the broader PC market in most every sector. Indeed, December 2010 marked the 19th consecutive quarter that it did so. Mac shipments grew 23.5 percent for the month …
Discussion:
Ars Technica, MacStories and TUAW


Presenting Our National Broadband Map. It's a Start. — The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) unveiled a nationwide broadband map for the U.S. today, and said that “between five and ten percent of Americans don't have broadband.”
Discussion:
Computerworld, Between the Lines Blog, Datamation, NTIA, DSLreports, BetaNews and @gigastacey
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CHART OF THE DAY: The Death Of The Music Industry — Here is a stunning visualization of the collapse of the music industry from Bain. As you can see, the growth of digital sales is not doing enough to offset the death of the CD. — (Chart via Peter Kafka, who spotted it on Flickr.)
Discussion:
Evolver.fm

IBM Watson's next adventure: Healthcare with Nuance — IBM has said its Watson computer would be applied beyond Jeopardy and now is making good on that promise. IBM and Nuance Communications have launched a research program to commercialize Watson for the healthcare industry.
Discussion:
Ars Technica, eWeek, VentureBeat, PC World, NewEnterprise, CrunchGear and eWeek

Jeopardy! genius Ken Jennings on what it's like to play against a supercomputer. — When I was selected as one of the two human players to be pitted against IBM's “Watson” supercomputer in a special man-vs.-machine Jeopardy! exhibition match, I felt honored, even heroic.
Discussion:
New York Times, PC World, Tradigital, Switched, Geek.com, SAI, Engadget and Faster Forward


Intel says will find new MeeGo partners — (Reuters) - Chipmaker Intel Corp (INTC.O) said it would look for new partners for the MeeGo mobile operating system after partner Nokia chose to focus on Microsoft's Windows Phone platform. — Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini said in a meeting …
Discussion:
SAI, VentureBeat, Fortune, Inquirer, Digital Daily, GMSV and PhoneArena