Top Items:
Wall Street Journal:
Microsoft Near Deal to Buy Skype for Nearly $8 Billion — Microsoft Corp. is close to a deal to buy Internet phone company Skype Technologies SA for more than $7 billion, and a deal could be announced as early as Tuesday, people familiar with the matter said.
Discussion:
DailyFinance.com, Search Engine Land, Screenwerk, TechEye, AppleInsider, DealBook, BoomTown, InfoWorld, The Register, Inquirer, Naked Security, Daily Patricia, The Next Web, GeekWire, Reuters, The Next Web, Mobile Entertainment, The Tech Report, Information Age, CNET News, Light Reading, Fonehome, The Consumerist, WMPoweruser.com, LiveSide.net, IntoMobile, PC Magazine, 9 to 5 Mac, Techie Buzz, Bloomberg, PhoneNews.com, VentureBeat, @felixsalmon, SAI, memeburn, Social Markets, All about Microsoft Blog, iPhone in Canada Blog, GottaBeMobile, @ross, PhoneArena, WinRumors, Neowin.net, thinq_, @percival, @parislemon, TechFlash, Communications …, Tech Trader Daily, Digital Trends, Pulse2, @ifindkarma, Geek.com, Electronista, @qthrul, @rsingel, @jeffjarvis, PE Hub Blog, FierceVoIP, paidContent:UK, This is my next, Seattle Times, TUAW and Appletell
RELATED:
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Why Microsoft is Buying Skype for $8.5 Billion — Updated at 12 midnight: Microsoft has bought Skype for $8.5 billion, in an all cash deal. The deal closed a few hours ago. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the news after we had first reported it yesterday.
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Skype and Kinect could be Microsoft's new killer combo — Microsoft's blockbuster agreement to acquire Skype is all but assured now, with multiple reports citing a purchase price of $8.5 billion, including assumption of debt. The deal is already raising lots of eyebrows …
Discussion:
Fast Company, ReadWriteWeb, GigaOM and msnbc.com, more at Mediagazer », Thanks:johnhcook
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Is Microsoft About To Overpay For Skype? — The deal buzzards are swirling around Skype, and Microsoft may end up with the prize. Om first reported the rumor, which is now getting major play by the WSJ. Microsoft is in final negotiations to buy Skype for $7 billion, according to the WSJ report.
Discussion:
virtualeconomics
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Confirmed: Microsoft Will Announce Acquisition of Skype Tomorrow Morning — The Wall Street Journal reported tonight that Microsoft-in what would be its most aggressive acquisition in the digital space-was zeroing in on buying Skype for $8.5 billion. — Sources told BoomTown tonight …
Discussion:
SAI, Technologizer, Ars Technica, Between the Lines Blog, Engadget, OSNews, HEXUS.channel, I4U News, CrackBerry.com blogs, MacHackPC, DailyTech, CloudAve, ArcticStartup Posts, TiPb, WinBeta, Techland, msnbc.com, SlashGear, Edible Apple, WPCentral.com and Gizmodo
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Google Launching Its Cloud Service Tomorrow, Without Big Music's Approval — You've seen Amazon's cloud music service. Now get ready for Google's music service. — They're going to look pretty similar. — Google is preparing to show off a new music service at tomorrow's I/o conference.
Discussion:
Inquirer, Guardian, The Register, TheStreet.com, New York Times, Bits, Billboard.Biz, Agence France Presse, PC World, paidContent, Gizmodo, Engadget, Music Ally, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Techland, Media Maverick, Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, Gadgetell, Neowin.net, Softpedia News, Pocket-lint, VentureBeat, IntoMobile, Mobile Entertainment, L.A. Times Tech Blog, eWeek, Gizmodo Australia, MacNN, MacHackPC, Android and Me, The Next Web, SAI, I4U News, @pkafka, @danackerman, Pulse2, AppleInsider, Gizmodo Australia, parislemon and msnbc.com, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Without The Labels, Google's Music Locker Service Will Look Like Apple's Ugly Sibling. Again. — Flashback: Moscone Center, San Francisco. Google's Vic Gundotra is pacing the stage, rolling off one new awesome Android feature after another. There's Fro Yo, the new version of Android that does laps (literally) around iOS.
Discussion:
Softpedia News and Gizmodo
Paul Miller / This is my next:
Google Music may be ready for its debut, but is it more of the same old cloud?
Discussion:
ZDNet, Yahoo! News and 9 to 5 Mac
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Apple's Massive New Data Center Set To Host Nuance Tech; Partnership Announcement Due At WWDC — Last Friday, we posted about the negotiations between Apple and voice recognition company Nuance. While these talks have been going on for months, sources told us that it wasn't yet entirely clear …
Discussion:
TiPb, Electricpig.co.uk, PhoneArena, Edible Apple, MacHackPC, CNET News, iPhone in Canada Blog, Electronista, AppleInsider, App Advice, GottaBeMobile, SAI and Pulse2
Chris Dale / YouTube Blog:
Get more into movies on YouTube — Here at YouTube, we can't get enough video. When it comes to movies, we're just as excited: YouTube hosts a great selection of movie trailers and showcases a variety of independent films in our Screening Room; last year we announced the ability to rent movies …
RELATED:
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Google Partners With Sony Pictures, Universal And Warner Brothers For YouTube Movies
Discussion:
SlashGear, TechSpot, GottaBeMobile, Search Engine Land, Electronista, fierceonlinevideo.com … and Broadband TV News
Claire Cain Miller / Bits:
YouTube Expands Video Rental Service
Discussion:
YouTube Blog, Ubergizmo, TechCrunch, Yahoo! News, PC World, Geek.com, TG Daily and Pocket-lint, more at Mediagazer »
David Kravets / Threat Level:
Biggest BitTorrent Downloading Case in U.S. History Targets 23,000 Defendants — At least 23,000 file sharers soon will likely get notified they are being sued for downloading the Expendables in what has become the single largest illegal-BitTorrent-downloading case in U.S. history.
John Markoff / Bits:
The iPad in Your Hand: As Fast as a Supercomputer of Yore — It's common wisdom that the computer you can hold in the palm of your hand today is as powerful as a computer from years ago that filled an entire room. — But now Jack Dongarra, one of the computer scientists who keeps track …
Discussion:
SlashGear, TUAW, App Advice, Xconomy and MacStories
James Somers / The Atlantic Online:
On the Floor Laughing: Traders Are Having a New Kind of Fun — The modern trader is playing the most sophisticated, dynamic, immersive game in the world. Here's how it works — and why your job might be the next to turn into a massively multiplayer experience.
Jamin Spitzer / TechNet Blogs:
Microsoft Announces Windows Azure Toolkits for iOS, Android and Windows Phone — Today, Microsoft announced Windows Azure Toolkits for Devices, consisting of assets for Windows Phone, iOS and a preview of tools for Android. — Using the toolkits, developers can use the cloud to accelerate …
Discussion:
MSDN Blogs, Appletell, FierceDeveloper, CNET News, Softpedia News, MacStories, ZDNet Australia, The Next Web, App Advice, TUAW, The Register and 9 to 5 Mac
Gavin Clarke / The Register:
Microsoft resuscitates 'I'm a PC' ads to fight Apple — PCs have come a long way since the PC — In desperate need for something - anything - to stop the advance of the iPad and Android, Microsoft is trying to convince consumers that the PC is as modern a computing device as any tablet.
Discussion:
Hardware 2.0 Blog, SAI, GeekWire, Digital Daily and Computerworld
Josh Ong / AppleInsider:
Apple releases iOS 4.3 WebKit source code after complaints from developers — After complaints about Apple's delayed compliance with open source licensing requirements for WebKit began gaining traction, Apple released the iOS 4.3 WebKit source code on Monday.
Discussion:
Inquirer, bproffitt, TUAW, IntoMobile and The Next Web
Brian X. Chen / Gadget Lab:
Anonymous IDs on iPhones, iPads Can Reveal Your Identity — Each iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch contains a “unique device identifier” that can potentially be linked to a customer's real-world identity, according to a security researcher. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
Discussion:
MediaPost and Cult of Mac
Zach Epstein / BGR:
Foxconn denies making workers sign no-suicide pact — Foxconn on Monday issued a formal response to reports from last week claiming the Chinese electronics manufacturer makes its employees sign a document promising they will not commit suicide or hold the company liable if they do.
Kim-Mai Cutler / Inside Mobile Apps:
Sony Ericsson's Xperia Showcases Another Deep Facebook Integration — While Facebook has been busy denying the existence of any single “Facebook phone” and instead pointing out that there are many such devices, Sony Ericsson is coming to market with a line of phones this spring that ties …
Discussion:
Electronista and Android
Vangelis Kokkevis / Google Chrome Blog:
Fancier graphics, safer downloads, and more privacy controls — Today's beta channel release includes a number of additions, as well as one subtraction! — First, we've made Chrome's graphics snazzier. We've finished implementing support for hardware-accelerated 3D CSS …
Discussion:
Inquirer, Softpedia News and Google Chrome Releases
James Nixon / thinq_:
Exclusive: AnonOps splinter group speaks out — IP address leak ‘regrettable but necessary’ — A self-styled Anonymous “splinter group” that has seized control of two sites used by the ‘hacktivist’ collective to organise Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks and other operations …
Discussion:
Ars Technica, Softpedia News, thinq_, The Next Web, I4U News and Kotaku
Mike Snider / USA Today:
Cellphones get emergency alerts — Consumers will get emergency alerts for hurricanes, tornadoes and other disasters on their cellphones as part of a new alert network to be announced Tuesday by the Federal Communications Commission. — The Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN) …
Discussion:
New York Times, Bloomberg, Associated Press and Electronista
Damian Carrington / Guardian:
Climate change ‘threatens UK wi-fi connections’, says government report — Study into impact of hotter, stormier weather on UK infrastructure finds threat to wi-fi range and signal strength — • UK infrastructure ‘will struggle to cope with climate change’
Discussion:
Inquirer, Telegraph, Neowin.net, Defra, ITProPortal, textually.org, Technology Liberation Front and Slashdot
Alberto Vildosola / Android and Me:
New Google Goggles app turns your phone into the perfect business card scanner — Poised to be demoed at Google I/O, the Google Goggles Android app got quite a sizable update today. Since its inception, Goggles has helped us read QR codes, find better deals than your local store's …
Discussion:
Softpedia News, SocialTimes.com and GottaBeMobile
Neil Hughes / AppleInsider:
Previous-gen Apple iPad, iPhone 3GS often outsell new Android devices — Older Apple iOS products sold at a discounted price, like the iPhone 3GS and first-generation iPad, are often more popular than newer devices running the Google Android operating system, a new report claims.
Discussion:
Digital Daily, Electronista, eWeek, Pulse2, Redmond Pie, iPhone Download Blog, Fast Company, The Toybox Blog and RazorianFly
Thomas Claburn / InformationWeek:
Google ‘Panda’ Update Kills Content Farming Jobs — Freelancer.com's quarterly jobs report finds less demand for cheap articles and more projects for iOS and Android developers. — While the U.S. economy demonstrated some strength in April with the addition of 244,000 jobs …
Discussion:
@jason
