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:
BoomTown, Digital Trends, GeekWire, Bloomberg, PC Magazine, TechFlash, PC World, WinRumors, Reuters, DealBook, Tech Trader Daily, LiveSide.net, The Next Web, CNET News, iPhone in Canada Blog, 9 to 5 Mac, VentureBeat, Social Markets, Seattle Times, @ifindkarma, Communications …, This is my next, mocoNews, All about Microsoft Blog, Techie Buzz, PhoneNews.com, @felixsalmon, SAI, GottaBeMobile, @ross, PhoneArena, Neowin.net, @percival, @parislemon, @qthrul, @rsingel, @jeffjarvis, WMPoweruser.com, Electronista, Daring Fireball, PE Hub Blog, FierceVoIP, TUAW, Network World and Appletell
RELATED:
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:
Technologizer, Between the Lines Blog, Ars Technica, DailyTech, Engadget, WinBeta, CloudAve, Edible Apple, I4U News, CrackBerry.com blogs, MacHackPC, TiPb, Techland and WPCentral.com
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Why Microsoft is Buying Skype for $8 Billion — Microsoft is close to finalizing a deal to buy Skype for between $7 billion to $8 billion. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the news after we had first reported it yesterday. The announcement is likely to come out later today or tomorrow morning, according to several reports.
Discussion:
virtualeconomics, Thanks:hnshah
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:
SAI
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:
Engadget, New York Times, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Bits, eWeek, AppleInsider, Media Maverick, mocoNews, Gizmodo Australia, VentureBeat, L.A. Times Tech Blog, MacHackPC, I4U News, MacNN, Android and Me, The Next Web, SAI, @pkafka, @danackerman, Pulse2, Gizmodo Australia, parislemon, msnbc.com and Gizmodo, 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.
Paul Miller / This is my next:
Google Music may be ready for its debut, but is it more of the same old cloud?
Discussion:
Digital Trends, GigaOM 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, Electronista, GottaBeMobile, PhoneArena, Edible Apple, App Advice, CNET News, iPhone in Canada Blog, RazorianFly, everythingiCafe, SAI, MacStories, Pulse2, TheStreet.com, Between the Lines Blog, Gizmodo, Apple Bitch, TUAW, MacRumors and DealBook
RELATED:
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.
Discussion:
TechSpot and The Register
Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Google Partners With Sony Pictures, Universal And Warner Brothers For YouTube Movies — Google confirmed the existence of its YouTube Movies service earlier today and has just released more details on which studios and movies will provide the 3,000 titles in its repertoire.
RELATED:
Claire Cain Miller / Bits:
YouTube Expands Video Rental Service
Discussion:
Ubergizmo, Engadget, YouTube Blog, TechCrunch, Digits, TG Daily, Yahoo! News, paidContent, PC World, ReadWriteWeb, Gizmodo Australia and paidContent, more at Mediagazer »
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:
Gizmodo, App Advice, MacStories, Xconomy and TUAW
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 …
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:
eWeek, Electronista, iPhone Download Blog, Pulse2, Fast Company, The Toybox Blog, Redmond Pie, RazorianFly, GottaBeMobile, PhoneArena, TUAW and BGR
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 and Digital Journal
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:
Search Engine Land, The Download Blog and PC Magazine
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:
bproffitt, The Next Web, TUAW and iPodNN
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:
GeekWire, Computerworld, Digital Daily and All about Microsoft Blog
Donald Tanguay / The Official Google Blog:
Sort by subject in Google Images — When you're searching for images, sometimes it can be hard to come up with exactly the right words to describe what you have in mind. For example, when you think of London, you might picture the iconic clock tower or the big Ferris wheel.
Discussion:
Beyond Search, Liliputing, Pulse2, Network World, ReadWriteWeb, TechCrunch, The Next Web, Pocket-lint and thinq_
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, Associated Press, Bloomberg and Electronista
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
LevelUp Now Lets You Swipe Your AmEx Card To Redeem Deals, No Print-Outs Required — Back in March location-based game SCVNGR launched a spinoff venture called LevelUp — a direct competitor to Groupon, Living Social, and other daily deal sites. LevelUp's key twist is that it has a heavy focus …
Discussion:
Xconomy, Social Markets, NetworkEffect, VentureBeat, Mashable! and IntoMobile
Kevin Krause / Android Phone Fans:
Countdown to Google I/O: What Can We Expect? — Google I/O is set to kick off in just about 24 hours. Don't believe me? Check out the official countdown clock on the I/O site. But what can we expect? A new Android version to be revealed? Some new info on Google TV?
Discussion:
The Official Google Blog, Mobilized, ZDNet Australia, Engadget, @jason and CNET News
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:
thinq_, Ars Technica, I4U News, The Next Web, The Firewall, www.thehostingnews.com and ITProPortal
Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
Can Flattr Plus Twitter Make Micropayments a Reality? — Flattr, the micropayment startup founded by Peter Sunde — one of the co-founders of the notorious Swedish file-sharing site The Pirate Bay — said Monday it's preparing to launch a new feature that will combine its payment system with Twitter …
Discussion:
Flattr Blog
Tony Romm / The Politico:
Al Franken: Smart phone and app privacy no joke — Sen. Al Franken is planning to take a hard look Tuesday at the way iPhones, Androids and BlackBerrys — and the apps that run on them — collect and use personal information about their owners, including their locations.
Joab Jackson / PC World:
Google Launches Discovery Service for Its APIs — Developers wishing to embed into their own applications some of the Web services that Google offers should take a look at a new directory service the company has launched. — The Google APIs Discovery Service, which debuted Monday …
Discussion:
Google Code Blog
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 …
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft Blog:
Microsoft slates ‘Mango’ VIP unveiling for May 24 in New York — Microsoft officials have demonstrated the upcoming “Mango” Windows Phone update a number of times in recent months. But the official VIP unveiling for press and analysts is May 24 in New York.
Discussion:
LiveSide.net, MobileCrunch, BetaNews, WPCentral.com, MobileTechWorld, WinRumors, Softpedia News and Ubergizmo
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.
