Top Items:
Josh Lowensohn / CNET News:
Facebook and Google+'s video chat tools compared — Video chat is the big thing again, at least according to Facebook, which let loose a new video chat service yesterday. Powered by Skype, the new feature lets Facebook users start a video calls with one another while continuing to use the site.
Discussion:
GigaOM, SocialTimes.com, The Digital Home and Webware.com
RELATED:
Philip Su / Facebook Blog:
Call Your Friends Right From Facebook — Over the last year, the messages team has been working to make it easier to have one on one conversations with your friends. In November, we launched the new messages, which brings together your chats, texts, emails and messages all in one place.
Discussion:
Webware.com, The Big Blog, PC World, AllThingsD, USA Today, CNET News, The Business Insider, Engadget, Interactive Marketing, MediaPost, Ars Technica, SplatF, Search Engine Land, Friending Facebook Blog, AppleInsider, Mashable!, dailywireless.org, Telegraph, Daily Patricia, The Business Insider, ITworld.com, TechCrunch, WinBeta, Wall Street Journal, Off On A Tangent, ClickZ, Mobilized, App Advice, GeekWire, LiveSide.net, msnbc.com, VR-Zone, 9to5Google, The Digital Home, Between the Lines Blog, WinRumors, Friending Facebook Blog, @thepeterha, @dancosta, @maggieshiels, @rhodri, @maggieshiels, @larrymagid, ZDNet, Search Engine Land, The Next Web, Techland and mocoNews
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Facebook Video Chat v. Google Hangouts: It's No Contest — One of the questions I had when I broke the news last week about the Facebook/Skype partnership: Would group video chat be part of the product, and if so would it be free? — The answer is no, there's no group chat.
Discussion:
Between the Lines Blog, Inquirer, Computerworld, GottaBeMobile, 9to5Mac, Mashable!, TechCrunch, ReadWriteWeb, MediaFile, PC Magazine, lalawag and IntoMobile
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Apple prepping major iPhone revamp for 2012 with “new way of charging the phone” — HP's Touchstone wireless charging technology as shown with the Pre — The Wall Street Journal follows up on their earlier report about the iPhone 5, once again calling for a thinner and lighter device …
Discussion:
GigaOM, paidContent, Guardian, The Business Insider, Gizmodo, Fonehome, TUAW, Softpedia News and The Next Web
RELATED:
Tiernan Ray / Tech Trader Daily:
Sprint iPhone Deal Appears Likely, Says Citadel — Citadel Securities analyst Shing Yin this morning writes that it is increasingly likely that there will be an iPhone from Apple (AAPL) for Sprint-Nextel (S), especially considering that with the inauguration of Verizon Communications (VZ) …
Discussion:
SocialTimes.com, Sprintfeed, Neowin.net, PhoneArena, TiPb, BGR, iPhone Download Blog, PhoneDog.com, ITProPortal, Mac Post, VentureBeat, The Tech Trade, Redmond Pie, The Toybox Blog, MacRumors, 9to5Mac and CNET News
Dan Levine / Reuters:
Judge rejects Apple bid for injunction against Amazon — (Reuters) - A U.S. judge denied Apple Inc's attempt to quickly stop online retailer Amazon.com Inc from using the “App Store” name, according to a court document. — Apple, the maker of best-selling iPhones and iPad tablets …
Discussion:
AllThingsD, Engadget, CNET News, Computerworld, App Advice, Gizmodo, TUAW, Android Phone Fans, Inquirer, MacRumors, SlashGear, AppleInsider, Android Community, The Next Web, Neowin.net, MacStories, MobileBurn.com, iLounge, everythingiCafe and MacNN
Tom Anderson / Google+:
Mark Zuckerberg's first public response to Google+ - — Today at the Facebook news conference, +Ben Parr had the stones to ask Mark what he thought of Google+. (He was polite about it. I approve.) Zuckerberg responded by saying that lots of companies are going to build things like video chat …
Discussion:
TechCrunch
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Ben Parr / Mashable!:
Zuckerberg on Google+: It's a Validation of Facebook's Vision
Discussion:
The Business Insider, BitShare, Beth's Blog, Redmond Pie and AllThingsD
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Remember When Twitter Was A Joke? No One Is Laughing Anymore. — I recall a time a few years ago when Twitter was scoffed at. It was the blogosphere's punching-bag. It was the stupid little service that no one in their right mind would ever use. It was for people who wanted to share …
Discussion:
9to5Mac
RELATED:
Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
So was the Twitter Town Hall better than a regular one?
Discussion:
AllTwitter, AllThingsD, The Atlantic Online, Mass Relevance, The Caucus and Media Decoder
Dan Taylor / The Next Web:
Airbnb takes on Europe. Will it revolutionize the industry, again? — Three years ago, Airbnb was a tiny startup that no investor wanted to touch. Whether not returning emails, or providing a flat out, “No” the San Francisco based firm had a “snowball's chance in hell” of getting out of the gate.
Discussion:
The Business Insider and PSFK
Chadwick Matlin / Fortune:
What Apple's like in bed — A new sleep-tracking app for the iPhone from Lark offers a peek into life inside a retailing partnership with Apple. — FORTUNE — Julia Hu got into bed with Apple (AAPL) so she could sell gadgets that get people out of bed. Hu is the CEO of Lark …
Discussion:
TUAW
Apple:
Apple's App Store Downloads Top 15 Billion — Apple® today announced that over 15 billion apps have been downloaded from its revolutionary App Store™ by the more than 200 million iPhone®, iPad® and iPod touch® users worldwide. The App Store offers more than 425,000 apps …
Discussion:
AllThingsD, TechCrunch, The Business Insider and Engadget
Bloomberg:
Nintendo Pares Gains After Company Rules Out Expansion Into IPhone Games — Nintendo Co. pared gains in Osaka trading after the company ruled out expanding into smartphone games, damping speculation triggered by affiliate Pokemon Co.'s development of software for Apple Inc. (AAPL) …
Discussion:
CNET News, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, BGR, Mercury News, SlashGear, Android Community, Games.com The Blog …, VG247, Fudzilla, AllThingsD and GoNintendo
Joe Wilcox / BetaNews:
Patent trolling with Microsoft — Sometimes I really can't figure out Microsoft. Does the left-side corporate brain not connect to the right? — Take this new business in Microsoft patents supposedly applied to Android. HTC already coughs up five bucks per handset in licensing fees …
Discussion:
Network World and ZDNet
Nik Cubrilovic Blog:
BlockPlus: A browser extension to block Google+ notifications — Google recently launched their much-publicized social network Google+. I signed up early on, but found that having the new status bar across the top of all the other Google applications was becoming a distraction.
Greg Finn / Search Engine Land:
Google: Hold Off On Creating Business Profiles On Google+, “Non-User Profiles” Will Be Shut Down — Tonight Christian Oestlien, the Ads Leads for the Google+ Project, posted a message along with a brief YouTube video about future Google+ plans on his Google+ account.
Discussion:
VentureBeat, The Business Insider, CloudAve, Christian Oestlien, The Next Web, Jon Burg's Future Visions and Digital Trends
Chris Van Der Westhuizen / The Official Google Blog:
Google Maps 5.7 for Android introduces Transit Navigation (Beta) and more — (Cross-posted on the Google Lat Long Blog and the Google Mobile Blog) — Today we're releasing Google Maps 5.7 for Android. From Bangkok to Baltimore, we've added Transit Navigation (Beta), updated access to directions …
Discussion:
ZDNet, Droid Life, IntoMobile, Softpedia News, Google Operating System, Google Maps Mania, SocialTimes.com, Pocket-lint, Telematics News, GottaBeMobile, ITProPortal, Geek.com, mobiputing, Between the Lines Blog, GigaOM, SlashGear, Search Engine Journal, Android and Me, All Points Blog, MobileBurn.com and Techie Buzz
Zach Epstein / BGR:
Apple to launch ‘iPad 2 Plus’ with better display this year, analyst claims — Apple is gearing up to launch an updated version of its popular iPad 2 tablet with a high-resolution display later this year, according to FBR Capital Markets analyst Craig Berger.
Discussion:
International Business Times, MacRumors, TiPb, @lessien, Tablets Planet, PC Magazine and CrunchGear
Todd Haselton / BGR:
Amazon updates Cloud Drive and Cloud Player with unlimited music space, free storage for Amazon MP3s, iPad web player — Moments ago Amazon announced that it has made a number of enhancements to its Amazon Cloud Drive and Cloud Player services. First — for a limited time — anyone who signs up will get unlimited space for music.
Discussion:
Fast Company, Amazon.com, AppleInsider, Mashable!, CNET News, TechCrunch, AllThingsD, Engadget, Softpedia News, Mobile Entertainment, O'Grady's PowerPage, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Shelly Palmer Digital Living, 9to5Mac, SocialTimes.com, FT Tech Hub, eHomeUpgrade, GeekWire, SlashGear, The Next Web, TiPb and TechCrunch
Bianca Bosker / The Huffington Post:
Google Exec Marissa Mayer Explains Why There Aren't More Girl Geeks … Google , Marissa Mayer , Marissa Mayer Google , Marissa Mayer Women In Tech , Women In Tech , Marissa Mayer Gmail , Marissa Mayer Google News , Technology News — In 1999, Marissa Mayer, then a recent Stanford University graduate …
Discussion:
Search Engine Journal
Sebastian Anthony / ExtremeTech:
IBM Watson to replace salespeople and cold-calling telemarketers? — After conquering Jeopardy! and making inroads into the diagnosis of medical maladies, IBM's next application for Watson is the wholescale revitalization of two very lucrative markets: sales and customer support.
Discussion:
CNET News, Slashdot and Neowin.net
Chris Ziegler / This is my next:
Exclusive: redesigned Motorola Droid Bionic looks confirmed in Best Buy leak — “With the ferocious force of Verizon 4G LTE, the Droid Bionic is an all-powerful, unstoppable machine.” Pretty graphic language, isn't it? That's the opening line in this leaked Best Buy Mobile promo material …
NielsenWire:
Play Before Work: Games Most Popular Mobile App Category in US — Games continue to be the most popular app category, and according to Nielsen research, 93 percent of app downloaders — those who have downloaded an app within the past 30 days - are willing to pay for the games they play.
