Top Items:
Susan Wojcicki / The Official Google Blog:
Making ads more interesting — At Google, we believe that ads are a valuable source of information — one that can connect people to the advertisers offering products, services and ideas that interest them. By making ads more relevant, and improving the connection between advertisers and our users …
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb, Search Engine Watch, Tech Beat, Epicenter, TechCrunch, Google Operating System, CNET News, paidContent.org, PC World, Profy, Google Blogoscoped, InformationWeek, AdExchanger.com, Softpedia News, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, TECH.BLORGE.com, Nieman Journalism Lab, AppScout, Network World and Search Engine Journal
RELATED:
Miguel Helft / New York Times:
Google to Offer Ads Based on Interests — SAN FRANCISCO — Google will begin showing ads on Wednesday to people based on their previous online activities in a form of advertising known as behavioral targeting, which has been embraced by most of its competitors but has drawn criticism from privacy advocates and some members of Congress.
Discussion:
Gadgetell
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Land:
Google Gets Into Behavioral Targeting, Launches “Interest-Based Advertising” Beta — Google today is launching a form of behavioral targeting advertising named Interest-Based Advertising. Interest-Based Advertising allows advertisers to deliver ads based on hundreds of interest categories and previous interactions with those users.
Aitan Weinberg / Inside AdSense:
Driving monetization with ads that reach the right audience — Advertisers spend more money on campaigns that reach the right audience; helping them do that should drive more revenue to your websites. This week we're announcing plans to provide interest-based advertising across AdSense publisher sites to help achieve that goal.
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:Google Starts Targeting, Too. What Will Congress Do?
Discussion:
Blogspotting
Christine Monaghan / Apple:
Apple Announces Incredible New iPod shuffle — World's Smallest Music Player Now Talks to You — Apple® today introduced the all-new iPod® shuffle, the world's smallest music player at nearly half of the size of the previous model, and the first music player that talks to you.
RELATED:
Crave: The gadget blog:
Apple shrinks its iPod Shuffle — Updated at 6:22 a.m. PDT with more details and new images, and 8:45 a.m. PDT with comments from Apple. — Apparently the tiny iPod Shuffle wasn't tiny enough. On Wednesday, Apple unveiled a 4GB Shuffle that's half the size of its predecessor.
Thomas Ricker / Engadget:
Apple's redesigned iPod shuffle hits 4GB, talks to you (updated with video!) — Bam, another Apple rumor vindicated. Apple just doubled the capacity of its iPod shuffle to 4GB while ditching the control wheel entirely. The new design keeps the clip and adds VoiceOver …
Ina Fried / Beyond Binary:
Microsoft details app store plans — Microsoft on Wednesday is offering up more details on its would-be rival to the iPhone's app store. — The software maker said it will charge developers $99 a year, plus $99 for each application they submit to get an app into the Windows Marketplace store.
Discussion:
Between the Lines, Download Squad, Electronista, Gizmodo, Engadget, TUAW, VentureBeat and AppleInsider
RELATED:
Microsoft:
Microsoft Unveils Its Developer Strategy for the Next Generation of Windows® Phones — Familiar tools, large worldwide customer base and transparent policies allow mobile developers to innovate and generate new revenue opportunities with Windows Mobile 6.5 and Windows Marketplace for Mobile.
Discussion:
PC World, WMPoweruser.com, IntoMobile, All about Microsoft, Al Sacco's blog, pocketnow.com, SlashGear, Phone Scoop, WMExperts, mocoNews, BetaNews, Neowin.net and WinBeta
Nokia:
Nokia latest releases set to hit the top of the charts — Espoo, Finland - Nokia today announced the arrival of new Nokia Music Stores, more Comes With Music launches and three new music devices. The Nokia 5730 XpressMusic, Nokia 5330 XpressMusic and Nokia 5030 bring people's music to life …
Discussion:
Smartphones and Cell Phones, SlashGear, Engadget, Ubergizmo, Crave, Nokia Experts, Phone Scoop, Boy Genius Report, Mobilewhack.com, CrunchGear and Music Ally
RELATED:
Kelvin Soh / Reuters:
Apple orders 10-inch touchscreens for third quarter: source — TAIPEI (Reuters) - Apple will take third-quarter delivery of newly developed 10-inch touchscreens from Taiwan, a source said on Wednesday, amid talk the U.S. firm is developing a touchscreen PC.
Heather Dougherty / Hitwise Intelligence:
Visits to Gmail surpass YouTube — For the past two weeks, the market share of US Internet visits to Gmail has been higher than visits to YouTube. Previously, YouTube consistently ranked 10th among all websites by market share of visits until the week ending Jan. 10, 2009, where Gmail moved up one rank to reach #10.
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb, Magnify Networks Announcements, Search Engine Land, AppScout, SiliconBeat, E-Commerce Times, Web Analytics World and SitePoint, Thanks:atul
InfoWorld:
How Vista mistakes guided changes to Windows development — About a year ago on its Redmond, Washington, campus, a member of Microsoft's Windows Vista team met with a group of journalists to face some tough questions about the OS. — At the time, it was clear Vista was not going to be the …
Discussion:
Hardware 2.0
Marguerite Reardon / CNET News:
Nokia fights to hold on to smartphone dominance — Nokia is still by far the No. 1 mobile handset maker in the world, but as competition heats up in the smartphone market, Nokia has become increasingly vulnerable to smaller players such as Apple and Research In Motion, which are increasing market share.
Rik Myslewski / The Register:
Apple ogles location-based iPhone ads — Patent app knows where you are — Free whitepaper - An improved architecture for high-efficiency, high-density data centers — Apple has filed for a patent on a location-based interface that can display ads and facilitate purchases over your iPhone or iPod touch while you're out shopping.
Discussion:
GPS Obsessed
Brad Stone / Bits:
MySpace Upgrades Its Music Offerings — It's been six months since MySpace and the four major music labels unveiled their joint venture, MySpace Music, touting it as the premier Web destination to stream nearly every major-label song, free, at any time. — In that span, MySpace Music …
Discussion:
Music Think Tank …
DealBook:
Google Reprices 7.6 Million Employee Stock Options — Google has repriced 7.64 million stock options that had become less likely to enrich its employees given the sharp decline in the Internet search leader's market value during the past 16 months, The Associated Press said.
MG Siegler / VentureBeat:
Share on Ovi: Qik strengthens its ties with Nokia — It's easy to write off Nokia in the United States, because no one seems to have a mobile device made by the company. But it is still the largest handset maker in the world, and as such, it's a company that mobile startups want to be close to.
Olga Kharif / Business Week:
How Low Can PC Prices Go? — As consumers cut back and the popularity of low-cost netbooks grows, the computer industry could see a sharp drop in prices — When Jim Wahl bought his first computer back in 1995, it cost $2,500. In December, when the Dallas acquisitions manager bought a Hewlett-Packard …
Discussion:
Local Mobile Search
Alan Travis / Guardian:
Web inventor warns against third-party internet snooping — Sir Tim Berners-Lee speaks out against collection of users' data by commercial companies — Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the world wide web, today warned MPs and peers that they should not allow third parties …
Discussion:
The Register
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Zappos and Magnify Join Forces to Combine The Thrill Of Retail Therapy With Web 2.0 Video — Online footware and apparel retailer Zappos.com is partnering with video hosting and sharing platform Magnify.net to launch a “BoxBreak” campaign to engage the retailer's customers into building a video community around Zappos.
Discussion:
bub.blicio.us
Glenn Fleishman / Ars Technica:
Ready for take-off: the state of in-flight internet — Internet access at 35,000 feet is no longer next year's technology. Several dozen planes over the US have broadband over WiFi backed by satellite or ground cell stations, and hundreds more are coming this year.
Jefferson Graham / USA Today:
Online photo services can give shutterbug lucrative outlet — Brown University medical student Nick Monu supplements his income by selling photographs online. — He uses the “stock” photography service iStockphoto.com, offering generic photos of people and places that can be used in brochures, magazines, websites and billboards.
Thanks:brickandclick
Ghassan Haddad / Facebook Blog:
Facebook Now Available in Arabic and Hebrew — . Ù' . — . . Ù' . — Ù' Ù' . . . . . "" “Ù'” "" . — We're making Facebook available in Arabic and Hebrew—two languages where writing begins at the right-hand side of the page and concludes on the left.
Google LatLong:
The maps you made just got directions — Over the past few months, users have created rich and comprehensive maps in 164 countries around the world. Today with our newly launched feature on Google Map Maker, you can get driving directions in regions where this was not previously available.
Charles Cooper / Coop's Corner:
Q&A: California lawmaker wants to blur Google Earth — OK, it's California. So we are quite used to the rest of the country rolling their eyes in knowing exasperation at our fads. But often, they turn out to be harbingers of national trends. And so the question: Will AB-255 number among them as well?
