Top Items:
The Official Google Blog:
Teaching computers to read: Google acquires reCAPTCHA — The image above is a CAPTCHA — you can read it, but computers have a harder time interpreting the letters. We tried to make it hard for computers to recognize because we wanted to give humans the scoop first, but we're happy to announce …
Discussion:
NEWS.com.au, The Microsoft Blog, Ars Technica, Financial Times, Mashable!, Download Squad, The Register, Search Engine Land, TechCrunch, ReadWriteWeb, Dealscape, Google Watch, InformationWeek, Digital Daily, Pulse2, bub.blicio.us, Zero Day, ClipperHouse, TidBITS, ChannelWeb, Techgeist, Between the Lines, Bits, Tech Central, Wired Campus, Google Blogoscoped, The Next Web Blog, Tech Trader Daily, Bronte Media, eWeek, WebProNews, The Web Life, TeleRead, Silicon Alley Insider, Search Engine Watch, CenterNetworks, paidContent, Pocket-lint.com, VatorNews, silicontap.com and Seeking Alpha
RELATED:
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Twitter Closing New Venture Round At $1 Billion Valuation — Fast growing startup Twitter will soon be joining a select group of startups with private venture round valuations of $1 billion, we've heard from multiple sources. CEO Evan Williams disclosed the round to employees at a recent all hands meeting.
Brad Stone / New York Times:
Skype Founders File Copyright Suit Against eBay — SAN FRANCISCO — The founders of Skype are escalating their legal battle with eBay. — Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, who became billionaires after selling Skype to eBay in 2005, have filed a copyright lawsuit against Skype in United States district court in Northern California.
Discussion:
Mashable!, GigaOM, CNET News, Techgeist, DailyFinance, Times of London and GigaLaw.com Daily News
RELATED:
Electronista:
BlackBerry Tour facing 50% return rate? — The BlackBerry Tour is suffering from a widespread defect that could seriously impact Research in Motion's bottom line, an analyst cautioned on Wednesday. The trackball on the smartphone is reported as clogging so quickly that it requires users …
Discussion:
Tech Trader Daily, Maximum PC all, The Toybox, Engadget Mobile, Daring Fireball and MacDailyNews
RELATED:
Priya Ganapati / Gadget Lab:
Why You Can't Get a Good Phone With Verizon — Why does the U.S. carrier known for the best network have the worst smartphones? — Verizon gets plaudits for its coverage and call quality, but consistently loses out to AT&T, T-Mobile and even Sprint when it comes to getting the newest high-end handsets.
Thanks:atul
Lance Whitney / CNET News:
Bing grabs 10 percent of search market — Microsoft's new Bing search service is the fastest-growing U.S. search engine among the top 10, according to a Nielsen report released Monday. — The total amount of searches on Bing rang in at 1.1 billion for the month of August …
Paul Boutin / VentureBeat:
TC50: TechCrunch50 founders' feud: “It's over” for the startup conference — “I can tell you that this is the last TechCrunch50,” event co-founder Jason Calacanis told humorist Loren Feldman last night in a video interview after the close of the third annual TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco.
The Business Of Online Video:
Confirmed: Google Rumor False, Not Acquiring Brightcove — I received a call from one of the parties involved in the Google/Brightcove rumor who would not talk on record but confirmed with me that the rumor that Google is buying Brightcove is in fact false.
Yinka Adegoke / Reuters:
Comcast plans to bring TV shows to your phone — Leading U.S. cable operator Comcast Corp said on Wednesday it plans to offer subscribers the option to watch their favorite TV shows on mobile devices through its new wireless Internet service. — The company is also exploring adding …
Discussion:
InformationWeek, Light Reading, mocoNews, TechFlash, Engadget Mobile, Electronista, DSLreports, dailywireless.org and Phone Scoop
Rafe Needleman / CNET News:
Aviary launches impressive audio editor, Myna — Aviary is great at making advanced Web-based artists' tools that I haven't a hope of being able to fully use. Case in point, the new audio editor, Myna, that joins the company's suite of graphics tools like the Phoenix image editor and the Raven vector editor.
Discussion:
Podcasting News, Aviary Blog, Download Squad, ReadWriteWeb and Brad Linder's digital home
Andy Greenberg / Forbes:
The Man Who's Beating Google — Robin Li has built the most popular search site for the world's biggest audience—in China. That's round one in epic battle. — On a smoggy August morning outside Beijing's China World Hotel, Li Yanhong's fan club is assembling.
Chip Chick:
iTwinge is the World's First iPhone Keyboard — We may have just come across something that may convert dedicated BlackBerry users to finally using the iPhone.The iPhone is getting a KEYBOARD called iTwinge, a real feel and tactile keyboard for those who thought their big thumbs would never allow them to use the touchscreen version.
Discussion:
TUAW, Engadget, CNET News, Gadgetwise, iPhone Buzz, Coolest Gadgets, GottaBeMobile.com, SlashGear, Mashable!, MobileCrunch, Mobilewhack.com, DVICE and Gizmodo
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Google's Schmidt To Book Settlement Critics: What's Your Solution? — As the proposed Google Book Search lawsuit settlement is debated, I've read calls from various critics that everything should go back to “square one” for a solution. Would Google be willing to do this?
Thanks:mrinaldesai
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols / Computerworld:
Shh!!! HP sneaks Linux in on new laptops — Except for Dell, the major PC vendors are reluctant to admit they actually sell and support Linux. For instance, HP supports Linux quite well on its servers but is very reluctant to support it on its desktops.
Discussion:
PC World
Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
EU in informal talks on Microsoft, Yahoo deal-source — BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators are in touch with Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc about their search engine deal, a source familiar with the situation said, with the talks seen more as exploratory than indicating any competition concerns.
Miles Weiss / Bloomberg:
Paul Allen Sells Wireless Spectrum Licenses to AT&T — Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) — Paul Allen, the billionaire co- founder of Microsoft Corp., agreed to sell wireless airwaves he acquired in 2003 to a unit of AT&T Inc. for an undisclosed price, according to government filings.
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Former Bebo CEO and AOL Top Exec Shields and Shine's Murdoch to Form Interactive Content Start-Up — Former Bebo CEO Joanna Shields and Shine Group Chairman and CEO Elisabeth Murdoch have formed a content start-up to produce across media platforms, both online and offline, with a focus on social engagement, according to sources.
Discussion:
paidContent
Spencer E. Ante / Business Week:
Mint.com: Nurtured by Super-Angel VCs — Intuit is acquiring a startup conceived by a “25-year-old kid” and funded by First Round Capital, a new breed of high-risk, early-stage venture capitalist — Intuit's purchase of Mint.com was a big win for Mint CEO Aaron Patzer and the rest …
Jay Yarow / Silicon Alley Insider:
Barry Diller: Of Course People Are Going To Pay For Content On The Web — At Goldman's Communacopia conference, another high profile CEO is telling the world the free-for-all days of the Internet won't last forever. Yesterday it was Rupert Murdoch, today it's Barry Diller.
Nik Cubrilovic / TechCrunch:
Twitter's Next Headache: API Name Squatting — Twitter continues to work through username squatting issues by reassigning trademarked and even non-trademarked user names to their more appropriate owners. It's a manual process that sometimes takes weeks, but with Twitter's growing importance …
Thanks:atul
John Brownlee / Geek.com:
US Government advises technology executives to trash mobile phones after returning from CHina — Just because the Soviet Union is gone doesn't mean that the US government isn't paranoid about Communist spying and espionage. Ask frequent business travelers who have flown to China recently …
Speaking of Security, the RSA Blog and Podcast:
“Chat-in-the-Middle” Phishing Attack Attempts to Steal Consumers' Data via Bogus Live-Chat Support — A new, unique type of phishing attack targeted against online banking customers was recently discovered by the RSA FraudAction Research Lab. RSA has coined this as a “Chat-in-the-Middle” …
Joseph Tartakoff / paidContent:
Google Says It Wants To Hire Yahoo Talent — It wouldn't be so surprising (or newsworthy) if this was happening behind the scenes, but Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is now openly trying to recruit Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) search engineers. In a blog post, Matt Cutts, who is Google's most prominent search blogger …
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
The Adobe-Omniture deal: Does it make sense? — Adobe made a big splash with its $1.8 billion acquisition of Web analytics company Omniture. However, the logic behind the deal isn't exactly obvious. — On Adobe's fiscal third quarter conference call, analysts were pressing Adobe on its rationale for buying Omniture (Techmeme).
Discussion:
Local Onliner, ReadWriteEnterprise, Internet Evolution, WebProNews, Seeking Alpha, MediaFile, Contentinople and Software as Services
Avner Ronen / boxee blog:
Zach Klein joins Boxee — We are happy to announce that Zach Klein has joined Boxee. Zach was part of the founding team that built College Humor, Busted Tees and Vimeo (at Connected Ventures/IAC). Building a great product is one of those things that combines art, science and instinct.
Joe Strupp / Editor and Publisher:
SPECIAL REPORT: Ready, Aim, Charge! — NEW YORK On the day Michael Jackson died, the Los Angeles Times drew its heaviest Web traffic ever. When Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina admitted to an affair, The State of Columbia, S.C., had the best online numbers in its history.
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
Zune HD apps are here... complete with pre-roll ads — The first batch of apps for the Zune HD can now be freely downloaded from Microsoft, and they come with an unexpected “present”: static and video ads that play during launch. — Apps for the new Zune HD (read our review) are now available …
Sam Diaz / Between the Lines:
Oracle's Q1: “We grew faster than SAP” — Oracle Corp., which is facing a delay of its acquisition of Sun Microsystems, today reported first quarter earnings of $1.5 billion, or 3 cents per share, a three-percent increase over the year-ago quarter. Revenue for the quarter was $5.1 billion, a 7 percent drop from last year.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Finance, eWeek, Wall Street Journal, internetnews.com, Dow Jones Newswires, Reuters and Digital Daily
