Top Items:
Mark Hendrickson / TechCrunch:
Seesmic Aquires Popular Twitter AIR Client Twhirl — San Francisco video/chat startup Seesmic has acquired Twhirl, a popular application created by Marco Kaiser that allows users to access the Twitter service directly from their desktop. The deal will be announced on Friday morning, but the acquisition price is not being disclosed.
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft:
Microsoft: June 30 Windows XP cut-off set in stone — Microsoft made it official on April 3: There will be no new reprieves for Windows XP (other than on Ultra Low-Cost PCs). — Some customers and partners had been hoping the company might extend again the deadline for all PC makers …
Discussion:
IDG News Service, InformationWeek, Techlog, GottaBeMobile, BetaNews, Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog, Engadget and Electronista
RELATED:
Ina Fried / Beyond Binary:
Microsoft will extend life of Windows XP—again — MIAMI—As I predicted last week, Microsoft has decided to extend the life of Windows XP, although only for a limited class of machines. — Microsoft said on Thursday that it will continue to allow Windows XP Home edition to be sold …
New York Times:
MySpace and Record Companies Create Music Site — SAN FRANCISCO — In the latest effort by the ailing music industry to bolster its declining prospects, three of the four major music companies have struck a deal with MySpace to start an music Web site. — As part of the deal …
Discussion:
Podcasting News, Associated Press, Business Week, TECH.BLORGE.com, mathewingram.com/work, paidContent.org, Contentinople, JupiterResearch, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, Slashdot, Good Morning Silicon Valley, Business Week, Searchviews, Digital Daily, Listening Post, Guardian Unlimited, WebProNews, Techdirt, Download Squad, FaceReviews and TechBlog
RELATED:
Tom Neumayr / Apple:
iTunes Store Top Music Retailer in the US — Apple® today announced that the iTunes® Store (www.itunes.com) surpassed Wal-Mart to become the number one music retailer in the US, based on the latest data from the NPD Group*. With over 50 million customers, iTunes has sold …
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Google Public Policy Blog:
Cone of silence (finally) lifts on the spectrum auction — For three weeks at the end of January and early February, a small team of us holed up in double super secret “war rooms” in Mountain View, CA and Washington, D.C. to bid on Google's behalf in the FCC spectrum auction.
Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:
TechCrunch v DEMO Smackdown! Calacanis Blasts IDG, Offers Shipley a Job — Now that TechCrunch and Jason Calacanis have scheduled their TechCrunch50 start-up celebration conference at the same time as IDG's DEMO start-up celebration conference, the allegations are flying:
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Gavin O'Malley / MediaPost Publications:
Study: ‘Influencers’ Possess Less Clout — IN THE WORLD OF SOCIAL media, so-called “influencers” might have less clout than some marketers think. — According to a new study from Canadian research firm Pollara, self-described social media users put far more trust in friends and family online …
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Eric Eldon / VentureBeat:
Rumor: Ad network Federated Media raises $50M from Oak Hill Capital Partners, at $200M valuation — The ad network Federated Media has raised $50 million at a $200 million pre-money valuation from private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners, I've heard from a source, with investment bank Savvian helping to broker the deal.
Business Wire:
Craigslist Revenue in 2008 May Top $80 Million, Could Reach $100 Million — Charging in Just 11 Markets, 25-Person Company Generates Record Revenue, Classified Intelligence Shows — ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Craigslist, the free-classifieds Web site that has become a global phenomenon …
RELATED:
Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:Craigslist Valuation: $80 Million in 2008 Revenue, Worth $5 Billion
Discussion:
Valleywag, Mark Evans, ClickZ, WebGuild, WebProNews, Search Engine Land, Ewan Spence's All New Musings, Deal Journal and Screenwerk
Bryan Gardiner / Wired News:
Trademark Dispute Pits Apple vs. The Big Apple — The Big Apple has a new logo, and Apple says: Drop dead. — At issue is the emblem for New York City's GreeNYC campaign, which has started to appear around the city on bus shelters, hybrid gasoline-electric taxicabs and even Whole Foods shopping bags.
Discussion:
Engadget, CrunchGear, MacUser, Switched, Gawker, Gizmodo, The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, Macsimum News and Computerworld Blogs
Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:
OpenID Status Check: A Guide to Getting and Using Your OpenID — You've heard a lot about OpenID, the decentralized framework for authenticating users across the web. OpenID is convenient for end users, allowing them to login to numerous web sites using one set of credentials - their OpenID.
Discussion:
The Real McCrea
Nicholas Carlson / Valleywag:
South Park kills 10 YouTube memes for good — Viacom continues to pursue a $1 billion lawsuit against Google's YouTube for allowing video piracy. On Viacom's Comedy Central, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone aren't helping their corporate parent's legal case.
Michelle Meyers / CNET News.com:
Motorola to eliminate 2,600 jobs — Ouch. — Motorola took another hit Thursday in announcing, through a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, that it will lay off 2,600 employees. As a result, it will take a $104 million pretax charge in the first quarter of the year for severance costs.
Discussion:
Engadget
David Pogue / New York Times:
A Camera for the Shot You Missed — When you're a professional gadget reviewer, you see plenty of cellphones, music players, camcorders and computers. But in two weeks, Casio will offer an entirely new device for sale, the first of its kind: a time machine. — Now, the Exilim EX-F1 is not a time machine in the H. G. Wells sense.
John Markoff / Bits:
A 3-D Viewfinder for a Shoebox of Digital Photos — The tension between computing technology that augments human activity and technology that automates it goes all the way back to the 1960s. — It can be seen today in Viewfinder, a demonstration of a photo-sharing or photo-placing system developed …
