Top Items:
Josh Lowensohn / CNET News:
StumbleUpon 2.0: Good-bye, software toolbar — On Tuesday night StumbleUpon is changing the way users interact with the service, ditching the need for a software-based browser toolbar in place of a small frame that loads on top of the Web site you're on. Users with the toolbar installed …
Discussion:
Silicon Alley Insider, Mashable!, RotorBlog.com, SarahLacy.com, AppScout, Technologizer, Pulse 2.0 and webmonkey
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Ina Fried / Beyond Binary:
Microsoft still paying people to search — Microsoft's latest effort to get people to use its search service is something called SearchPerks, which gives people points for using the search engine that can later be redeemed for prizes. — Users who agree to download a small program to track …
Discussion:
Epicenter, Search Engine Journal, DailyTech, Search Engine Watch, Techland and Search Engine Land
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Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft:
Microsoft tries to lure more searchers with another giveaway — If you can't beat 'em, pay 'em off. — That seems to be the Microsoft Live Search team's motto these days. On October 1, Microsoft rolled out another search-rewards program, designed to get more searchers to try its distant No. 3 search engine, Live Search.
Kip Kniskern / LiveSide:
Live Search Perks - more rewards for using Live Search — It all started with Live Search Club, the somewhat maligned program to reward users for playing games using Live Search (and somewhat skewing search share counts, causing a bit of a scramble by Compete.com and others).
Discussion:
AppScout
Devin Leonard / Fortune:
Apple's digital music showdown — A ruling this week could force online music sellers to pay publishers more money - as an Apple threat to close iTunes looms. — NEW YORK (Fortune) — For five years, Apple's iTunes Music Store has been the Internet's most successful music store.
Discussion:
last100, CrunchGear, Pulse 2.0, O'Grady's PowerPage, Cult of Mac, Guardian, Digital Daily, AppleInsider, WebProNews, TECH.BLORGE.com, VentureBeat, hypebot, The Apple Blog, MacBlogz, Mashable!, Coolfer, MacRumors, Macsimum News, Podcasting News, Electronista, MacDailyNews, Smalltalk Tidbits … and Digg
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Jordan Golson / Industry Standard:Apple threatens to shut down the iTunes Store over royalty rate increase
John / What They Play:
New Wii due by 2011 — What They Play has heard from multiple sources in the game development and publishing community that Nintendo is currently showing early presentations of its next home console hardware. Apparently set to hit the market “by 2011” the new device is said to be the true …
Jon Fortt / Big Tech:
Why Palm needs Android — The new Treo Pro runs Microsoft's Windows Mobile - but Palm may get even more mileage out of embracing Google's Android for future phones. Image: Palm — Unless you're Google, these look like rough times to launch a mobile operating system. — That puts Palm (PALM) in an awkward position.
Discussion:
mocoNews.net
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Jessica Dolcourt / CNET News:
Skype 4.0 beta 2 gives you more say — Skype 4.0 beta 2 (download when available) has done a lot of growing since the first beta for Windows rolled out this past June. While that release showed some success reorganizing Skype's services, we predicted that folks would protest the gawky layout.
Discussion:
Inquirer
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Jonathan Skillings / CNET News:
HP to buy LeftHand Networks — Hewlett-Packard announced Wednesday that it intends to buy storage specialist LeftHand Networks for $360 million. — Privately held LeftHand will fill out HP's virtualization offerings as the tech giant targets midsize companies and corporate branch offices trying …
Mike Ricciuti / CNET News:
Oracle buys maker of 3D retail software — Oracle is adding to its retail software lineup by acquiring Advanced Visual Technology, a maker of 3D space planning software for retailers. — AVT, based in Hertfordshire, England, sells a product called Retail Focus, which lets retailers plan store floors and shelf space.
Discussion:
All Points Blog
Brad Stone / New York Times:
Studios Sue to Bar a DVD Copying Program — Six major movie studios sued RealNetworks, the Seattle-based digital media company, on Tuesday over its new $30 software program that allows people to make digital copies of their DVDs. — As the opening warning on every DVD indicates, Hollywood has bitterly opposed such copying.
Caroline McCarthy / The Social:
Bezos, Benioff invest in appointment-booker ZocDoc — There are some big new names backing ZocDoc, a start-up that lets you book doctor's appointments online (currently just in New York). Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has contributed an undisclosed amount to the company, as has Bezos Expeditions …
Todd Haselton / LAPTOP Magazine:
XOHM WiMAX In Baltimore: Speed Tests With XOHM ExpressCard — We went to Baltimore today to check out America's first fully-functional XOHM city for ourselves. Earlier today, we had a hands-on experience with XOHM using a Nokia N810 WiMAX tablet. Since then, we've gone out and purchased …
Philipp Lenssen / Google Blogoscoped:
Try Google Search As It Was in 2001 — In honor of their tenth birthday*, Google brought back their search engine the way it was many years ago, in January 2001. Below an old-school Google logo (in 2001 they were actually already using a newer one) the input box invites you to search through “1,326,920,000 web pages”.
Richard MacManus / ReadWriteWeb:
Where Are All The RDF-based Semantic Web Apps? — RDF is the cornerstone of The Semantic Web, yet there still very few commercial RDF apps. — In the latest issue of Nodalities, a magazine about the Semantic Web by UK company Talis, there is an article by Talis CTO Ian Davis about the state of Semantic Web applications.
Discussion:
The Semantic Web
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
Apple TV Gets An Upgrade — Without Steve Jobs' Help (AAPL) — A neat new feature is coming to Apple TV, Apple's (AAPL) set-top box, without Apple's help. No, it's not a DVD drive, which we suggested yesterday. But clever coders have devised an easier way to add more software to your Apple TV …
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
A DonorsChoose.org Miracle: My Dinner With Jerry (and BoomTown Plans to Vanquish the Naked Scoble!) — If it's October 1, it must be time for the DonorsChoose.org's Blogger Challenge 2008! — DonorsChoose.org is a charity that funds classroom projects in high-need public schools …
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
Netflix API Launches Tomorrow - Here's What it Will and Won't Include — The much-awaited Application Programming Interface (API) for movie site Netflix will launch tomorrow, according to an email from the company. As HackingNetflix found out last week, the launch event will occur at the AJAX Experience conference.
Discussion:
ProgrammableWeb, The Web Services Report, paidContent.org, Gizmodo, Hacking NetFlix, Electronista and Mashable!
Tim Westergren / Pandora:
WEBCASTING BILL PASSED !! — This evening the Senate approved passage of HR7084. Hooray! We still have to finish up the negotiations, but now the table is set. — Thanks to everyone for your incredible support over the past few days. It was just extraordinary.
RELATED:
Reuters:
Nasdaq probing possibly “erroneous” Google trades — NEW YORK (Reuters) - The operator of the Nasdaq Stock Market said it was investigating “potentially erroneous transactions” involving shares of Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which appeared to plunge as low …
The Boy Genius / Boy Genius Report:
BlackBerry Bold training on AT&T cancelled due to launch delays — For realz, y'all. October 2nd was about as concrete as we were going to get, but the powers that be (RIM's lack of focus on the OS) have interjected. We've been working on this story over the past couple days …
Kevin Michaluk / CrackBerry.com blogs:
Leaked: RIM's New BlackBerry Terminator 9900! — On AT&T waiting for the Bold? Visions of a BlackBerry Storm dancing thorugh your head? Screw it! Set your eyes on RIM's latest device, the BlackBerry Terminator. With no less than four machine guns, this baby is RIM's literal response …
