Top Items:
The Official Google Blog:
Lively no more — In July we launched Lively in Google Labs because we wanted users to be able to interact with their friends and express themselves online in new ways. Google has always been supportive of this kind of experimentation because we believe it's the best way to create groundbreaking products …
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Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Google Kills Lively — Even Google is getting into the downsizing spirit. It just announced that it is killing Lively, its browser-baseed virtual worlds that could be embedded into other Websites. Lively launched just last July. The death notice on the site says it will shut down on December 31 …
Ina Fried / Beyond Binary:
Ballmer: ‘We are done’ with Yahoo acquisition idea — Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer threw his daily bucket of cold water on the notion that the software maker will return with a new bid for all of Yahoo. — “We are done with all acquisition discussions with Yahoo,” Ballmer said …
Discussion:
VentureBeat, Bloomberg, Technologizer, Docu-Drama, MarketWatch, CNET News, Microsoft Pri0, paidContent.org, Tech Confidential, Epicenter, Valleywag, GMSV and Startup Meme
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Mitchell / Mitchell's Blog:
Sustainability in Uncertain Times — Today we are posting our audited financial statements and tax form for 2007. As in past years, I'll use this event as an opportunity to review both our financial status and our overall effectiveness in moving the mission forward. — Financial
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Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:Google Makes Up 88 Percent Of Mozilla's Revenues, Threatens Its Non-Profit Status
Discussion:
Lockergnome Blog Network
Rafat Ali / paidContent.org:
Ziff Davis To Close PCMag Print; Focus on Online; Still Looking For Options For Gaming Division — Ziff Davis, the tech/gaming media company that recently exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is now taking the brave but inevitable step of closing down the print version of PCMag to focus its energy …
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Lance Ulanoff / PC Magazine:PC Magazine Goes 100% Digital
Discussion:
Podcasting News, Epicenter, GMSV, Technologizer, TECH.BLORGE.com, VoIP & Gadgets Blog, Blue's News and ReadWriteWeb
Greg Sandoval / CNET News:
Sources: Apple, music labels talk DRM-free songs — A year after iTunes began offering music without copy protection software from EMI, Apple is in discussions with the other three top recording companies about acquiring DRM-free songs, according to two music industry sources.
Discussion:
AppleInsider, Infinite Loop, MacRumors, Appletell, Edible Apple, The iPhone Blog, Electronista, MacBlogz and iLounge
Signal vs. Noise:
Why the Drudge Report is one of the best designed sites on the web — A couple weeks ago on Twitter I said: “I still maintain the Drudge Report is one of the best designed sites on the web. Has been for years.” A few people agreed, but most didn't. Some thought it was a joke. I wasn't kidding.
Jim Goldman / Tech Check with Jim Goldman:
Xbox Vs. PlayStation With Netflix Caught In The Middle — It's a big day for Netflix with the service going live on Microsoft's Xbox 360 platform. But there's one big thing lacking and you can thank the heated rivalry between Sony and Microsoft for it and I'm getting an earful from some of you.
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Annie Chen / Gmail Blog:
Spice up your inbox with colors and themes — Gmail fans have been building unofficial extensions to spice up their inboxes for a while, but up til now themes haven't been an integral part of Gmail. We wanted to go beyond simple color customization, so out of the 30 odd themes we're launching today …
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
SnapTell: Instant Product Lookup From The iPhone. You Want This. — If you have an iPhone, you'll probably want to check out SnapTell Explorer, a free application now available on the App Store. The premise is simple: take a photo of the cover of any CD, DVD, book, or video game …
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
First Guns N' Roses Album In 17 Years Debuts Tonight On MySpace Music — Chinese Democracy, the first new Guns N' Roses album since 1991, debuts tonight at 9 PM PST exclusively on MySpace Music, where fans can listen to it for free. — Well, actually it debuted on BitTorrent a while ago, but we're not talking about that.
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Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Yahoo Search Suffers Another Blow, as Key Engineer Departs for Microsoft — Yahoo-which has stuck to its guns by staying in the search business, even though many think it is a losing game and should be sold off to Microsoft-has lost a key engineer in that arena to, uh-oh, Microsoft.
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MG Siegler / VentureBeat:
SimCity for the iPhone may ruin my life (in a good way) — No game captured my imagination when I was growing up like SimCity. Certainly, a part of it was my God complex, but more it was the open-ended nature of a game with few rules that let you build a city.
Discussion:
Touch Arcade
Wilson Rothman / Gizmodo:
Windows 7 Touch Control Makes Media Center Interface Awesome — Windows 7 Touch Control Makes Media Center More Awesome — Visiting Microsoft's Media Center posse in Redmond, I just caught a glimpse of the Windows 7 Media Center interface with integrated touch control (no third-party software) on an HP TouchSmart.
Discussion:
One Microsoft Way
Scott Ferguson / eWeek:
After the Layoffs: Collecting 52,000 Laptop and Desktop Computers — Table of Contents: — The announcement this week that Citigroup will eliminate 52,000 jobs and with other large companies also looking at layoffs, IT departments are going to be forced to deal with hundreds and even thousands …
Apple:
Apple TV: About Apple TV software updates — Products Affected — Apple TV — Refer the table below for Apple TV Software Update 2.3 features: — How To — AirTunes Streaming from Apple TV — Music can be streamed via AirTunes to Airport Express speakers or other Apple TVs in your house.
Zach Epstein / Boy Genius Report:
Confirmed: iPhone 3G coming to Wal-Mart on December 28th, select Sam's Club stores as well — Shortly after we posted about the iPhone coming to Wal-Mart this morning, it seemed like all of our ninjas came out of the woodwork to bombard us with info. Rather than post an update, we want to lay out what is now confirmed info.
Discussion:
PC World, CrunchGear, Apple 2.0, Alley Insider, InformationWeek, Infinite Loop, CNET News, PMP Today, IntoMobile, MacBlogz, Tech Beat, AppleInsider, iPhone Buzz, Valleywag, Tech Trader Daily, Obsessable, The Toybox and Digital Daily
Arik Hesseldahl / Business Week:
Hewlett-Packard Out-Touches Apple — Apple watchers assumed Jobs & Co. would be the first to offer a multitouch laptop, but Hewlett-Packard has beaten them to the punch — From the first time Steve Jobs demonstrated “the pinch”—the two-finger gesture used to zoom in and out of photos …
Discussion:
HP, Boy Genius Report, Byte of the Apple, Computerworld, BloggingStocks, MacDailyNews and TUAW
Wall Street Journal:
BlackBerry's Storm Joins Touch-Phone Fray — To its fiercest devotees, one of the best things about the BlackBerry is its carefully designed physical keyboard, which the skilled BlackBerry addict can play like a violin. These folks scorn Apple's popular iPhone, whose keyboard is virtual and must be operated by tapping on the screen.
Discussion:
Gear Diary
Will Park / IntoMobile:
MMS coming to iPhone 3G! — Now, before you get all worked up in an MMS-frenzy, you should know that MMS is coming to iPhone 3G's on Telia's network. MacWorld has confirmed that the Scandinavian wireless carrier has the distinction of offering the iPhone 3G exclusively in Apple rival Nokia's home-turf …
Discussion:
CNET News
IEBlog:
IE8: What's After Beta 2 — The announcement of IE8 Beta 2 started an important and public phase of the product development cycle getting broad public feedback. The team is providing detailed information and answering questions about the product in many different places.
Dan Rayburn / The Business Of Online Video:
MLB.com's Switch To Flash Video Leaves More Questions Than Answers — Adobe got a big customer win this week when they announced that MLB.com would move from the Silverlight platform back to Flash for all their live and on-demand video. The two-year deal, which kicks off in 2009 …
Discussion:
Broadband Developments
Marcus Foster / Google Mobile Blog:
Google Sync for BlackBerry: Now with contacts — You asked for it, so here it is. We're happy to announce that in the latest update to Google Sync for BlackBerry, we've added two-way contacts synchronization. This new functionality will enable you to sync your handheld's built-in address book with your Gmail contacts.
Discussion:
Google Operating System, IntoMobile, Unwired View, BerryReview.com, jkOnTheRun, CostPerNews and Lifehacker
Electronista:
Unpaid time while Vista boots results in lawsuits — Certain employers are docking their employees' pay while they wait for their Vista PCs to boot up, to the tune of 30 to 60 minutes per day, resulting in class-action lawsuits being brought against the employers, says a Tuesday blog report.
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Here Come The Crunchies (Again) — After a very successful debut last year, The Crunchies are returning to once again celebrate the best of entrepreneurship and new startups. With the economy being what it is, 2009 is going to be a tough year for everyone and I see events like The Crunchies …
