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3:00 PM ET, July 25, 2006

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Marguerite Reardon / CNET News.com:
Study: Net telephony quality worsening  —  While it's no secret that Net phone services don't offer the same call quality as traditional phones, a new study suggests that the quality of voice over Internet Protocol is actually getting worse.  —  Brix Networks, a company that develops monitoring tools …
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Need / brixnet.com:
Strategic Partners Technology Partners Channel Partners  —  INTERNET PHONE QUALITY DROPS SIGNIFICANTLY AND STEADILY OVER LAST 18 MONTHS  —  From Brix Networks' TestYourVoIP.com Voice Quality Testing Portal  —  CHELMSFORD, Mass. — Nearly 20 percent of Internet telephone test calls experienced …
ResourceShelf:
Google Mobile Adds Traffic Info on Google Maps Mobile & More Sources For Traffic Maps and Cams, Listen to Your Route  —  Google has added traffic info on their Google Maps Mobile (GMM) product for 30 U.S. cities.  No international traffic is available.  Also, Google Maps Mobile is only available …
RELATED ITEMS:
Reuters:
Google offers live traffic maps on cell phones  —Text+SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc. said on Tuesday that the company has begun offering mobile phone users in more than 30 major U.S. cities the capacity to view highway maps with "live" traffic data.
Reuters:
AOL founder says he is 'sorry' for Time Warner merger  —Text+NEW YORK (Reuters) - Steve Case, co-founder of the one-time biggest online service AOL, apologized for the company's merger with media conglomerate Time Warner Inc. in an interview with U.S. journalist Charlie Rose.
Discussion: Valleywag and 21talks
Matt Marshall / SiliconBeat:
Zillow raises $25, joins ranks of bigger Web 2.0 companies  —  Zillow.com, the controversial online real estate company that provides value estimates on homes, has raised $25 million in a second round of funding.  —  It is controversial because it pisses off lots of real estate agents, who think providing values is their job.
Wagner James Au / GigaOM:
Revenge of Nintendo  —  Nintendo just boosted their profit estimates for the coming year by $150 million from over half a billion dollars, indicating that the company might be one of the unlikely winners in the console wars.  —  I would have laughed at that thought even a year ago, but the numbers speak for themselves.
Discussion: TechEffect and Cathode Tan
RELATED ITEMS:
Colin Campbell / Next Generation:
Jubilant Nintendo Bathes in DS Light
Discussion: Go Nintendo
Jay Rosen / PressThink:
Introducing NewAssignment.Net  —  Enterprise reporting goes pro-am.  Assignments are open sourced.  They begin online.  Reporters working with smart users and blogging editors get the story the pack wouldn't, couldn't or didn't.  They raise the money too.  Q and A explains.
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Sky News:
Mayfair?  Put It On The Card  —  Monopoly board game players can now pay for properties with debit cards.  —  Game makers Parker have phased out the standard multi-coloured cash in a new version.  —  Players will instead use a Visa mock debit card to keep track of how much they win or lose.
RELATED ITEMS:
Evan Blass / Engadget:
Researchers using waves to write on water  —  Liquid-based displays are nothing new — in a vertical orientation, at least — but apparently it's a lot more difficult to coax a standing pool of water into forming recognizable shapes and characters.  In fact, before coming up with their current design …
RELATED ITEMS:
Edo / Pink Tentacle:
Device uses waves to "print" on water surface
Discussion: Gizmodo and OhGizmo!
Matt Mondok / M-Dollar:
Microsoft releases preview of new Microsoft.com site, disappointing error page for Firefox users  —  This week Microsoft released a beta preview of its upcoming website redesign.  The new look and feel is much different than what's currently on the Redmond giant's homepage.
eHomeUpgrade:
Slim Devices Introduces Transporter; The Ultimate Device for Audiophiles  —  Today, Slim Devices introduced Transporter, the most advanced networked audio system available.  Designed to appeal to the most discerning audiophiles and music lovers, Transporter's sound quality surpasses …
Ars Technica:
AT&T Labs vs. Google Labs: not your grandfather's R&D  —  It's easy to knock the telcos nowadays, especially in the wake of the Net neutrality debates.  AT&T and Verizon are lumbering old dinosaur behemoths from the post-war era who are steadily being displaced by the smaller, more agile …
Discussion: Susan Crawford blog, digg and Slashdot
Pete Cashmore / Mashable!:
Dabble Searches YouTube, MySpace Video, Metacafe and More  —  Dabble, the video search engine and bookmarking tool, launched today.  The concept is fairly simple: there's an abundance of video content on blogs, YouTube, MySpace Video, Metacafe, Google Video, Veoh, Grouper and Blip.tv, but no way to bring it all together.
Skype for Mac:
Video has arrived - If you're brave!  —  Finally Video has arrived on Skype for Mac!  The video preview of Skype for Mac was released today.  Download the video preview now.  We know that you've been waiting... and waiting... and waiting... so we've decided to release video early as a preview version.
Catherine Holahan / Business Week:
Raising the Bar on Viral Web Ads  —  Those funny clips that push products are getting slicker and more expensive to make and distribute.  YouTube and Google are taking note  —  Six years ago, ad executive Ed Robinson carried out an experiment.  He spent $10,000 to produce a humorous video …
Discussion: cgm, Web Strategy and Adverblog
Ina Fried / CNET News.com:
Swan song for Microsoft's music allies?  —  news analysis Microsoft's Zune player is designed to be a counterpunch to the iPod, but it could deliver a sharper blow to some of the company's longtime partners.  —  For years, Microsoft has been trying to combat Apple Computer's music system …
Microsoft:
Massive Network Launches Groundbreaking Interactive In-Video-Game Advertising Unit; Toyota Is Debut Advertiser With Innovative Campaign for New 2007 Yaris Sedan  —  New ad element drives increased consumer engagement with brands, leveraging video games' inherent interactive nature.
Garett Rogers / Googling Google:
New Google service for developers  —  In a post that was designed to get us all talking, Greg Stein builds suspense on the opening day of OSCON — the Open Source Convention.  His article, "A New Google Service" on the Google Code Blog says that he and his team have been working on a new service …
 
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 More Items: 
Luke O'Brien / Wired News:
License Plate Tracking for All
Discussion: Slashdot
Steve Rubel / Micro Persuasion:
Google Beefs Up Mobile Home Page
Scott Martin / GPS Lodge:
New GPS: Lowrance iWay 600C
Discussion: Engadget and MobileWhack.com
Charlie Demerjian / Inquirer:
AMD has to buy ATI to survive
Kevin Poulsen / Wired News:
E-Health Gaffe Exposes Hospital
Richard MacManus / Web 2.0 Explorer:
Wiki 2.0 - JotSpot launches Web Office Wiki
Skeptic / Dead2.0:
Ask Skeptic's Mom: "What's RSS?"
onestat.com:
Less people use 1 word phrase in search engines according to OneStat.com
 Earlier Items: 
James Bannan / APC Magazine:
Build your own Vista install DVD
Tom Krazit / ZDNet:
Merom crashing Intel's Core 2 Duo launch event
Discussion: Slashdot
Edo / Pink Tentacle:
Giant video screen constructed at Tokyo-area horse track
Marshall Kirkpatrick / TechCrunch:
BlogTalkRadio to turn bloggers into talk radio hosts
Tuan Nguyen / DailyTech:
Apple to Introduce Bluetooth Mighty Mouse
Discussion: Infinite Loop
Jill Zeman / Associated Press:
Judge considers Google click-fraud deal
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
The Scott Trust approves the sale of The Observer to Tortoise, despite two days of strikes by Guardian and Observer staffers against the deal

Harry Litman / Talking Feds Substack:
LA Times op-ed contributor Harry Litman resigns, saying he's protesting the “repugnant and dangerous” actions to appease Trump by owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Sources: Condé Nast lays off some top executives including VPs and SVPs in marketing and sales, along with key staff in events, social media, and editorial jobs

 
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