No one said making the move to mobile and tablet devices would be easy. Yet, media watchers are still surprised that The Financial Times and Apple have failed to compromise over new requirements that in-app subscription payments must go through the iTunes Store. As such, "The paper's iPad and iPhone apps have disappeared from iTunes Store," paidContent reports. "Apple says the FT took them down to comply with its new terms." "The Financial Times has become the first big name to pull its iOS apps as a result of Apple's new app subscription rules," ars technica …

It's been a long time coming, but Apple has finally debuted its cloud-based iTunes Match developer beta -- including the ability to stream songs. "So, essentially, [users] will have instant access to [their] entire music library from all of [their] Macs, iPhones, iPads, or iPod touches for only $25/year," MacRumors writes. "What Apple failed to mention is, as its competitors feared, that iTunes ‘in the cloud' will support music streaming as well as downloading," ZDNet notes. "The cloud-based iTunes service will replace low quality music with a higher bitrate, and legitimise your pirate music collection." "That …

For Google+ to achieve its ultimate, Google needs everyone to kindly use their real names and identities.  Why, exactly? Eric Schmidt said this weekend that Google+ was built primarily as an identity service, reports Andy Carvin, a social-media strategist at NPR. "So fundamentally, it depends on people using their real names if they're going to build future products that leverage that information," Schmidt explained, according to Carvin. "This was incredibly exciting (and a little scary) for me to read," admits eWeek's Clint Boulton. "I'd argued in the past that one of the reasons Google wants people …

A victim of Google's recent restructuring, the search giant has decided to dissolve Slide. No matter that it dropped $200 million on the social apps start-up last year, Slide apparently didn't fit with the new Google. "Although Slide ... had not matched its lofty expectations and valuations ... its acquisition brought Google some key assets," writes All Things Digital. They incuded "Social Web expertise at a time when it was dearly needed, and [founder Max] Levchin, who famously founded PayPal." "Tellingly, the Slide acquisition came just 48 hours after [Google] binned its Wave tool, the email-IM-and-everything-else-Web-2.0-splatter-gun platform …

Bowing to the inevitable, Steve Jobs stepped aside late Wednesday so Tim Cook can write Apple's next chapter as CEO. The contents of that chapter, however -- and how it will impact the Web and consumer electronics -- remained open questions on Thursday. "While [Jobs] may have been the primary architect and a key building block of the company ... he isn't the lynchpin, GigaOm assures. "Meaning, that even with Jobs out of the equation ... the future for Apple looks bright." Meanwhile, "Cook may not be the product visionary that Jobs is and he may not be the …

Who's winning the race to monetize mobile? Well, as of July, Android still dominated mobile ad impressions with a 61% share of the market, according to new numbers from Millennial Media. While Android has led the market for eight consecutive months, Boy Genius Report says the numbers represent a "sizable swing ... for the first time in several months, with Android usage ... increasing from 54% in June to 61%." Put another way, "Android's growth is something we're already used to, but it's the leaps and bounds that the platform takes that exceeded expectations in …

Think Facebook's purchase of Snaptu for a reported $60 million was big? Well, if the social network has its way, you ain't seen nothing yet. "Facebook ... is planning acquisitions that will improve site design, keep its service reliable and advance mobile features to stave off competition," Bloomberg reports, citing comments from Vaughan Smith, Facebook's director of corporate development. All told, "the company aims to make about 20 purchases in 2011, up from 10 last year." "Facebook wants 2011 to be the company's biggest year to date for acquisitions," The Register writes, while joking that Smith "clearly …

While Microsoft's Skype acquisition is still pending, the VoIP service has reportedly agreed to buy group-messaging startup GroupMe. Launched just last year, GroupMe let users create private phone groups, send text messages throughout the group, and set up free conference calls. "The group messaging space in general is one of the most important markets for Skype," Skype CEO Tony Bates tells TechCrunch. "Skype's goal is to get to 1 billion users. Mobile is the place to do that." "Skype acquired the company presumably to expand on its own mobile group messaging features," reasons ReadWriteWeb. "People …

With its future looking less certain than ever, Research in Motion is reportedly adding a music service to BlackBerry Messenger. Noting that RIM certainly "needs to sex itself up," CNet reports that the smartphone maker is in talks with the four top record companies about the IM-based service. "RIM has signed a deal with at least one ... and is close to signing at least two others," CNet confirms, adding that a test version of the service could debut within weeks. Critics, however, say a music service is the last thing RIM needs to regain its once-dominant …

Putting a harsh light on Apple's mobile ad strategy, Andy Miller, its VP of mobile advertising, is reportedly on his way out. Sources tell All Things Digital that Miller -- who sold Quattro Wireless, the mobile ad company he co-founded, to Apple in early 2010 for $275 million -- will become a general partner at VC firm Highland Capital. Industry watchers took the news this week as an opportunity to question Apple's mobile ad efforts. "Apple's flashy iAds made a big splash when they launched in April 2010, but eyebrows were raised when reports circulated that they …