• Sources: Cisco / Skype Deal Rumors False
    Contradicting an earlier report in TechCrunch, sources tell Barron's Tech Trader Daily blog that Cisco is not considering an acquisition of Skype. Citing one of its "more reliable sources," TechCrunch on Monday reported that Cisco -- which has been on a extended acquisition spree -- even made an offer to buy the popular VoIP service. "Skype insiders are hoping for an out of the gate valuation of $5 billion or so, we've heard," reported TechCrunch. However, sources tell Tech Trader Daily: "There have been no talks between Cisco and Skype." According to TechCrunch, Google was rumored to be kicking …
  • Google's Plan For The Spammy-'Not-Spam' Email In-Box Filler
    Google doesn't pretend that Gmail pays the bills, but that doesn't keep the search giant from continually trying to improve the popular service. Its latest effort is Priority Inbox, which will push users' most important emails to the top of their inboxes. "It used to be people wanted to separate spam from not-spam," Gmail product director Keith Coleman tells CNN. "But now, the not-spam is of varying degrees of importance." VentureBeat calls Priority Inbox "an ambitious new attack on the problem" of email overload. Bigger picture, "Google is competing feverishly to …
  • Report: Digg Names New CEO
    During a critical period for Digg, the social news site has named Amazon exec Matt Williams as its new CEO. That's according to TechCrunch, which reports that Digg founder Kevin Rose -- who has served as interim CEO since the ouster of Jay Adelson in April -- will now become "chief architect" of the company. Williams was at Amazon since 1999, most recently as GM of Consumer Payments. His other positions at the ecommerce giant included GM of its Webstore, Director of Tech Alliances, Director of Community & Cross-Merchandising, and Director of Auctions and Marketplace. Industry watchers …
  • Will Murdoch Make Or Break Apple's Hollywood Dreams?
    Last week, sources told Bloomberg that Apple is in advanced talks with News Corp. to let iTunes users rent TV shows for 99 cents. Now, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that execs within News Corp. are deeply divided over the deal, and that (surprise, surprise!) Rupert Murdoch will have the final say. "Some executives of News Corp. ... worry that offering 99-cent episode rentals will cut into lucrative DVD sales and pull viewers away from watching network TV," the LA Times reports. "But other top officials at News Corp. -- especially Murdoch -- are prepared to join Apple's …
  • NYTimes Brings Facebook Into The Fold
    Rivaling the ubiquity of Google's search bar, Facebook on Tuesday firmly lodged itself on the front page of NYTimes.com. "The functionality appears to be similar to Facebook's recommended articles social plugin, with users being required to opt-in to the service," notes All Facebook. "The most notable aspect of this new service however is that the typically design-conscious company, has a plugin which doesn't align with the rest of the site." According to The New York Times, the only information that will be displayed on one's Facebook profile is recommendations that they chose to share on Facebook. …
  • Mobile Brings Bing and Google Together
    Microsoft has released an official Bing for Mobile Android App for customers of Verizon Wireless. According to eWeek, the exclusive arrangement "underscores how Android has become a significant mobile platform to rival Apple's iPhone." We're just struck by how willing archrivals Microsoft and Android maker Google are to put aside their differences in the name of trouncing Apple. Owners of Android-based smartphones from the Motorola Droid to the Droid Incredible can now download the free application from the Verizon Wireless Marketplace. Bing for Mobile Android comes a few months after Microsoft launched its Bing for iPhone app, which has …
  • Stop Me If You've heard This One Before: YouTube Readies On-Demand Service
    In a move that could threaten a cross-section of industries, Google is reportedly in advanced talks with top movie studios to launch a YouTube-based pay-per-view movie rental service. "Google's YouTube video site is in negotiations with Hollywood's leading movie studios to launch a global pay-per-view video service by the end of 2010, putting it head-to-head with Apple in the race to dominate the digital distribution of film and television content," reports the Financial Times, citing unnamed sources. "YouTube is the dominant online destination for user-generated content," writes MediaBeat. "But the …
  • Face-Recognition Startup Refocuses On Mobile
    At least for the moment, Swedish-based facial recognition startup Polar Rose is getting out of the consumer products business. Who cares? In the short term, countless Flickr users who've come to rely on the company's technology to ID friends, family, and other people of interest in theirs' and others' photos. Long term, Polar Rose's decision to refocus its efforts on research and the enterprise market could hasten the birth of the next great mobile app. As ReadWriteWeb explains, Polar Rose has been working with Swedish software and design company The Astonishing Tribe to create an "augmented reality …
  • Web Puts Oxford Dictionary On Deathwatch
    In what ABC's Nightline would call "A sign of the times," the Oxford English Dictionary could be heading for extinction. Yes, as The Washington Post reports, the obvious culprit is the Web, which Oxford University Press now says has made the future of the printed dictionary "uncertain." The digital version of the Oxford English Dictionary now gets 2 million hits a month from subscribers, who pay $295 a year for the service in the U.S., according to WaPo. By contrast, the current printed edition -- a 20-volume, 750-pound ($1,165) set published in 1989 -- has sold just …
  • Meet The Web TV Wranglers
    As the Web TV landscape continues to take shape, a handful of Web sites are positioning themselves as one-stop shops for finding the best programming across the digital ether. A startup named SideReel is "trying to get an edge by not only offering links to legitimate sources of shows, like network sites, but also letting users share links to sites where illegal copies are available for instant viewing," writes The New York Times' Bits blog. SideReel visitors can search for the latest episode of a show like "The Office" or "Entourage" and then be directed to all …
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