Ouch. Ping, Apple's iTunes-focused "social network," just made NPR's list of "Worst Ideas of 2010." Citing a report in Mashable, NPR's music news blog The Record notes: "The day Steve Jobs [announced Ping], tech writers began sounding the death knell for MySpace." Why has Apple's social play so far failed to take off? Simply, "Apple doesn't like sharing, thus, it is difficult for them to build a social network," The Record explains. "The most popular services -- the Facebooks, Twitters and MySpaces of the world -- allow users to share links, thoughts, ideas, photos and music to connect with …

Over the past last year, time spent using e-mail sites like Yahoo and Hotmail has fallen 48% among 12- to 17-year-olds, reports The New York Times, citing data from comScore. While the stats only include time spent with e-mail on computers -- and not mobile -- "The drop for that age group is far sharper than for others," The Times notes. By contrast, comScore found a decline of just 10% in time spent on Web-based email among 18- to 24-year-olds. (Oddly, comScore also found a 15% increase in time spend on e-mail among those 55 to 64, 17% among …

What's the likelihood of Google mounting a successful social strategy? Put one way, the search giant's more likely to land on the moon, says Paul Buchheit, who was employee number 23 at Google -- where he invented Gmail and coined the slogan "Don't be evil" -- before doing a stint at Facebook. Regarding "social" and Google's attempt to rival Facebook, Buchheit tells Gawker, "I expect that Google will find greater success with their self-driving car and moon landing initiatives." As Gawker notes, "Having worked for both companies, Buchheit is in a good position to evaluate the 'war' between the …

The Federal Communications Commission has adopted new rules to govern how Internet providers treat Web traffic and services. The move, according to Politico, "sets the stage for a heated political battle on Capitol Hill come January." Democrats on the panel, today, voted to approve the first enforceable Net neutrality rules, which will prohibit Internet service providers such as AT&T, Verizon and Comcast from blocking access to lawful content and websites. "Given the importance of an open Internet to our economic future ... it is essential that the FCC fulfill its historic role as a cop on the …

Question: What tiny startup did Twitter just acquire? Answer: question and answer site Fluther. Per the deal, Fluther.com will remain intact, while its four core developers -- and single designer -- will now focus their collective energy on Twitter. Why Fluther? "Twitter has often repeated that it is more than just a site for those who want to produce content, it is a destination for content consumption," notes ReadWriteWeb. "This acquisition could do well to move Twitter further in this direction and help to rise appropriate content to the top of users' streams." Said Twitter: "When the …

Microsoft says manufacturers sold carrier partners over 1.5 million phones running Windows Phone 7 during their first six weeks on the market. "In the U.S., only two carriers currently offer the GSM-only phones: AT&T and T-Mobile," notes ZDNet's Mary-Jo Foley. "In early 2011, Verizon and Sprint are expected to begin selling CDMA Windows Phone 7 devices." Foley suggests that sales would likely have been stronger if phone makers and carriers provided sufficient stock. "Or," she adds, "if phone makers didn't have to delay shipping models with various technical glitches." Microsoft is expected to deliver an update to …

TripAdvisor is the latest partner to sign up for Facebook's Instant Personalization feature. Quite simply, the travel site will now exploit users' Facebook data to more prominently feature their friends' reviews. Users will also be able to see where their friends have traveled, so they can know who to ask for advice. At least when it was announced earlier this year, "Instant Personalization is one of Facebook's more controversial programs," TechCrunch notes. Through the program, Facebook allows select third-party sites to access any of your public Facebook data as soon as users visit the site, with no …

Who didn't see this coming? Now that Groupon appears out of reach, Google is eying some of the social buying site's rivals, sources tell The Post. Potential prey includes LivingSocial, with a reported $1 billion valuation, along with BuyWithMe, though it's reportedly only doing $20 million in revenue. "The deal talks show that the search giant is intent on jumping into the fast-growing local coupon market through acquisitions and not through organic growth," writes The Post. The clear leader in the space, Groupon has an 80% coupon market share and claims to have $1 billion in annual …

After a few false starts, could Apple finally have a winning TV strategy on its hands? It certainly thinks so on the proverbial eve of selling a million Apple TVs less than four months after debuting the cheaper version. "The new Apple TV offers the simplest way to watch your favorite HD movies and TV shows, stream content from Netflix, YouTube, Flickr and MobileMe, all on your HD TV for the breakthrough price of just $99," the tech giant boasts. Critics, however, seems less impressed with Apple TV sales. …

From Sharp to LG, top TV makers were planning to unveil Google TV-enabled devices at The Consumer Electronics Show next month. In light of poor reviews, however, Google has reportedly asked that they keep quiet for now. "The late request caught some of the manufacturers off guard," reports The New York Times. "And it illustrates the struggles Google faces as it tries to expand into the tricky, unfamiliar realm of consumer electronics, and drum up broad interest in a Web-based TV product that consumers want." "Conventional wisdom on Google TV: Not ready …