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Coming soon: Google Voice Search — The master of text-based search is looking to lend a lend a voice to Internet users everywhere, or so it appears based on Google's latest patent. Patent #7,027,987 issued today by the US Patent and Trademark Office covers a "Voice interface for a search engine," which is described as:
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Is Mobile Voice Search Hot? — If you have tried to do search on non-qwerty mobile phones, then you are all too familiar with the frustrations that go along with it. Piper Jaffray projects the global mobile search revenues will generate $11 billion by 2008.
Discussion:
The Pondering Primate


Mo' Beta Maps — Today we added global satellite imagery to Yahoo! Maps beta. The new satellite imagery will help people visualize maps, driving directions, and local search, and is available across Yahoo! and to developers through our APIs. — Here are the highlights:
Discussion:
O'Reilly Radar, Charlene Li's Blog, All Points Blog, Search Engine Journal and The Map Room
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Yahoo! Satellite Maps: Good for Pilots — When Google first launched their maps with satellite imagery, I immediately began using it as a tool for examining airports and non-airport landing spots. — It turns out that I wasn't alone. The aviation community at large has been all over Google Maps.

Microsoft Announces Windows Live Academic Search — New research tool delivers enhanced search capabilities to the academic community. — REDMOND, Wash. — April 11, 2006 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the beta release of its Windows Live™ Academic Search service in seven countries.
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Microsoft creates academic search site to rival Google's
Discussion:
UBC Google Scholar Blog.folio


Live.com to be homepage of Vista, IE7 — Microsoft's new hire, Niall Kennedy (formally of Technorati), wrote in his blog today that Live.com will be the default homepage for Vista and IE7: … This is something I've been predicting for a while, but until now Microsoft hadn't confirmed it.
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Windows Vista Product Guide Preview Was Available!
Discussion:
Ed Bott's Microsoft Report

Ad money lures established media into uncharted waters — So I ask Mark Cuban — a man who enjoys disrupting the establishment as much as any billionaire around — why the media industry seems to have gone insane lately. — Press releases about deals that would've defied belief just a couple …
Discussion:
Techdirt

Merger Mania Hits VoIP — What a week... a wave of mergers has hit the VoIP space. First Comverse acquired Netcentrex for $164 million in what seems to be a move to round out its triple play portfolio. — Then Genesys, a division of Alcatel that makes contact/call center products acquired-rival …
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Business bites the blogging bullet — For the average business trying to protect and enhance its reputation, the prospect of having its actions scrutinised by an army of online commentators can feel like a threat. — After all, the last thing a firm wants, after spending years burnishing …
Discussion:
Investor Relations Blog

Apple's iBook successor may sport fashionable hues — When Apple Computer introduces its new line of Intel-based consumer notebooks this spring, the company may once again offer buyers a fashionable option it phased out of its iMac product line nearly half a decade ago: colored enclosures.

ABC experiment faces infrastructure problems — Internet not designed for mass-market streaming video, analysts say — SAN FRANCISCO - The design of the Internet is unsuited to the sort of "live" online television services announced this week by Walt Disney, according to analysts and Internet executives.
Discussion:
The Silent Penguin

Google spreads tentacles to Russia — Google has announced that it is going to open a research and development centre in Moscow this year. — Sergei Burkov, a former CEO of Dulance, an Internet search company, will run the centre. According to sources, Google has acquired Dulance.

OECD Broadband Statistics, December 2005 — The number of broadband subscriptions throughout the OECD continued to increase during 2005 from 136 million in June 2005 to 158 million by December 2005. Broadband penetration growth in the OECD held steady at 15% in the second half …

MySpace.com Hires Official to Oversee Users' Safety — MySpace.com, the social networking Internet site popular with young people that has alarmed some parents and law enforcement officials concerned about sexual predators, announced yesterday that it was hiring a former federal prosecutor to be its first chief security officer.
Discussion:
Lost Remote TV Blog


News Corp. Has New Pitch: Generation Fox — Reorganizes Sales Force to Sell 12- to 24-Year-Old Demo Across Platforms — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Move over MTV. News Corp. is making an early grab for ad dollars aimed at the 12- to 24-year-old demographic and is retooling its sales operation …
Discussion:
ClickZ Internet Marketing …


Google Audio calls for talent — While browsing through the jobs at Google I stumbled across something new — postings targeted at future "Google Audio" employees. Some of the positions they are looking to fill are: Customer Support Technician, Senior Sales Technical Support, Provisioning Manager …

A Bloggy Boost for Old Media — Tech startup Pluck is rolling out syndicated blog offerings for traditional publications. But is this a service anyone needs? — As recently as a year ago, it was inconceivable that much of Old Media would embrace blogs.