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AOL's 'AIM Phoneline' offers free local phone number — DULLES, Va. — AOL is close to unveiling a voice-over-Internet service, based on its AIM instant messenger, that would give any AIM user a local phone number for free. — Dubbed AIM Phoneline, the free number would only allow for incoming calls from any phone.
Discussion:
A VC, Alec Saunders .LOG, Digital Inspiration, IP Democracy, Download Squad, billsdue and Rex Hammock's Weblog
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AOL to Add Free Phone to Instant Messaging Feature — AOL is preparing to offer the 41 million users of its instant messaging system a free phone number that will allow people to call them from regular phones while they are online. — The move is part of a broad effort by AOL …

Microsoft to Acquire In-Game Advertising Pioneer Massive Inc. — Massive's technology for weaving dynamic, relevant ads into video games will extend next-generation advertising across Microsoft properties and beyond. — REDMOND, Wash. — May 4, 2006 — Today at the seventh annual MSN® …

INGRAM: Apple wins, but who loses? — Steve Jobs, benign dictator: It's funny how our view of what is right changes depending on whether we like the person who is making the rules. Take Apple and iTunes for example. After months of negotiations — and months before that filled with sniping …
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There's some Reader in my Homepage! — Reader and the Google Personalized Homepage have always been kindred spirits, seeing as both deal with feeds (and the teams sit 10 feet apart). We're therefore very happy to announce that your Reader reading list (or any label of your choosing) can now be added as a module to the homepage.

The RFID Hacking Underground … James Van Bokkelen is about to be robbed. A wealthy software entrepreneur, Van Bokkelen will be the latest victim of some punk with a laptop. But this won't be an email scam or bank account hack. A skinny 23-year-old named Jonathan Westhues plans to use a cheap …


Net censorship spreads worldwide — Technology Correspondent, BBC News website — Repressive regimes are taking full advantage of the net's ability to censor and stifle reform and debate, reveals a report. — Written by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) pressure group the report highlights …
Discussion:
Bleeding Edge

Apple responds to rumors of Aperture's demise, releases update — Apple on Thursday responded to rumors that the company has asked the engineering team for its professional photography workflow application Aperture to leave. The rumors, which started late last week, are completely false, according to Apple.
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Free Vista (and Office) for holiday shoppers? — Jupiter's Michael Gartneberg has a great suggestion for Microsoft: give holiday season PC purchasers a free copy of Vista. And Office. It's a terrific idea that would spur a lot of fence-sitting potential PC purchasers to spend their holiday bucks …


New referrals for Google Pack and Picasa — We're happy to announce that, in addition to AdSense, AdWords, and Firefox with Google Toolbar, you can now refer your users to Google Pack and Picasa. You'll earn up to $2 for each time a user installs Pack and up to $1 for each Picasa install.

BridgePort Networks and Seimens in the News — This is fortuitous timing. I knew BridgePort had a cool announcement coming shortly. I recently traded email with someone from Siemens that started from my post, Siemens Gets It. What could be next? A joint announcement -

Get a Bag of Schwag from ValleySchwag! — If you've ever been to a conference you know the anticipation connected with the Schwag Bag which comes filled with bribes gifts from vendors hoping that by giving you a pen, t-shirt, condom, coffee mug, USB drive that you'll buy their product …

A Big Question Unanswered by a Tiny PC — ACCORDING to legend, they teach you in journalism school to remember the five W's: who, what, when, where and why. — This week, Microsoft unveiled a new kind of computer called the Ultra Mobile PC — and has good answers to four of those questions.
Discussion:
Between the Lines, Scobleizer, Incremental Blogger, jkOnTheRun and Life On the Wicked Stage

Spam War Knocks Out Blogs — An Israeli antispam company said Thursday that a junk e-mailer's vendetta is behind attacks this week that took down its site, five hosting providers and one of the internet's largest blog networks. — The website of Blue Security, a service that sends automated opt …
Discussion:
Things That

The State of MobileIP (Mobile VoIP) in Norway (reflections of the Nordic market) — Yesterday, Telenor AS announced another set of great results for Q1'06 but these results might be the last good news to come out of the Nordics. Moments later, Telenor Venture (Telenor's external VC group) …


Pantech is preparing Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone for Verizon — It seems that Pantech, the second largest manufacturer in Korea really wants to get a piece of the US market share - we've already showed some of its low and mid-level models targeted to Verizon and Cingular (CDMA and GSM) …


MySpace blocks Buzznet — MySpace is at it again. The site blocked embedded YouTube videos last year (but then, saying it was a "misunderstanding," fixed it). But Buzznet is a direct competitor, with similar photo-sharing, friend-linking, and other social features.

Transform PSP into a mobile! — Vonage rumoured to be working on software that will turn your PSP or DS into a VoIP phone. — Not content with playing games, watching telly and listening to music on your handheld console? Never fear - you could soon be using it as a mobile phone too.