Microsoft is finally killing off the confusing “Windows Live” brand. It’s being replaced with a renewed focus on Microsoft’s biggest piece of software – the Windows OS – together with a new and all-encompassing identity system named “Microsoft account.” Windows Live has been Microsoft’s online branding since it was unveiled back in November 2005. But … Read more

Sometime over the next 12 hours, the SpaceX capsule Dragon will rendezvous with the International Space Station for the first time. It’s streaming live on UStream and you can watch it here. To prepare you for this historic event, we’ve profiled the stellar career so far of SpaceX founder Elon Mask. The rendezvous is the … Read more

shopfront: the front side of a store facing the street; usually contains display windows (Dictionary.com) Yahoo’s search app Axis, launched earlier today, is being marketed as “a new kind of browser.” It’s not a browser though, it’s an app that is available on PC, iPhone and iPad. On the PC, it’s a plug-in (which is … Read more

Statistics show that we are watching fewer videos on YouTube. However, we are watching longer videos and subsequently spending more time on the site. YouTube is changing. But it’s also looking over its shoulder at Facebook, which looms as a big threat should it acquire Viddy or Socialcam. To celebrate its seventh birthday, YouTube boasts … Read more

File this in the “we-try-it-out-so-you-don’t-have-to” category. So.cl is a derivative social network that may be useful to students, but it won’t fly elsewhere. Over the weekend, Microsoft opened to the public an experimental social network called So.cl. It’s a mix between Google+ and Storify. Users are encouraged to search for information about a particular topic, … Read more

Editor’s note: In the Summer 2012 issue of SAY Magazine, Dan Frommer chronicles the history of tech blogging. For the rest of this week, Richard MacManus, who founded ReadWriteWeb in 2003, will be looking back on the early days. In our final look at the leading tech bloggers of this era, we profile a couple … Read more

Editor’s note: In the Summer 2012 issue of SAY Magazine, Dan Frommer chronicles the history of tech blogging. For the rest of this week, Richard MacManus, who founded ReadWriteWeb in 2003, will be looking back on the early days. When Sarah Lacy launched the oddly named PandoDaily earlier this year, the goal was to dislodge … Read more

Editor’s note: In the Summer 2012 issue of SAY Magazine, Dan Frommer chronicles the history of tech blogging. For the rest of this week, Richard MacManus, who founded ReadWriteWeb in 2003, will be looking back on the early days. Mashable founder Pete Cashmore is described as “studly” in Dan Frommer’s article Rise of the Tech … Read more

Editor’s note: In the Summer 2012 issue of SAY Magazine, Dan Frommer chronicles the history of tech blogging. For the rest of this week, Richard MacManus, who founded ReadWriteWeb in 2003, will be looking back on the early days. Blog network Weblogs, Inc. sold to AOL in October 2005, for a reported $25 million. I … Read more

Editor’s note: In the Summer 2012 issue of SAY Magazine, Dan Frommer chronicles the history of tech blogging. For the rest of this week, Richard MacManus, who founded ReadWriteWeb in 2003, will be looking back on the early days. TechCrunch launched on June 11, 2005, with the aim of covering the emerging trend called Web … Read more

Early Internet of Things innovator gets a makeover and a new name: Cosm. It’s attempting to become more social, but unfortunately it’s likely to turn normal people off – rather than turn them on. When we first started profiling the emerging trend of Internet of Things back in 2009, one startup stood out as an … Read more

Over the weekend, Yahoo’s embattled CEO Scott Thompson finally did the honorable thing and stood down. Ex-President of News Corp’s Fox Interactive Media division, Ross Levinsohn, has been named interim Chief Executive Officer. Hedge fund shareholder Daniel Loeb – whose firm Third Point owned 5.8% of Yahoo – and his three cronies have effectively won … Read more

“I believe the shift toward apps is about user experience.”Benjamin Sandofsky, Tech Lead on Twitter for iPhone, iPad, and Mac Apps vs. The Mobile Web. It’s often presented by the media as an either/or, winner-takes-all proposition. Usually accompanied by an “X is Dead” headline. Wired Magazine (in)famously declared that “The Web is Dead” in 2010. … Read more

“If it can be done on the Web, build it for the Web; if it can’t, build an app.” Alex Schleifer, GM of the Media Lab at SAY Media Thanks to Apple’s iOS and Google’s open source Android OS, smartphone and tablet apps have enjoyed a period of astounding success over the past few years. … Read more

Video content is one of the fastest growing categories online. Television networks are scrambling to keep up, because the success stories so far have been smaller entities creating highly targeted and Web native content. The most successful video content producer right now is a company called Machinima, currently in the middle of an investment round … Read more