MySpace, Google join forces

MySpace and Bebo, two of the world`s largest social networking sites, have joined a Google-led alliance that is promoting a common set of standards for software developers to write programs for social networks, says New York Times.

The alliance presents a powerful counterweight to Facebook, which, after opening up its site to developers last spring, has persuaded thousands of them to create programs for its users. The addition of MySpace, the world`s largest social network with 110 million active members, and Bebo, the top site in Britain with 39 million active users, could also put pressure on Facebook to drop its own standard and join the alliance, called OpenSocial.

"OpenSocial is going to become the de facto standard for developers right out of the gate," said Chris DeWolfe, chief executive of MySpace. "It will have access to 200 million users, making it way bigger than any other platform out there."

As part of its "pre-Black Friday" promotion, Wal-Mart will offer Toshiba`s entry-level HD-A2 player for a mere $98.97, reports PC World.

Blu-ray is using the PlayStation 3 (PS3) as its HW attack. Over 5.5 million PS3s were sold as of last month, so there are plenty of Blu-ray players out there.

Bundling Blu-ray movies with PS3s is a smart way that Sony used to get gamers to start thinking about their PS3s as video players.

Time, which likes to anoint things, has named Apple`s iPhone the "Invention of the Year", says News.com.

The article accompanying the award lays out several reasons why the iPhone is important to the computer industry. The relentless buzz around the iPhone, as well as the sales figures, are signs that the general public is starting to really think about what they want in a mobile computer.

The iPhone has made the wireless industry sit up and realise that the bar has been raised. It`s also setting the stage for a future in which the mobile computer gradually occupies a larger part of everyone`s world.