Stefania Spagnuolo

Google has recently added a new feature to Google Maps. MyMaps, an added sidebar to the Google Maps main page, allows users to create their own mashups. Users can personalize a map by marking places on the map or adding text, photos and videos. ... Further, users can choose to publish a map on the web or share a map with friends. (Source: franticindustries.com ) Some have elected to create mini-stories with the new feature. A Google employee even created a virtual tour of Google Headquarters with MyMaps. If you prefer, check out a world tour of the places where programming languages were invented ... (view more)

On April 2, EMI and Apple announced that EMI's entire music catalog will be available free of all digital rights management (DRM) protection on the iTunes store. While the buzz of the announcement has centered on the implications for the music ... industry, there is another facet of this situation worth discussing: Steve Jobs' orchestration of the shift to DRM-free music. (Source: techreport.com ) In February, Jobs released an open letter on the Apple website criticizing DRM protection systems. Jobs wrote: "Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable ... (view more)

Most of Mozilla's efforts have seemed to center around beefing up its Firefox browser. However, Mozilla now plans to enter a new realm by releasing a social networking project -- a Firefox plugin called the Coop. The Coop will allow users to add ... friends directly to Firefox, and share information directly through the browser instead of via email. In essence, Mozilla is aiming to make interaction more direct. (Source: franticindustries.com ) On the Coop's project page, Mozilla describes how the Coop will work. The page explains that the Coop will "let users keep track of what their friends are ... (view more)

Online advertising company DoubleClick is looking for a buyer, and many analysts speculate that Microsoft is going to spend the big bucks necessary to acquire the company. In 2005, the private-equity firm Hellman ... (view more)

22-year-old Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard to create the social networking phenomenon. Judging from his recent comments, Zuckerberg probably didn't attend any age discrimination or public relations classes during his ... short stay at the ivy league school. Zuckerberg, in a recent event at Stanford University, has made it clear that he doesn't think experience is important; rather, it's being young that's an asset. "I want to stress the importance of being young and technical," he said, explaining that start-ups should only employ the young and technologically- ... (view more)

It seems that no one can get enough of the iPod -- including Nike. Last week, Nike President and Chief Executive Mark Parker announced that the company plans to make all of its running shoes compatible with Apple's iPod Nano line by the end of this ... year. The news undoubtedly comes as a result of the smashing success of the Nike+iPod Sport Kits. The kits, which retail for about $30 each, allow runners to track their workout data -- such as distance, time and calories burned -- on an iPod Nano. The kit includes a wireless module that fits into Nike+ running shoe soles and a receiver that ... (view more)

Oops! It looks like Yahoo has dropped the ball. In releasing an update to increase the speed of the system, a bug has caused Yahoo Groups members' inboxes to be flooded with duplicate messages. While Yahoo touts the speed increase as the "silver ... lining" of the situation, the cloud it's hiding behind seems pretty large. (Source: yahoo.com ) Users commented that messages were arriving faster than they could be deleted, with as much as 25 duplicates arriving per original message. Some users also reported that messages that were not appearing when they should be. (Source: news.com ) Yahoo's ... (view more)

When Sony's Chief Executive Sir Howard Stringer recently sat down for an interview, one common theme kept coming up: Apple. Stringer revealed that his company blew it on the digital media front and lost out to the Apple's iPod, but swore that he ... would not repeat the same mistake when going head to head with the iPhone. When Stringer took over as head of Sony in 2005, he says that every branch of the company was a silo -- operating independently and sheltered from one another. This compartmentalized structure, he says, let to some serious delays in the company's digital music efforts. Stringer ... (view more)

Unnamed sources have claimed that Treo maker Palm Inc. may be up for sale, and could likely be acquired by one of its rivals. As a result, this may give Apple's iPhone some trouble. Although four companies are said to be interested in the Palm ... purchase, including two private equity groups, the two front-runners of the acquisition are Motorola and Nokia. Such an acquisition could re-shape the cellular phone market. (Source: appleinsider.com ) If Mortorola bought Palm, it would establish itself as the single largest supplier of Windows Mobile devices. This position could lead to an elimination ... (view more)

It seems that Apple is planning to give the iMac a new look. Recent reports reveal that Apple execs have called on the company's award-winning Design Chief Jonathan Ive to rework the Mac into a sleeker design. A slim pair of Core 2 Duo-based models ... is expected to be produced by Ive and his team. (Source: appleinsider.com ) The redesign reports are quite exciting for iMac fans. The most recent aesthetic overhaul occurred nearly three years ago in August of 2004, when Apple replaced its "sunflower" iMac G4 with the portrait-style iMac G5. (Source: appleinsider.com ) Speculators expect the ... (view more)