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Bye-bye, Read It Later; hello, Pocket

Pocket is the successor to the megapopular short-term bookmarking tool Read It Later. It offers much of the core functionality of Read It Later, plus it comes with a number of improved features and a completely redesigned interface.

Essentially a short-term bookmarking tool, Pocket helps you better manage your online media consumption across all of your different devices, regardless of platform. With it, you can put lengthy articles or videos away and queue them up for reading and watching later, from any of your devices. This can be incredibly convenient when, say, you come across a video on your phone, … Read more

D-Link ships streaming-only MovieNite media player

D-Link announced today its latest streaming device, which is a stripped-down version of its Boxee Box, called the MovieNite.

Unlike the Boxee, that in addition to streaming can play back content stored on a plugged-in external hard drive, the MovieNite is a stream-only device. It supports popular steaming services, including Vudu, Netflix, Pandora and YouTube.

To make up for this, the new device costs just about one third the price of the Boxee Box, at around $60.

The MovieNite comes with just one HDMI port and supports up to 1080p high-def streaming content. It supports wireless N standard and a … Read more

Who says Silicon Valley forgets you if you're over 40?

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--It's nearly 10 a.m. in the City Council chambers here, and 43 people are waiting for their turn to speak.

These are not citizens with civic matters on their minds; divided into two lines that stretch out from either side of the podium in the center of the room, these veterans of Google, Cisco, NASA, Hewlett-Packard, Yahoo, Microsoft, Boeing, Sun, and others, are here looking for a new lease on their professional lives.

One by one, they lean into the microphone to introduce themselves. They mention where they've worked in the past, list their skills, … Read more

Chevy adds GogoLink navigation to list of MyLink apps

Pandora has become the app most widely integrated with cars, but while customized streaming-music channels are nice, navigation is much more useful. Chevy obliges by adding the GogoLink navigation app to its MyLink connectivity system.

GogoLink will be available late this year in Chevy Sonic and Spark models equipped with the MyLink option. Including it in these cars lets Chevy offer navigation at the bottom of its model lineup.… Read more

The Pirate Bay walks the plank on Windows Live Messenger?

Microsoft has decided to block access to The Pirate Bay from Windows Live Messenger, according to a new report.

When users try to send an instant message to a friend with a link from The Pirate Bay, Windows Live Messenger displays a warning, saying that the link is "blocked because it was reported as unsafe." TorrentFreak, which was first to report on the news, says that the same issue occurs in third-party instant-messaging clients, like Pidgin, when logged into Live Messenger.

Microsoft's apparent decision to block The Pirate Bay might conjure up privacy fears among those who … Read more

How to manage all your social network settings from one place

Bliss Control is a Web service that aims to ease the burden of updating a variety of settings on multiple social networks. It supports 12 settings on 13 different social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+.

Bliss Control doesn't require access to your account or password because all it's providing is a direct link to where the specific settings are. Granted, it's not that difficult to find these settings on your own, but if you're trying to update your profile pic, e-mail address, or bio on several sites at the same time, Bliss Control can … Read more

Ford adding Facebook features to Sync

To look up an event location on Facebook, Ford wants drivers to ask Sync for directions--and put down the phone.

Ford engineers are testing how drivers can use the Sync AppLink system to tap into Facebook with voice commands. The automaker says social integration is the next evolution for its voice-controlled Sync system, and accessing Facebook events is just one example already being developed.

In a demonstration for CNET, SyncApp Link Product Manager Julius Marchwicki had Sync announce upcoming Facebook events, his RSVP status, and the venue locations. The next steps, he said, would be to get directions to the … Read more

The Pirate Bay tosses all torrents

If you go to The Pirate Bay's Web site, you'll now see the words "The Magnet Bay." As of tomorrow, the popular Swedish torrent tracker will no longer be offering users torrent files, but instead will be posting magnet links.

On its blog today, the Pirate Bay wrote that even though this "marks the end of an era," users should not notice much of a difference.

"It shouldn't make much of a difference for the average user. At most it will take a few more seconds before a torrent shows the size … Read more

HTC's Media Link goes where AirPlay has gone before

HTC finally has an answer to Apple's AirPlay.

The latest incarnation of the HTC Media Link is a small box that allows you to stream music, photos and videos straight to a TV from an HTC phone using a three-finger swipe.

Media Link will also support full mirroring, allowing you to stream whatever is being displayed on your phone to your TV. That could potentially allow for streaming video from premium video sources like Hulu Plus or HBO GO, although that hasn't always been the case with Apple's competing AirPlay streaming standard, which allows apps to block full-mirroring. … Read more

Want to be found on Bing by your Facebook friends? Here's how

Facebook users who want to control what information pops up when a friend searches for them at Bing have a new option.

Rolled out yesterday, Bing's Linked Pages let Facebook users manage which of their Web pages, profiles, and blogs show up on Microsoft's search engine. So whether you want to promote yourself or keep your other Web pages off the grid from your friends, Linked Pages will give you a certain level of control.

The feature requires a Facebook account, but you can use it to manage any Web pages about yourself, not just your Facebook profile. … Read more