Despite our busy week, Jason and I had the chance to sit down to do an episode of OMG/JK yesterday. We focused on a few key topics: Facebook’s new subscribe social option, their smart lists, the first Windows 8 developer preview, and TechCrunch Disrupt.

Obviously, it’s impossible to talk about Disrupt without mentioning Mike’s exit. So we address that at first, before going on to discuss the startups.

Below, find some relevant links to the things we talk about.

• Facebook Launches Twitter-Like ‘Subscriptions’, Lets You Share With Unlimited Users
• Facebook Begins Auto-Grouping Friends Into Smart Lists
• Windows 8 Brings Entirely New Look And Feel, Unifies Touch And PC Interfaces
• Fly Or Die: Premature Opinions On Windows 8? We Got ‘Em Here!
• Previewing The Future: Hands On With Windows 8
• TechCrunch As We Know It May Be Over
• And The Winner Of TechCrunch Disrupt Is…Shaker
• The Ultimate Guide To TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2011

This week, we talk about Amazon’s upcoming secret tablet (which MG recently tried out), and how it might or might not take on the iPad. We also discuss the complexity of the Windows 8 UI and its growing number of buttons. And we take a look at the recent firing of Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz.

Oh, and yes — I am wearing an orange thread friendship bracelet. Consider it a preview of an upcoming episode of TC Cribs (I forgot to take it off).

Here are some recent posts relevant to this week’s episode:

• Amazon’s Kindle Tablet Is Very Real. I’ve Seen It, Played With It.
• “Respect Explorer’s Heritage”
• Microsoft’s Interpretation Of “No Compromise” Is The Definition Of “Compromise”
• Bartz Fired; Morse Named Interim CEO; Yahoo Board Creates Circle Of Elders To Decide Company Fate
• Bartz Calls Yahoo’s Board A Bunch Of “Doofuses”

It’s been a couple of weeks since our last show — and those weeks have been packed with news. Google announced that it’s in the process of acquiring Motorola, which will have major implications for the future of Android. Facebook made some changes to its Places product and privacy settings. And, in sad news, Steve Jobs announced that he’s stepping down as CEO of Apple.

Don’t worry, the episode isn’t that long — it clocks in around half an hour, and we think it’s a good one.

Here are some stories relevant to this week’s episode:

• Google Buys Motorola Mobility For $12.5B, Says “Android Will Stay Open”
• The Land Rush: Why Google Won’t Bless Motorola As Its Favorite Android
• “Defending Android
• Steve Jobs Resigns As CEO Of Apple
• Apple’s COO Tim Cook Replaces Steve Jobs As CEO
• Facebook’s Massive Kitchen Sink Update: Photo Tag Approvals And So Much More

Even though it’s the end of summer and tech news has started to slow to a crawl, there was actually quite a bit to talk about on OMG/JK this week. In this episode, Jason and I focus on three key things: Amazon’s Kindle web reader, Facebook Messenger, and games on Google+.

Is Amazon screwing with Apple? Is Facebook screwing with SMS? Is Google screwing with Facebook? Those are the main points of discussion. We also sort of veer off into a discussion about whether or not Google+ is all one big game in the more metaphorical sense.

And as a bonus, you’ll get to see our awkward transitions between stories.

Here are some of the key stories we talk about this week:

• Amazon’s Answer To Apple’s Terms: A Web-Based Kindle Cloud Reader — Brilliant On PC, Better On iPad
• Facebook Launches Standalone iPhone/Android Messenger App (And It’s Beluga)
• Facebook Just Out-iMessaged iMessage — And SMS Is More Screwed Than Ever
• Google Wastes No Time Putting Games On Google+: Angry Birds, Bejeweled, Zynga On Board
• Facebook And Google Duke It Out Over Gaming (Same Day Announcements, Zynga?)

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This week’s episode of OMG/JK is a bit top-heavy. There simply wasn’t a ton of news this week beyond the one giant fight that broke out between Google and Microsoft over the patent issue. Channeling that spirit, Jason and I get into an argument about the argument.

Is Google right? Is Microsoft right? Do they both look like huge asses?

Then we move on to talk a bit about the new Gmail Labs functionality that adds a third viewing pane to Google’s online email service. On this we mainly agree: it needs a lot of work.

Watch the episode above and find some relevant links to what we talk about below. And yes, I have a giant beard.

• Google Rips Into Microsoft, Apple, Oracle For “Bogus Patents” And Trying To “Strangle” Android
• Google Threw A Punch, Microsoft Fires Back With A Missile
• Why Did Google Blog About Patents Today? Because The Nortel Loss Was Just The Beginning.
• Google Responds To Microsoft’s “Gotcha”: They’re Diverting Attention With A Trick That Failed
• Microsoft Responds To Google’s Response To Microsoft’s Response
• How Apple Led The High-Stakes Patent Poker Win Against Google, Sealing Ballmer’s Promise
• Microsoft’s Android Plan: Evil Genius Or Just Evil?
• Google On The Nortel Loss, Patents As Government-Granted Monopolies, And Plates Of Spaghetti
• Gmail Gets A Preview Pane (Hooray!), Needs Work (Aww)

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We’re back for a new episode of OMG/JK — featuring both of your hosts reunited in the TCHQ studio (I was back in SF for our Mobile First CrunchUp). Oh, and this episode also includes a cameo by a man in a large yellow jacket. I won’t spoil it.

We kick off this week’s episode by diving into Twitter’s new ad format, which allows brands to place Promoted Tweets at the top of their followers’ streams. Twitter has long been toying with various ad formats — will this one please users, or just annoy them?

Next up we have Facebook’s secret iPad application, which leaked out as part of an official update to its iPhone application. MG got his hands on the app and tested it before Facebook cut off access, and his first impressions are good — tune in to get the details.

Finally we discuss Airbnb’s recent fiasco, where a host had their home destroyed by guests,and how the startup has responded to the issue. Note that this episode was shot a few days ago, so we don’t discuss our most recent post about the situation.

Here are some posts relevant to this week’s episode:

• Twitter’s Adam Bain Talks Promoted Tweets In Timelines — Why You’ll See Them, And Why You’ll Like It
• And Then There Were Ads: Promoted Tweets Appear In Your Main Stream (If You Follow That Brand)
• Facebook’s iPad App Is Hidden Inside Of Their iPhone App
• Facebook’s Secret iPad App Exposed [Pictures]
• The Moment Of Truth For Airbnb As User’s Home Is Utterly Trashed
• On Safety: A Word From Airbnb
• Airbnb Victim Speaks Again: Homeless, Scared And Angry

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In this episode we take a look at Mac OS X Lion, the latest release of Apple’s operating system that introduces some key new features: Mission Control, Launchpad, and inverted scrolling. Tune in to hear how often MG attempts to touch the screen of his Macbook because he’s so used to the iPad. Yup.

Next, we turn to Spotify, the all-you-can-eat music streaming startup that finally launched in the United States after scoring record deals with the major US labels (there had been rumors about an impending US launch for well over a year). Was it worth the wait?

We also revisit Google+, Google’s promising social network that keeps making headlines (both good and bad).

Here are some recent stories relevant to this week’s topics:

• Sean Parker On Spotify U.S. Launch: “The Realization Of A Dream”, “The Answer To Piracy”
• With OS X Lion, Apple Touches Upon The Next Decade Of The OS
• Nine Things You Should Do After Installing OS X Lion
• Google+ iPhone App Now Live In The App Store (Screenshots)

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We’re back for a new episode of OMG/JK, and, in the spirit of Skype’s new integration with Facebook, we’ve decided to try out this nifty video conferencing technology for ourselves!

Okay, so the split-screen action was primarily motivated by the fact that I’m now out in New York, but it’s certainly timely. In this week’s episode we discuss the new Skype/Facebook launch at length, and we also do a deep dive on that other social network that now has a heavy emphasis on video calling: Google+. I think that’s how it’s spelled.

We also touch on MG’s recent decision to ditch email for the month of July, which will only make his August that much worse.

Oh, and don’t worry — video quality for my half of the screen will be much better starting next week, as I’ll be beaming in from AOL’s studio.

Here are some recent posts relevant to this week’s episode:

• Google+ Project: It’s Social, It’s Bold, It’s Fun, And It Looks Good — Now For The Hard Part
• Walking Around In Circles: As Google+ Opens Up Will People Start Using It Correctly?
• Facebook Launches Skype-Powered Video Calling
• Facebook Video Chat v. Google Hangouts: It’s No Contest
• I’m Quitting Email

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TechCrunch TV celebrates its one year birthday today. Since we launched, we’ve had 10 million live and on demand video plays. We have more than 2,300 videos archived in our library. In addition to breaking news interviews and live special event coverage, we now produce 9 shows in San Francisco and New York.

Last year in late June, TechCrunch had just moved into its new San Francisco office. Studio lights were quickly installed in a former conference room that became the studio. A rather wobbly desk was built for the set and rehearsals were conducted. One week later, TechCrunch TV launched with a very Max Headroom looking set.

In addition to the programs we launched (interview shows Keen On with Andrew Keen and Speaking Of with Cyan Banister, and our tech news roundup and sometimes fiery debate on OMG/JK with MG Siegler and Jason Kincaid,) we have added 6 new shows:

• TC Cribs: Jason Kincaid goes behind-the-scenes at tech firm offices
• Ask A VC: Sarah Lacy asks top Silicon Valley VC’s questions submitted by our readers
• Fly or Die: Erick Schonfeld and John Biggs give a ‘fly’ or ‘die’ to new products
• Founder Stories: Chris Dixon has deep conversations with other entrepreneurs about building startups
• Why Is This News?: Sarah Lacy and Paul Carr discuss stories from outside of Silicon Valley
• Gillmor Gang: Steve Gillmor produces and hosts a weekly show with industry experts and thought leaders

Our most popular “non-show” videos include Jason Kincaid trying out the largest Android phone ever and an iPhone controllable robotic ball called the Sphero that we saw at CES. Speaking of robots, another favorite was a visit to our office by the Anybots robot, controlled remotely by Michael Arrington. On the more serious side, Office Hours with Paul Graham from our last Disrupt conference was a hit. In addition to all the entrepreneurs, VC’s, founders and CEOs from startups and established tech companies too numerous to list, at Disrupt NYC we interviewed Ashton Kutcher, Senator Al Franken, and T-Pain.

We’ve upgraded our San Francisco production to HD. We now use HD robotic cameras (not remotely controlled by Arrington) and an HD Tricaster switcher. In our early days, if a guest moved out of the shot, there wasn’t much our director in the control room could do about it, as we usually have one TCTV staffer running the entire show. Now, with the robotic cameras, it’s a quick and easy adjustment to put the guest properly back in frame. We’ve also upgraded the microphones, set and desk.

Thanks to our acquisition by AOL, we now have access to the HD AOL Studios in New York, where we produce Founder Stories, Fly or Die and other NY-based interviews.

The most popular place to watch TCTV is within blog posts on Techcrunch. But we have a directory page at techcrunch.tv where we put the most recent episodes of our shows. We also list all the episodes for each show. We’ve recently made some speed performance improvements to the page, so it’s a good way to find past videos.

Looking ahead, we are planning to launch more shows and news segments. We also have some video production and website improvements on the way. Thanks for watching our first year and hope you keep watching.

Image: Will Clayton / flickr

A new iPhone is approaching — this, everyone knows. While WWDC came and went without an announcement, this was expected. Instead, this year it will be all about the fall — with new hardware hitting just in time for the formal launch of iOS 5. But what exactly will the new hardware be? An “iPhone 5″ or an “iPhone 4S”? Or, better yet, both?

That’s the latest rumor making headlines today, based on a report by Deutsche Bank’s Chris Whitmore, an analyst. Now, analysts typically have a horrible track record when it comes to correctly predicting Apple moves. And when I say “horrible”, I mean that you’d have a better shot correctly predicting what Apple is going to do by throwing darts at a board… with a blindfold on. But — there has been some evidence that backs up this latest claim (which is probably why they made it in the first place).

First of all, reports of Apple working on a cheaper version of the iPhone have been circulating for months now. And these reports have been by journalists, not analysts. In fact, a few months ago, we had heard the same thing. Sources had Apple working on a new version of their hardware that was significantly cheaper to build, thus allowing them to lower the price — likely so that they could sell the device unlocked or pre-paid, at a reasonable price.

It has been a few months since we’ve heard anything about this, but again, there are other reports and reasons to believe that may be the case. The biggest of these may be the very words Apple COO Tim Cook said to Bernstein’s Toni Sacconaghi earlier this year. Cook said that Apple did not intend their products to be “just for the rich” and when pressed, further elaborated on the iPhone opportunity. Cook stated that Apple was well aware that price was the key component in the pre-paid market and that Apple was not “ceding any market”.

Reading between the lines, many immediately began to assume that Apple was indeed working on a cheaper phone to enter the pre-paid market. The market opportunity there is massive in countries outside of the U.S. and Canada. Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and even Europe rely more on pre-paid than the carrier-subsidized phones we’re used to in the U.S.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, Apple began selling unlocked iPhones for the first time in the U.S. Many (including myself) wondered why this makes any sense — it turns a $200 device into a $650 one that you have to use on AT&T anyway in order to get full capabilities (using a GSM iPhone on T-Mobile works with EDGE speeds only — there is no CDMA unlocked version). But the key here is overseas. Meaning both travelers going overseas who want an easy way to pop in a SIM for whatever country they’re in — and people sending the devices to family members overseas.

Still, $650 is too steep for this to truly be a huge market for Apple. But it shows Apple is now increasingly open to the idea of selling unlocked devices (they’ve had to in other countries for some time by law). And if Apple was able to shave a few hundred dollars off of the steep price (perhaps down to $350 or less), it could be a new goldmine. That’s likely what this “iPhone 4S” is all about.

That name, of course, is derived from the “iPhone 3GS”, which Apple introduced in 2009. Instead of following up the iPhone 3G with an iPhone 4, Apple opted to do a more evolutionary upgrade that saw a major speed boost and the addition of video but not much else new that a customers could actually see. Even the form factor stayed the same. If Apple is doing a cheaper version of the iPhone, some think that an old iPhone body (maybe the iPhone 4, slightly modified) would be used. The internals would undoubtedly be tweaked to make the device cheaper to manufacture.

But a few of the reports about the cheaper iPhone (including ours) noted that a cheaper iPhone may come with a completely new, smaller (or thinner) body. Think: less “iPhone nano” and more “iPhone lite”.

All of this makes an “iPhone 4S” label perhaps a bit unlikely. Would Apple really be able to give the device a speed boost over the iPhone 4 while driving down the price? If anything, it seems that a slightly less capable iPhone 4 may be likely for such a model.

Point being: I wouldn’t focus on the “iPhone 4S” name too much.

Instead, look for Apple to launch a true “iPhone 5″ this fall, with the potential surprise of an “iPhone lite” (just me throwing out a name — no clue if that’s in any way what the device will actually be).

Last week, I wrote a post laying out a scenario in which the iPhone 5 launch this fall on both Verizon and AT&T overtakes (in terms of sales) the dozens of Android devices in the U.S. market across all the carriers. Jason and I then argued about this on OMG/JK, with him conceding my point that this could happen temporarily. Since that post, a half dozen other previously adamant Android believers have told me they plan to get the iPhone 5 this fall as well.

But what if that’s not even the big prize here for Apple? What if an iPhone lite opens their devices to hundreds of millions more potential users around the world? It would still have to make sense for Apple from a margin perspective. But the larger perspective is that it could further bolster the iOS ecosystem, which would ensure all their devices stay vital in the face of the Android threat.

And then there’s the even bigger picture. Apple doing considerable unlocked phone business will help them further distance themselves from a reliance on the carriers around the world. How about an iPhone with a carrier-crippling SIM? Sounds great.

Perhaps all of this is the “big fall surprise“? Or maybe it’s just a part. It was the best of times…

This week’s episode of OMG/JK is a long one — the longest yet, in fact, at 30 minutes. Jason and I apologize for going on and on but we had a lot to talk about. It’s been roughly three weeks since we last recorded an episode and a ton of stuff has happened.

And while we don’t even come close to getting through all of it, we do go pretty in-depth on some of the major things: iPhone vs. Android sales, WWDC, iOS 5, iCloud, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Google Music Beta, Facebook’s Project Spartan, dining in hell with Facebook’s PR team, Facebook’s new Photos app, Twitter/iOS, and Chromebooks.

Below find some relevant links to stories we talk about, and enjoy the episode above. A small programming note: since Jason is packing up his things and moving to New York City, this may be the last in-studio episode we do for a while. But hopefully our weekly schedule will continue uninterrupted thanks to the miracle of Skype — assuming that company doesn’t run itself into the ground before the Microsoft deal closes.

• The Verizon iPhone Halted Android’s Surge. The iPhone 5 Could Reverse It.
• Is Android Surging Only Because Apple Is Letting It?
• Live From Apple’s WWDC 2011 Keynote
• Watch Out Facebook Connect, Apple Pushes Twitter Sign-Ins In iOS 5
• “It Just Works.”
• The Final Word: Yes, You Will Be Able To Access iCloud Apps On The Web
• Thinking Outside The Browser Box: Why Should Apple Play By Current Internet Rules?
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Hits NYC June 8, Everywhere Else June 17
• A First Look At Google Music Beta
• Fly Or Die: Hands On With The Google Music Beta And A Wild New Wi-Fi Hard Drive
• Project Spartan: Facebook’s Hush-Hush Plan To Take On Apple On Their Own Turf: iOS
• Facebook PR: Tonight We Dine In Hell!
• Exposed: Facebook’s Secret iPhone Photo Sharing App (Which Looks Amazing)
• Behold: Facebook’s Secret Photo Sharing App
• Behold: The Chromebook (Samsung Series 5)
• Initial Thoughts On The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook

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In this week’s episode of OMG/JK, Jason and I start off with a preview of what may be coming at Apple’s WWDC event next week in San Francisco. Then we get into what Google unveiled at their NFC event in New York City last week. And finally, we talk about Twitter’s move into the photo space.

All three topics have a bit of controversy surrounding them. First of all, WWDC will not feature a new iPhone for the first time in several years. Second, it took PayPal a matter of hours to sue Google after Google Wallet was announced. And third, the Twitter developer ecosystem is up in arms again after Twitter has moved to fill another hole. Well, at least TwitPic is, for sure.

Below, find some of the links relevant to the discussions this week.

• Delays? Fragmentation? Advertising? Some Overcast Appears Ahead Of iTunes In iCloud
• On iCloud, Baby
• iOS 5 Likely Pushed To The Fall After A Cloud Unveiling At WWDC
• Google Unveils Wallet And Offers: An Open Platform For Mobile Payments
• Google Wallet On iPhone, WP7, RIM: “We Will Partner With Everyone” (But Will *They*?)
• Special Stickers Will Bring Google Wallet To Android Phones That Lack NFC
• Twitter Is Launching Its Own Photosharing Service
• Twitter Partners With Photobucket On Photos And Firefox On Search
• Twitter Getting Photos In Order Ahead Of iOS 5 Integration
• Twitter Photos Live For Twitter Employees, User Roll-Out Begins Next Week

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In this episode of OMG/JK, my colleague MG Siegler and I do an in-depth look at what happened at Google’s annual developer conference, which saw the launch of Google Music Beta, Android’s @home project, and the first Chromebooks. Don’t worry, we’ll talk about the Skype acquisition next time, there was just too much material to pack into one show.

And, yes, this episode is a bit retro — we shipped out the better cameras to New York in preparation for TC Disrupt next week, so we had to shoot this one in SD.

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From Google I/O to Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype, last week was a huge one for tech news.

In this episode of OMG/JK, my colleague MG Siegler and I do an in-depth look at what happened at Google’s annual developer conference, which saw the launch of Google Music Beta, Android’s @home project, and the first Chromebooks. Don’t worry, we’ll talk about the Skype acquisition next time, there was just too much material to pack into one show.

And, yes, this episode is a bit retro — we shipped out the better cameras to New York in preparation for TC Disrupt next week, so we had to shoot this one in SD. But the sounds of our rich voices are as clear as ever, and we’ll be back in HD for the next episode!

Here are some posts relevant to this week’s episode:

• Live From Google I/O 2011
• Live: Google I/O Day Two, The Chrome Keynote
• Initial Thoughts On The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook

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It’s just about that time again. Google I/O is happening next week and just as in year’s past, the company is expected to announce some big things on stage during their two keynotes on Tuesday and Wednesday morning. But what will those things be? Jason and I delve into some predictions for the event, which we’ll both be covering.

But first we take some time to look back at last year’s I/O which made a big splash at the time — and can now probably be best described as a big flop. Google TV, Google Music, Chrome OS. Etc, etc, etc… Will this year’s be more of the same? Or will Google’s mouth actually be able to write checks that their body can cash this time around? Stay tuned…

Here are some articles that are relevant to this week’s episode:

• So Unsocial: Don’t Expect Any Big Google Social Announcements At I/O Next Week
• Another Key Feature Of Google +1: Massive-Scale Social Video Conferencing
• Um, Did Google Just Quietly Launch A Web-Based iTunes Competitor? Yep.
• Google Buys Simplify Media To Power Music Syncing For New iTunes Competitor
• Social Is Too Important For Google To Screw Up With A Big Launch Circus
• The Future Version Of Android Isn’t Called Ice Cream. It’s Ice Cream SANDWICH.
• Live Blogging The Second Google I/O Keynote: The Day Of Android And Google TV
• Live From The Google I/O Keynote
• Google TV Unveiled. It’s All About The Ad Reach
• Logitech Revue With Google TV: The Official TechCrunch Review
• Wow, Sony’s Google TV Remote Looks Like A Ten Thousand Button Nightmare
• Google TV Already In Trouble? Sony Offering 25% Off Blu-ray Google TV Units
• Is Google In A Dream World? If So, Just How Close To Limbo Are They?

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We’re back for a new episode of OMG/JK (in HD!). This week the news has been all about private data — Google and Apple have been accused of tracking your every move (they aren’t), and Sony has revealed that 77 million user accounts were compromised (this, unfortunately, is true).
Tune in to find out where things stand now, and where to get the best deal on your tinfoil hat.

Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this week’s episode.

• Amazon EC2 goes down, taking with it Reddit, Foursquare and Quora
• Apple Responds To Location Tracking Kerfuffle, Says It’s Innocent, Blames Bugs
• Google Responds To Smartphone Location Tracking Uproar, Says Android Is Opt-In
• Lost In The iPhone Location FUD
• Disaster: Playstation Network User Data Compromised, Names, Addresses, Maybe Credit Cards

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It’s time for a new episode of OMG/JK. And yes, the title above refers to what may be the greatest technical advance for TechCrunch TV since its inception last year: we’re now shooting the show in HD. Now you can almost see the drool coming out of MG’s mouth every time we mention the word “Apple”. It’s very exciting.

This week we discuss the sudden death of Cisco’s Flip camera line and the launch of RIM’s new BlackBerry tablet. We also debate the new, ad-supported Kindle and whether or not Amazon will be launching a tablet of its own in the near future. Tune in!

Here are some posts relevant to this episode:

• TechCrunch Review: RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook Enters The Tablet Wars
• Cisco To Shut Down Flip Video Camera Business; Will Give Pink Slips To 550 Employees
• Amazon Announces Ad-Supported Kindle For $114 (That’s $25 Off)
• Amazon, Love The Kindle Ads Idea — But The Right Price Is $99

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This week’s episode of OMG/JK is all-Google, all the time. Given the big shakeup at the top of the search giant (with co-founder Larry Page taking over the CEO role this week), it should be no surprise that a lot of interesting things are happening. But even more interesting is how things are shaking out.

The “open” debate has been kicked up a notch, there’s been a huge re-organization, and the big push towards a more social Google is finally beginning.

Jason and I debate all these things. And of course, we get into it over the whole “open” debate. Jason hates it when I say “‘open’”.

Watch the video above, and below find some posts relevant to this week’s episode:

• “Open”
• Android Chief Andy Rubin: Nothing’s Changed (Except The Deals They Don’t Talk About…)
• Big Bang At Google: Larry Page To Replace Eric Schmidt As CEO On April 4
• With +1, Google Search Goes Truly Social — As Do Google Ads
• The Product Shakeup At Google Begins
• To Figure Out Google’s Priorities, Just Look At Team Larry

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We’re back with a new episode of OMG/JK, and it’s a good one.

This last week has been full of controversy — from the launch of Color, the photo-swapping app that raised $41 million pre-launch, to reports that Google is not planning to open-source the tablet version of Android any time soon. And, as you’d expect, MG and I have some differing opinions about what that means for Android’s status as “Open”. This week also brings the launch Amazon’s Appstore, which will face off with Google’s official Android Market.

Here are some posts relevant to this episode’s discussion:

• Color Looks To Reinvent Social Interaction With Its Mobile Photo App (And $41 Million In Funding)
• The Color Of Money
• “Open”
• Amazon’s Android App Store Launches: Test Drive Apps Directly From Your Browser

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We both just got back from South By Southwest, and we have plenty to say about the promotions, product launches, and other news (or lack thereof) that came out of one of year’s biggest tech events.

We also take a look at the new paywall that will soon be implemented by The New York Times — a move that many other publishers are watching closely as they look for new revenue streams.

Finally, we talk about Twitter’s move to discourage the development of more third-party Twitter clients, which has led to significant backlash from the developer community.

Here are some recent stories relevant to this week’s episode:

• At SXSW, Advertising Was This Year’s Twitter, iPad 2 Was This Year’s Foursquare
• GroupMe Won The SXSW Group Messaging Wars, Says Infographic
• Marissa Mayer: 40% Of Google Maps Usage Is Mobile (And There Are 150 Million Mobile Users)
• All You Need To Know About The NYTimes.com Paywall
• The Google Loophole Has Become The Facebook/Twitter Loophole
• Twitter Drops The Ecosystem Hammer: Don’t Try To Compete With Us On Clients, Focus On Data And Verticals

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