CNET News.com — Head of translation services Franz Och tells The Sunday Times that the search giant is closing in on speech-to-speech translation.

CNET News.com — Verizon spokesman says carrier temporarily blocked sites associated with online forum to thwart network attacks.

TechCrunch — Loopt continues to ramp up its focus on location-based deals. The pioneer of the mobile social network is launching a new app called LooptCard, which lets mobile consumers tap into offers, coupons and discounts by checking-in to spots. Today, Loopt is partnering with deals site Mobile Spinach to offer users deals and coupons for local merchants via the Loopt ... more App. The deals are part advertising part coupon and will only be featured in San Francisco for now. Coupon site Mobile Spinach will offer dozens of deals exclusively to Loopt users and through their own site per week. For example, Blowfish Sushi, a Sushi restaurant in San Francisco, offers any signature roll for free which typically costs $10-$15 per roll. Loopt users show their phone message at the restaurant to receive these discounts. Loopt says it will be rolling out the offers in LA and New York in the coming months. The deals feature will be integrated into Loopt’s app in the same way that local content and reviews about restaurants, bars and events from Zagat, Citysearch and the Loopt community are featured in the app. Loopt’s COO Brian Knapp tells me that location-based deals are central to the future strategy of Loopt. And the coupons serve as an advertisement and an incentive to frequent an establishment. Loopt is monetizing these coupons in some way, but Knapp declined to give the specifics of what the revenue breakdown is. Of course, most of Loopt competitors are making similar ventures in the mobile coupon and deals space. Foursquare has special deals for “Mayors” of establishments and Yelp offers l ocation-based specials and offers in its mobile apps. Even Google is getting into the mobile coupon game. With 3 million users, Loopt is continuing to innovate its platform to compete in a competitive space, where Facebook may be entering as well. Location-based deals are one part of the picture; with check-ins, advertising and even merchant reviews and listings all included as features. CrunchBase In...

TechCrunch — A consortium of investors led by The Walt Disney Company is currently engaged in advanced talks to invest in Bus Online, China’s leading in-bus digital media and advertising company, sources tell Reuters . The deal, which would provide Disney with a new platform to promote Mickey Mouse in China, is oddly said to involve Google, which is a minority investor ... more in the consortium according to the news agency’s sources. The consortium reportedly planned to acquire a stake of between 30 and 40 percent in Bus Online for more than $100 million via a purchase of old and new shares to be issued by the company in private placements. Bus Online has raised approximately $80 million from VC firms and banks since 2004. Google was expected to take only a small stake in the Bus Online deal compared to Disney, but Reuters’ sources stressed that no agreement had been signed yet and senior Disney execs are planning a trip to Beijing to meet Chinese media regulators about its China plans first. Nevertheless, Google’s involvement in the negotiations is rather odd. The search and digital advertising giant recently took a stand against censorship in China, after having been hit with ‘highly sophisticated and targeted attack’ on its corporate infrastructure from the country. Google threatened to shut down its business operations in China if the government did not agree to let the firm operate an uncensored search engine there, an issue that is still unresolved at this point. CrunchBase Information The Walt Disney Company Google Information provided by CrunchBase

CNET News.com — The software, created by three former Palm executives, lets people use an ordinary Web cam as a security system.

Engadget — Linux originator Linus Torvalds isn't really big on these "phone" things, but he's finally caved to his Nexus One lust. In a recent blog post he explains how the G1 never did it for him, despite his love of the "concept" of having a Linux-based phone. He finds phones in general irritating, and cellphones "an opportunity to be irritated ... more wherever you are," but the Nexus One's offer of car-friendly GPS navigation got him thinking he'd have a good excuse to bring it with him places, and the recent announcement of pinch-to-zoom capabilities somehow put him over the edge. He still says the phone part is "kind of secondary," but we sure he'll eventually be won over to the dark side and be just as annoying as the rest of us phone talkers at restaurants. Linus Torvalds is now a happy Nexus One owner, pinch to zoom put him over the edge originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink    |  Linus' blog  |  Email this  |  Comments

CNET News.com — An exec at the gaming company hinted that its 'Madden NFL' franchise will launch a Facebook version, the first application we've seen of EA's Playfish acquisition to its existing game titles.