Top Tech

Mashable - Facebook has made its grand entrance into the geolocation space with Facebook Places. Will users embrace it and ditch Foursquare?

Ben Patterson - Rumors of imminent bankruptcy have been dogging the financially struggling Blockbuster video rental chain for years, and a recent report claims that Blockbuster will finally file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as early as next month. But while the easy-to-hate Blockbuster may be down, it’s probably not out—and that’s a good thing for us movie-loving consumers.

NewsFactor - Hewlett-Packard submitted a $2 billion offer for 3PAR on Friday morning, topping Dell's latest $1.8 billion bid for the storage technology provider. Formed in 1999 by a group of server-cluster engineers from Sun Microsystems, 3PAR offers technologies that enable enterprises to service a wide range of applications concurrently from multiple on-premise servers, virtual cloud servers, or hybrid systems that combine on-premise and off-premise elements.

PC Magazine - Open-source social network Diaspora is set to launch on Sept. 15, the service's creators announced in Thursday blog post. But can it do battle with Facebook?

PC World - In the wake of revelations that the US military network was compromised in 2008, and that US digital interests are under a relative constant threat of attack, the Pentagon is establishing new cyber security initiatives to protect the Internet. The Pentagon strategy--which is part digital NATO, part digital civil defense, and part Big Brother--may ruffle some feathers and raise concerns that the US Internet is becoming a military police state.

AP - Efforts by Research In Motion Ltd., the maker of the BlackBerry, to broaden the debate over data encryption were dismissed by Indian industry groups as unnecessary Friday and appeared unlikely to break a logjam over government demands for access to users' e-mails by an Aug. 31 deadline.

Appolicious - Microsoft's marketing and development costs could reach $1 billion as it pushes its new mobile platform. Also, the more you use your smartphone, the more damage you may cause to your brain.

AP - Before hitting the streets, Ahmed reaches for his two essential protest tools: a scarf to mask his face and a cell phone camera to show the world what is happening.

AFP - BlackBerry's maker is bidding to assuage Indian security concerns but the government is cranking up the pressure in a row that could see core features of the popular smartphone shut down next week.

AFP - China Unicom is likely to start selling Apple's iPad tablet computer in the world's largest Internet market in mid to late-September, state-run media said Friday.

AFP - Australian publishing giant Fairfax Media Friday said it would begin charging for online content in the increasingly cut-throat newspaper environment as it reported a return to profit.

PC World - Still haven't embraced the Foursquare fad or Loopt's "check-in" feature? Me neither. I don't understand the point of letting everybody on my Twitter feed know where I'm ordering a meal or what stores I'm hitting up on my lunch hour. Though the trend may seem silly and pointless right now, national re­­tailers see this check-in model as a way to track--and increase--store foot traffic. But will consumers play along?

Reuters - Regulators dropped an investigation into whether LimeWire file-sharing software put users' personal information at risk of identity theft, according to a letter sent to the company earlier this month.

AP - Review website Yelp said Thursday that it is testing out "Yelp Deals" — large discounts at local businesses that site users can buy on one day only.

Investor's Business Daily - The price of wireless phone services declined each year from '99 to '08, despite reduced competition as the $150 billion industry consolidated, says the Government Accountability Office. The economies of scale enjoyed by AT&T , Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile have helped keep prices in check amid a dearth of competition. The findings come as the FCC mulls freeing up more airwaves.

Investor's Business Daily - The tech giant bought Stratavia, a private database software maker focused on cloud computing. Hewlett-Packard didn't disclose the financial terms. Stratavia helps automate databases so servers are easier to maintain. HP has been a serial acquirer, and currently it's in a bidding war with Dell (NMS:DELL) for the data storage firm 3Par (AMEX:PAR.a - News).

AP - Hewlett-Packard Co. has again raised its bid for 3Par Inc. above an offer from rival Dell Inc., suggesting that the little-known data-storage maker could be worth more with one of the PC companies' marketing muscle behind it.

Ben Patterson - Set for release later this year, Sony’s upcoming TV set-top box will boast the same media-streaming features as its high-end HDTVs and Blu-ray players, but for a lot less money.

Mashable - Y Combinator, an investment firm for early stage startups, will be upgrading its relationship status with Facebook today, as Facebook has just announced a partnership with the venture company.

AP - Research In Motion Ltd., which is facing a service shutdown in India next week over demands for access to its users' e-mails, said Thursday it is seeking to involve other technology companies in its talks with government officials.