New and Much Improved Apple TV
Steve Jobs unveiled a new version of Apple TV at the Apple press event on Wednesday. The new device is smaller than it’s predecessor and will only deliver rentals, including 99-cent TV shows from News Corp. and the Walt Disney Co. The device also connects with Netflix and online video sites like YouTube. Apple TV is priced at $99 and will be available in four weeks.

Apple Updates the iPod
Apple also showed-off new designs for the iPod shuffle, nano and touch devices. Most notably, the iPod nano now comes with a FM radio and the iPod touch has a front-facing camera. Jobs noted that to date, Apple has sold over 275 million iPods.

Facebook Gift Cards at Target
Target will start selling Facebook credits on gift cards starting beginning this Sunday. Facebook credits are a virtual currency and are redeemable for purchases within social games like Farmville. Over 56 million Americans play social games, making it a very popular pastime.

Sony Unveils New eReaders
Sony unveiled three new eReaders. The new devices are smaller and lighter than the previous versions, feature touch-screens and the new E Ink Pearl, which makes text readable in direct sunlight. Priced between $179 and $299, the Sony readers are more expensive than competing products, but Sony hopes consumers will pay for the extra features.

Shelly Palmer Interviews Mark Watkins from Goby

Google Makes Mail a Priority
Google unveiled a new feature for Gmail called Priority Inbox, to help combat e-mail overload. Priority Inbox organizes emails and puts them into one of three categories: “Important and Unread,” “Starred” and “Everything Else.” The new feature also places a higher priority on messages received from contacts that a user communicates with on a more frequent basis.

Staples to Sell Kindles
Staples will start selling Amazon’s Kindle in 1,5000 U.S. stores beginning this fall. Amazon’s Kindle is the number one selling eReader and by increasing distribution Amazon hopes to stay ahead of competitors like Barnes & Noble’s Nook and Apple’s iPad. The Kindle is also available at Target stores.

HP Offers Private Cloud for Businesses
Hewlett-Packard introduced, CloudStart, a new cloud-computing product. CloudStart allows businesses to set up a private, in-house cloud. HP says that businesses can have their own private cloud up and running within 30 days of installation.

Juror Spills the Beans on Facebook
A juror is Detroit was removed from a trial after posting that the defendant was guilty on Facebook before a verdict was reached. The juror posted, “gonna be fun to tell the defendant they’re guilty.” The post was found online by the son of one of the defense attorneys on the case.

Shelly Palmer Interviews Dr. Ruth Westheimer

People Don’t Want to Share their Location
Location-based apps are all the rage, but most people still don’t want to share their location. According to Forrester Research, only 4-percent of Americans have tried location-based technology and only 1-percent use them on a weekly basis. Will Facebook’s Places lead to a faster adoption rate of location-based services?

It’s Time For Feature Films On YouTube
Google is in talks with major movie studios to bring mainstream, full-length video rentals to YouTube later this year.  While watching long form video on a computer or mobile device may not be optimal, Google is also expected to release an Android-powered set-top box, which would allow customers to rent YouTube videos directly to their televisions as well as their computers.

Man Watches Robbery in Real-Time on his iPhone
A Texas man watched his home being burglarized from his iPhone. Vince Hunter was traveling out of state when his iCam app, which he purchased for $5, notified him that the motion detectors in his home had been activated.  Hunter was then able to watch live video of the burglary from his iPhone via webcams that were installed in his home, and contact the local police.

The AP & Google Reach An Agreement
After months of negotiations The Associated Press and Google have reached a new agreement to license AP news content on Google sites.  Tensions between the two companies has been high since 2007, when The AP threatened to sue Google for using its news content.

Google Tips — Google Voice

Will Disney Go Dark on TWC?
The Walt Disney Company and Time Warner Cable have made significant progress regarding their programming fee negotiations. People close to the talks report that online video is the major source of dispute. If an agreement is not made before midnight this Wednesday, ABC local, ESPN and some Disney channels will go dark.

Cops Trail Cars with GPS
Cops in California can put a GPS tracking device on a person’s car, without their knowledge and without a warrant, according to a recent ruling by a California federal judge. Proponents say that placing a tracking device on a car isn’t too different than trailing someone by car, while others believe the system could be easily be abused.

Older Adults Get Social
A new Pew study revealed that adults over 50 years old are rapidly joining social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Between April 2009 and May 2010 there was a jump from 22-percent to 42-percent of people 50-and-older who visit social networking sites. While older adults still prefer to use email, they are also exploring social networking for daily communication.

Google Acquires Angrsto
Google has purchased Angrstro, a company that sorts news and information across social networks. The latest acquisition is another sign that Google’s trying to take a larger position in the social networking space to effectively compete with companies like Facebook.

Shelly Palmer and Ali Velshi Discuss FM Chips In Cellphones on CNN

Flash Drive Attacked U.S. Military
The worst security breach of U.S. military computers was caused by a flash drive containing malware. In 2008, the undetectable malware uploaded itself onto the U.S. Central Command network and quickly spread to computers across the network. The malware was used to deliver military operational plans to a foreign intelligence agency. It is unknown what country was responsible for the attack.

Attorneys General Go After Craigslist
Attorneys general from 17 States have requested that Craigslist permanently remove the adult services section on the site. The adult services section is a major income source for Craigslist, but the attorneys general are concerned about the numerous ads for illegal prostitutes and child trafficking.

IBM’s “Impact” On European History
IBM and the European Union have joined together on a new project, Impact, to scan Europe’s extensive collection of rare historical documents. Impact is working with libraries, universities and other organizations to digitize the documents accurately and quickly. Impact will make the documents available and searchable online.

Who’s Google for Real-Time? Google
Google has unveiled a new real-time search page, google.com/realtime, which displays up-to-the-second results from sources like Twitter, Buzz and Facebook. The service allows users to search for a particular topic, like a sporting event, and see what people are saying about it in real-time.

Shelly Palmer Interviews Art Chang, Founder & CEO, Tipping Point Partners