It's Thursday, May 12th. I'm Wilson Tang and it's time to get loaded.
Yesterday, we mentioned Google's new Chromebooks as they are now called. And today, we have some more details about the new web-centric laptops. Google has announced two models, the Samsung series 5 and the Acer Chromebook. They will retail starting at $429 and $349 respectively. But google has also announced a 3-year subscrition model starting at $28 a month for business users, and $20 a month for students. In another Google IO news the company has updated it's poorly-received Google TV software based on the Honeycomb UI. The new Google TV promises a simpler interface support for 3D and game controllers. So far though, Google has yet to announce any products that used the new software.
In Facebook news the site added the ability to tag items in a photo. The new feature will only let you tag items of Facebook pages in the products, brands or people categories. We're positive this feature will be heavily abused. So, it's expected awkwardly tagged photos to be a new mean.
In more Facebook news, the company is not playing nice. The Daily Beast reports that Facebook has hired a PR firm to bash Google. Allegedly the firm contacted a blogger about writing a negative app ad on Google. Instead the blogger turned down the offer and posted the emails. USA Today also claims that the PR firm spreading whisper campain about Google on behalf of an unnamed client that has now turned out to be Facebook. It looks like the smearing campaign has heavily backfired.
In a move that has already stirred up significant controversy, FCC commissioner M. Becker has announced she would be joining comcast as a lobbyst. Just 4 month after approving the highly contentious merger of comcast with NBC Universal. The move has already drawn the eye of many groups opposed to the merger. But Miss Becker signed it on an Obama administration pledge banning her from lobbying anyone at the FCC for at least 2 years. In addition, she's prohibited from lobbying the remainder of the administration if this is a lifetime ban on lobbying the executive breach as a condition of the comcast merger.
At the next month E3 gaming conference, we're expecting news of the new Nintendo game console, but you should also expect the launch of the eshop for the 3Ds. Set to debut June 7th, the eshop will bring the abilities to download games, virtual console capabilities, the ability to watch 3D movies and even Netflix.
Finally, Twitter has unveilled a new mobile web version of the popular micro blogging service. The new mobile website promises a much slicker interface, fast loading times and experience closer to Twitter's native iPhone and Android apps.
Those are your headlines for today. I'm Wilson Tang for CNet.com and you've just been loaded.
