Greg Sandoval / CNET News:
Sources: Apple to expand DRM-free music, new pricing  —  Apple has cut deals that will finally enable iTunes to offer songs free of copy protection software from the three largest music labels, according to two sources close to the negotiations.  In exchange, Apple has agreed to become more flexible on pricing, the sources said.

Liz Gannes / NewTeeVee:
Time Spent Watching Video Jumps 40% in One Year  —  One way to think about online video is to consider how big a chunk it takes out of our daily lives.  The amount of time U.S. Internet users spend watching video is up an impressive 40 percent year over year.

Adobe AIR Team Blog: The Adobe® AIR™ runtime lets developers use proven web technologies to build rich Internet applications that deploy to the desktop and run across operating systems. The Adobe AIR Team Blog, maintained by the development team, is dedicated to news, tips and announcements related to Adobe AIR.

Recent posts from Adobe AIR Team Blog:
BBC launches iPlayer desktop on Adobe AIR
Tips on resolving application issues for Linux users
Adobe AIR 1.5 now available for Linux

Channels 9, 10, and TechNet Edge are social media communities brought to you by the Evangelism team at Microsoft. Channel 9 is a Developer community that features interviews with the people behind Microsoft Products and Technologies, a wiki and an active general discussion forum. Channel 10 is a community for the Power User that in addition to highlighting relevant Microsoft Products and Technologies profiles those people who are using technology tochangeourworld. TechNet Edge is where IT professionals go to get the inside story on the latest Microsoft technologies, watch screencasts and learn more from the insiders.

Recent posts from Perspectives:
Derik Stenerson on the past, present, and future of the iCalendar specification
Scott Prevost explains Powerset's hybrid approach to semantic search
Kristin Tolle on biomedical initiatives at Microsoft Research

Microsoft Startup Zone (blogs) is the guide to working with Microsoft for software startups and their investors. It's brought to you by the Microsoft Emerging Business Team (EBT), which works with venture capitalists (VCs) and startup companies worldwide to enable innovation and accelerate the software ecosystem. The Microsoft EBT mission is to identify and facilitate opportunity for start-ups and VCs, acting as the single point of contact and accountability to Microsoft.

Recent posts from Microsoft Startup Zone:
Live Mesh - Best Technology Innovation 2008 finalist
5 ideas, 5 days and 5 businesses
Startup of the Day—Cmune

Intel Software Network (blogs): The Intel Software Network is Intel's developer community. It's where developers can interact with their peers and with Intel engineers to learn, share, and explore topics such as threading and parallel programming, MID and Atom software development, Visual Computing, and Manageability.

Recent posts from Intel Software Network Blogs:
Best known fixes and workaround for several dynamic library link …
What Does 256 Cores Look Like?
Extreme Programming with Intel vPro Technology: Pushing the Limits …

Zoho (blog): Zoho does online office. Zoho offers a wide range of online office and productivity applications ranging from word processors, spreadsheets, presentation apps to CRM, project management, wikis and more. Zoho aims to provide an affordable suite of online applications.

Recent posts from Zoho Blogs:
Recap: Zoho in 2008  —  As we get started with a new year …
The Crunchies 2008 : Vote for Zoho in the ‘Best Enterprise’ Category
Zoho : Important Biz Tech Product & Best LittleCo

Michael Calore / Epicenter:
After an Agonizing Wait, Picasa for Mac Finally Arrives  —  Mac users, you can stop holding your breath.  Google announced Monday that Picasa for the Mac, a free desktop application for editing, organizing and sharing digital photos, is now available as a public beta through Google Labs.

Chris Foresman / Infinite Loop:
Macworld.ars: Company may have spilled Mac mini beans (Updated)  —  A press release from SeeFile software indicates that Apple will in fact release a new Mac mini tomorrow at the Macworld Expo, and may have build-to-order storage options as high a 1TB.  —  “New Apple Mac Mini hardware …

BIZ / Twitter Blog:
Monday Morning Madness  —  This morning we discovered 33 Twitter accounts had been “hacked” including prominent Twitter-ers like Rick Sanchez and Barack Obama (who has not been Twittering since becoming the president elect due to transition issues).  We immediately locked down the accounts and investigated the issue.

TOP 20 MSI News:
Debut of MSI U-Series New Force First Launch of U115, the Dual HD Model  —  Whole New All-In-One Wind NetOn Models Starting an Era of Dual Core Atom  —  Taipeiã€'In the CES 2009, to be held in Las Vegas from January 8, MSI will once again capture the world's eyes with its prolific R&D and designs.

Wall Street Journal:
TV and Web Marry After Long Courtship  —  After more than a decade of disappointment, the goal of marrying television and the Internet seems finally to be picking up steam.  —  A key factor in the push are new TV sets that have networking connections built directly into them, requiring no additional set-top boxes for getting online.

Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Celebrity Twitter Accounts Hacked (Bill O'Reilly, Britney Spears, Obama, More)  —  My guess is this has nothing to do with the phishing attacks that started on Twitter a couple of days ago.  But a few minutes ago the official Fox News Twitter account posted “Breaking: Bill O Riley is gay” …

Apple:
Statement by Apple's Board of Directors  —  It is widely recognized both inside and outside of Apple that Steve Jobs is one of the most talented and effective CEOs in the world.  —  As we have said before, if there ever comes a day when Steve wants to retire or for other reasons cannot continue …

Barbara Ortutay / Associated Press:
LG high-def TVs to stream Netflix videos directly  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Netflix Inc. has come up with another way to get movies to people without sending DVDs in the mail.  —  In a partnership to be announced Monday, LG Electronics will start selling high-definition TV sets …

Apple:
Letter from Apple CEO Steve Jobs  —  For the first time in a decade, I'm getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.  —  Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health …

Claudine Beaumont / Telegraph:
Macworld: Analysts expect Apple's evolution not revolution  —  Apple is unlikely to unveil any “revolutionary” new products at the Macworld Expo this week, according to analysts, although improvements to existing software and hardware are likely.  —  The absence of Steve Jobs …

Intel:
Intel and Adobe to Extend Flash Platform to TVs  —  Optimizing Adobe Flash Technology on Intel® Media Processor CE 3100 Will Enable Rich and Seamless Web Content on TV  —  Adobe® Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) and Intel Corporation today announced plans to collaborate …

Leo Lewis / Times of London:
Sony on brink of upheaval as analysts back British chief  —  Sony, the embattled Japanese electronics group, is on the brink of a corporate upheaval that could see job cuts and sweeping changes to management and manufacturing processes.  —  Company sources have told The Times that operations across …

Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
2009: Products I Can't Live Without  —  At the beginning of each year I traditionally publish a list of my favorite startups and products.  This is the fourth year I've done this - previous lists: 2006, 2007, 2008.  You guys get to pick the winners of the Crunchies - this list is all mine.

New York Times:
Blu-ray's Fuzzy Future  —  The biggest news at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last January was not the birth of a new product but the death of one.  —  A decision by Warner Brothers to withdraw support for the HD DVD video disc format sent shock waves through the electronics industry …

Joseph L. Flatley / Engadget:
Lenovo debuts three new Y Series midrange laptops  —  Lenovo has just dropped the dime on its new IdeaPad Y Series notebooks, including the 14-inch Y450, the 15.6-inch Y550 and the 16-inch Y650.  All of these guys feature 16:9 aspect ratio widescreen displays, up to 500GB storage …

John Biggs / CrunchGear:
Exclusive: New Palm phone to have slide-down keyboard, large touchscreen  —  We have information from a trusted source that the latest Palm smartphone running the Nova operating system will be launched Thursday.  The new phone will have a full QWERTY keyboard that will slide down under a portrait-oriented touchscreen.

Kasper Jade / AppleInsider:
Sources: 17-inch MacBook Pro, NVIDIA Mac mini due shortly  —  Apple as early as Tuesday will introduce a 17-inch MacBook Pro with a fixed internal battery and a new version of the Mac mini, both of which will feature chipsets from NVIDIA, AppleInsider has been able to independently confirm.