Apple on Monday debuted a new subscription service called iTunes Match which scans a user's library of music, and "matches" the user's songs with iTunes' database of 18 million songs. Instead of actually uploading the songs to a server like Amazon Cloud Player and Google Music Beta, iTunes Match simply identifies the song on the user's machine and then makes the equivalent song available "in the cloud" for download on other devices.

The company did not reveal whether the service will have any methods of detecting music ownership.

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In Apple's unveiling of iOS 5 on Monday, the company revealed iMessage, a new feature that brings the functionality of BlackBerry Messenger to all iOS devices: iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.

The feature lets users send texts, photos, videos, contact information and group messages over Wi-Fi or 3G. It has delivery receipts and "read receipts" and live typing notifications which are pushed to all of a user's iOS devices.

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Though the name and concept behind Kinect Fun Lab leaked before its keynote, Microsoft showed off three very cool features available in Kinect Fun Labs when it launches for all Xbox 360 users later today.

The first was Xbox Live avatar creation demo called Kinect Me, which lets you snap pictures of your face and clothing with Kinect, and it's rendered as an Xbox Live avatar. It's actually exactly the same thing that Nintendo did with the Mii Maker for 3DS, but the results look a lot more sophisticated, and the clothing-scanning feature adds a bit more depth.

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Apple CEO Steve Jobs today dispelled the rumors surrounding the company's new cloud service. For months, the rumor mill churned out thousands of webpages of guesses about iCloud. Would it be a cloud-based music locker, MobileMe revamp or something else?

Simply stated, iCloud is a synchronization service for pushing data out to all your connected devices. Jobs introduced the service during the Worldwide Developer Conference keynote this afternoon. For more than a half decade, I've said that synchronization is the killer application for the connected world.

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During today's Apple Worldwide Developer Conference, Scott Forstall, senior vice president of iOS software, announced that to date 200 million iOS devices have shipped. Apple also shipped 25 million iPads in the first 14 months. Forstall used the data points to prepare the audience for the introduction of iOS 5.

Forstall offered other important data points:

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In Los Angeles on Monday, Microsoft revealed its further plans to make the 360 a comprehensive streaming entertainment solution with Xbox Live TV, YouTube integration, and voice activated navigation and Bing search.

It's been just about three years since the "New Xbox Experience" debuted which brought Netflix Streaming, animated avatars, and live parties to Xbox Live. Microsoft today actually used the phrase "New Xbox Experience" again to describe this latest update, which will bring a new dashboard, voice controls including Bing voice search, YouTube integration, and Xbox Live TV in the fall.

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Fresh off a hack of the Sony Pictures website last week, hacking group LulzSec turned its attention elsewhere. FBI related websites were attacked on Friday night, and it was revealed this weekend that the US web servers of Nintendo had been hit by the group several weeks ago.

In the Nintendo hack, LulzSec took no information. "Re: Nintendo, we just got a config file and made it clear that we didn't mean any harm. Nintendo had already fixed it anyway.

Hijazi claims that LulzSec attempted to extort money from Unveillance in exchange for them not publicly releasing his information, although the hacking group claimed that Hijazi wanted LulzSec to hack his competitors. Hijazi maintains that no sensitive information was disclose about his company's anti-hacking efforts, since the e-mails were of a personal and work nature.

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Apple may be generating loads of rumors this morning, but Microsoft has got some noise to make, too, even if done accidentally -- or accidentally on purpose. Hours before Apple Steve Jobs takes the Worldwide Developer Conference stage (1 p.m. EDT) or Microsoft's E3 keynote (12:30 p.m), several Xbox announcements leaked: Kinect Fun Labs and some new games, including Halo 4.

I say accidentally on purpose, because Microsoft's leaks cut into Apple noise before it drowns out most other tech news today. Jobs' keynote will unveil iCloud, which has generated more rumors than, well, storm clouds drenching rain. The Apple fan club of bloggers and journalists are sure to drown out pretty much everything else. So, Microsoft's leak, whether or not intentional, is timely -- and it may lead more people to tune into the E3 keynote. Microsoft is streaming its keynote; Apple is not. LOL, you have to enter your birthdate to watch the Kinect keynote and other content.

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Just six months ago, we looked at a dual-screen 14.1" tablet called Kno that was being tested with university students. We got to play with the device a little bit, and got a feel for the ambitious goals of its creators. In short, they wanted to make e-textbooks exactly the same as their paper counterparts with the same page numbers, and with the ability to write on the pages.

Unfortunately, one of the main drivers behind the e-textbook movement is their affordability, and the custom Linux-driven tablet hardware was projected to cost students between $600-$900.

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If you're looking to customize the look of your Windows PC, then you might start with wallpaper, icons, sounds maybe -- they're all quick and easy to customize. Animated cursors are more difficult to work with, and so tend to get a little neglected by comparison. But it doesn't have to be that way. Especially if you install a copy of the free AniTuner 2.

The program allows you to work with existing cursors, for instance. In a click or two you might open one, then resize it, change the color depth, the hot spot, or even play around with individual frames (add or remove them, manipulate existing frames and more).

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For fans of digital photography, there is certainly no shortage of image editing tools to choose from, but the problem is that many of them are expensive. Free editing tools do exist, but it can be hard to track down one that is not too basic. For Windows users, Paint.NET has offered a neat balance between power and ease of use, and now this option has been brought to Mac and Linux users thanks to the cross-platform Paint.NET clone Pinta.

Just like Paint.NET, Pinta is light on system resources and has been designed so it performs well even on older hardware. Unlimited leveld of undo and support for an unlimited number of layers in projects means that there is plenty of scope to get creative. As the application is available for Windows, Mac and Linux, anyone who works with different systems can continue to use the same tool no matter which computer they are using.

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Earlier this week, Google claimed to have uncovered a password-stealing campaign that originated from Jinan, China, and targeted senior U.S., officials and other prominent individuals. The Chinese government later denied involvement. The attacks' origins aren't being disputed so much as who is responsible.

The most famous cases of alleged "cyberwar" have some common characteristics that are at the heart of the problem. It's never clearly the governments conducting the attacks and it's plausible that outside actors are responsible. This leads to the "attribution" problem of cyberwar, that it's never crystal clear where retaliatory measures should be targeted.

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Thunderbird is a pleasingly powerful, but often overlooked email client that comes from the same stable as Firefox. Mozilla's email client features a similar add-on system to Firefox and this means that the program can be endlessly extended and customized to suit the needs of individual users. Thunderbird Conversations is an add-on that many Gmail users will appreciate, as it brings the threaded conversation view that many people have become so used to in Thunderbird.

Working with conversation view means that it is much easier to follow the flow of an email exchange without the need to jump back and forth between individual emails or to perform unnecessary searches. This new viewing mode is compatible with any type of email account that can be access through Thunderbird -- it is not limited to Gmail accounts.

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In this corner, measuring .34 inches thick and weighing in at 1.3 pounds, is the Korean Demon, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Its opponent, the svelte-weight champion of the world, the Pride of Cupertino, Apple iPad 2, measuring .34 inches thick and weighing 1.33 pounds.

A Worthy Opponent

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Enthusiasts are the best marketers. Repeat until memorized.

We live for enthusiasts here at Betanews, from bug-eyed junior high school students coding websites to grey-haired mainframe administrators turned Linux hacks or Windows Server admins. Enthusiasts are the lifeblood of many products or brands, but nowhere do they matter more than in tech. Last night, I was simply delighted to mingle with tech geeks at the Samsung Galaxy Tab Meetup in San Francisco.

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