Roundup: Cisco’s digital stereo, Twitter gets authority search, and more

Cisco offers digital stereo — The shift to digital entertainment is a big change from the company’s roots in routers and Internet pipes.

The Internet does another round of arguing about Twitter — Loic Le Meur, founder of video site Seesmic, sparked a discussion about the micro-blogging site Twitter by suggesting that the service should allow users to search by something he calls “authority.” Frankly, I got bored with the debate pretty quickly, but hey presto, there’s now a third-party application called Twitority that fulfills Le Meur’s wishes.

EEStor files (possibly) important battery patent — The battery company’s patent lends credence to the its claims that EEStor technology will revolutionize transportation.

Fired VP of Fry’s Electronics is accused of extracting $65M in kickbacks — It looks like Ausef Umar Siddiqui (pictured left) was a big spender in Vegas. The latest development of the story, which has been unfolding over the past few days, is that Fry’s itself has now sued him.

Beta test version of Windows 7 leaks online — That’s probably several weeks ahead of Microsoft’s planned release.

Nintendo to offer streaming video to the Wii in Japan — The competing (and less successful) Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles already offer similar services.

Florida, the next hotbed of venture capital? — That’s what the state government wants, but it will take more than a $29.5 million fund to make that happen.

Hedge fund Tiger Global Management reduces stake in leading Russian web portal Mail.ru — The hedge fund sold 27 percent of the company to shareholders Digital Sky Technologies and Naspers.

Music labels might partner with Hulu to take on YouTube — Rumors of a single site for music videos from Universal, EMI, Warner, and Sony BMG were reported by Silicon Alley Insider last week, and confirmed by the Financial Times.

AMD lays off 600 people, incurs cost of $70 million — The chip maker is making about 100 more layoffs than expected.

Facebook scrapping plans for payment system? — The social networking site initially promised that a method for direct payments would be part of its application platform, but there are signs that the project is on-hold indefinitely.

Internet access on rural school buses makes long rides more productive — But will this lull parents into accepting longer rides?

U.S. agrees to stake in GMAC — The Treasury Department plans to inject $5 billion into the automobile financing company. The deal should help GMAC turn itself into a bank holding company.