HP on Wednesday announced that it will acquire LeftHand Networks, a company focusing on iSCSI SAN technology, for $360 million in an attempt to bolster its virtualization services for the enterprise.

HP believes that the LeftHand acquisition will help it attract more midsized organizations that are trying desperately to keep storage costs down as their needs continue to climb.

The acquisition will be finalized during the first quarter of 2009, at which time LeftHand Networks will be integrated into HP’s StorageWorks division.

Apple announced today that it has decided to drop the controversial iPhone developer non-disclosure agreement because it “created too much of a burden on developers, authors and others interested in helping further the iPhone’s success.”

According to the company, in a statement released today, it “put the NDA in place because the iPhone OS includes many Apple inventions and innovations that we would like to protect, so that others don’t steal our work.” But after dealing with public outcry, Apple believed it wasn’t worth it.

Microsoft is trying anything to get you to use Live Search. And now it’s time to add another to its attempts to try to pay you to use its service.

Dubbed SearchPerks, Microsoft’s latest scheme gives users points when they use Live Search, which can be redeemed for prizes. Users who sign-up before the December 31 deadline, must agree to download a small program that tracks their usage. Once installed, the users will get one “ticket” per day for every Live Search query, but Microsoft is capping the total number per day to 25. Once the program is up in April, users can trade those tickets in for prizes or, if they’re feeling philanthropic, they can donate the rewards to charity.

SearchPerks is an entirely different take on getting people to use Live Search than Microsoft’s previously announced Live Search Cashback program, which shifts Microsoft’s focus away from a cost-per-click model to cost-per-action model and shuttles some of the money from advertisers to users.

In a move that could start a new wave in PC sales, Dell and Paramount Pictures today announced that they have signed a joint venture that will see “Iron Man” come pre-loaded on Dell computers for anyone who wishes to order the unit.

So far, the details of the deal are a bit disappointing. Paramount is the only studio that has signed on and “Iron Man” is the only film being offered. Dell claims that more titles will eventually be offered during the purchase process, but for now, it looks like Dell and the studios have a “wait and see” attitude to decide if they want to move forward with a broader strategy.

A 28-year-old delivery man from the UK who bought a Nikon Coolpix camera for about $31 on eBay got more than he bargained for when the camera arrived with top secret information from the UK’s MI6 organization.

Allegedly sold by one of the clandestine organization’s agents, the camera contained named al-Qaeda cells, names, images of suspected terrorists and weapons, fingerprint information, and log-in details for the Secret Service’s computer network, containing a “Top Secret” marking.

Once he downloaded the contents onto his computer, he immediately went to the police to explain the situation. The police originally treated it as a joke, but within a week, anti-terror officers started investigating and demanded that he not talk to the media about the contents contained in the camera.

RealDVD hasn’t even been available for more than an hour and already Hollywood studios are upset about the ramifications it could have on the industry.

According to a statement released by RealNetworks, it has filed suit against Hollywood studios asking the court to rule that RealDVD “fully complies with the DVD Copy Control Association’s license agreement.” The suit was filed against DVD Copy Control Association, Inc., Disney, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, and Twentieth Century Fox to name a few.

In its defense, RealNetworks claims RealDVD “allows consumers to securely store, manage and play their DVDs on their computers” and “does not enable users to distribute copies of their DVDs.” It was also quick to point out that RealDVD adds another layer of DRM that locks the user to their own computer to make the program even more stringent.

Real Networks announced that RealDVD, its latest solution allowing users to copy DVDs onto their hard drives without facing legal troubles because the ripped copy keeps the DRM, is now available on the company’s site.

We profiled RealDVD a few weeks ago and found that it may suit some of those who want to create a media server and don’t mind DRM, but the software’s hefty price tag of $49.99 for your first license ($29.99 as an introductory offer) and $19.99 for the additional four licenses if you want to watch the films on five computers, should be enough to shy many away. It does have a 30-day free trial so you can try it out though.

eBay launched a new browser extension tool today that lets you highlight different products in Firefox or Internet Explorer and compare the pricing of those products on eBay. The tool also includes Skype functionality, which will let you click on a number in your browser and call it directly via Skype.

Dubbed Browser Highlighter, eBay’s latest tool will run only on Windows machines for now, but will eventually be rolled out for Macs and Apple’s Safari browser in the coming weeks.

After installing Browser Highlighter, a small icon is placed to the right of the address bar in Firefox or Internet Explorer. When you click the icon, you have the option of turning the “Compare on eBay” function, as well as the “Skype Phone Number Recognition” tool on or off. When either one or both are turned on, the information you search for in the browser becomes an interactive space to compare the price of products on eBay or make phone calls with Skype.

YouTube has been criticized in the past for not offering the experience already being offered on services like Viddler or Vimeo where users can upload large file sizes and input video information while it’s being uploaded. But in an announcement that should make its users happy, YouTube has finally seen the light and has started offering a new Upload process redesign that will more effectively compete with other services in the space.

According to the company, the new video uploader, which has been in private beta for some time, is now available to any users who wish to opt-in. Once users opt-in to the new uploader, they will quickly find that they can input metadata like the clip’s name, description, and tags while it’s uploading, as well as upload multiple videos at once to streamline the uploading process. More importantly, the new YouTube uploader will allow users to upload files up to 1GB in size, instead of its previous 100MB limit.

Cowen & Co., an industry analyst firm that specializes in covering Web services, released a statement today discussing its findings on the success of online mapping solutions.

To no one’s surprise, the analyst found that Google Maps is the de facto leader in the space, while its rivals, Yahoo Maps, MapQuest, and Live Search Maps have slipped well behind Google. According to the analyst, much of Google’s success is due to the fact that its competitors simply don’t have what it takes to keep pace.

Visible Measures, a Web video metrics company, announced today that it has closed a deal with MTV Networks that will see all of MTVN’s 340 destination video sites deploy Visible Measures’ metrics technology. The technology measures both viewer engagement (how many times a video is watched all the way through, at what part do viewers tend to drop off, what thumbnails result in the most plays) and video virality (how the it spreads across the Web and where else it is being watched).

The multi-year deal will see MTVN use the Visible Measures technology to build end-to-end online video performance metrics that will help MTVN better understand who is watching videos on its service and how to better exploit those users for advertising revenue.

Visible Measures’ technology will be deployed on all the major MTVN destinations including, MTV, VH1, CMT, Spike TV, and TV Land, to name a few.

Through its digital AllScreen Syndication Network, ON Networks announced that it can now syndicate any show and accompanying advertisement across the United States and Europe by using its existing and new relationships with distribution partners.

ON Networks, which is backed by AT&T (and others) and specializes in creating better ways to create, distribute, and sponsor digital TV, will use its existing AllScreen partners, such as Verizon, iTunes, and TiVo and new partners like Buzzwire and Metacafe to offer viewers the programming they want wherever they are.

According to the company, viewers can now watch their favorite shows through partner sites on TV, online, mobile phones, and elsewhere. And with the addition of its latest partners, the company argues that ON Networks’ AllScreen Syndication Network has become one of the largest video distribution networks in the world.

Have you ever wanted to know when politicians are lying? A startup called RealScoop thinks it can nail it down for you in real-time with the help of voice analysis technology that it claims is used widely in law enforcement and fraud prevention.

Dubbed the Believability Meter, RealScoop’s analysis technology analyzes over 100 vocal elements of the human voice and performs over 1,000 calculations per second to find out if a politician or celebrity is telling the truth. On Thursday, RealScoop will cover the Vice Presidential debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, putting each one’s statements to its Believability test.

The site itself features a bunch of videos collected from outside sources that are played in its own player. The player features a meter that changes dynamically as it analyzes what’s being said. If it believes the person is lying, the meter turns red and moves towards the “highly questionable” area. If it believes the person is telling the truth, the meter stays green and in the “believable” section.

It’s Elevator Pitch Friday, which means another startup has created a video that’s worth showing you. This week’s presentation comes from Brand Jury, a company that lets you view ads from television and the Web and vote on them based on good or bad they are.

Brand Jury wants to “democratize” advertising and will let users vote and render verdicts on the ads and will let advertisers post their ads on the site to see how well they may perform before they get out into the wild. The ads that garner the most votes will rise to the top, while those that have the fewest will sink to the bottom.

Editor’s Update: Glam actually acquired Codex Media back in July. What it is doing now is integrating Codex into Glam Deutschland.

Glam Media, the content network that mostly targets females, may have acquired a large German content network aimed at females, called Codex Media.

A tipster who has a connection to Codex Media first told TechCrunch about the possible acquisition this morning after receiving a letter from Codex saying “Codex Goes Glam.” On the company’s website, the same statement is used at the top of the page [Google Translation Warning].

Codex Media offers a similar service to that of Glam Media. The site offers a slew of premium female content to German women across a wide array of markets, including fashion and celebrity gossip. More importantly, many of its properties are highly sought after in the space: it owns Cosmopolitan Germany and Elle Germany, to name a few.

In what will surely make every BitTorrent lover jump for joy, a rough alpha version of uTorrent for the Mac has surfaced on The Pirate Bay and BitTorrent isn’t too happy about it.

uTorrent, which was acquired by BitTorrent in 2006, has always been a Windows-only service. But ever since the acquisition, BitTorrent has promised that uTorrent would be coming to the Mac. For almost two years, Mac users have waited for uTorrent to make an appearance and it finally has — much to the dismay of BitTorrent.

Speaking to TorrentFreak, BitTorrent’s product development VP Simon Morris said the leaked alpha version is not for public use and those that try it out should be warned that it’s still in development.

In case you missed the news, Twitter announced a new election page that will help its users filter all the election tweets across its network so users can find what they’re looking for as soon as possible. Twitter claims it decided to launch the service after seeing a spike in the number of tweets surrounding the election and the candidates.

The page is different than your run-of-the-mill Twitter page and it does a fine job of finding what you want, when you want. But it highlights an important point that shouldn’t be overlooked: Twitter needs more of these pages.

I came across an interesting app in the App Store today that’s worth a look. The app is called RulerPhone and its premise is simple: it will let you take a picture with your iPhone and allow you to measure the distances and dimensions between objects in that picture.

Here’s the deal: you can download RulerPhone for $2.99 in the App Store if you want to measure distances of up to 12 feet or you can pick up RulerPhone Lite for free if you don’t need distances longer than 1.5 feet.

Once you start RulerPhone up, it explains how to use the app. In order to start measuring, you need to place an object about the size of a credit card in the picture you’re about to take in order to derive accurate measurements between the objects in the image. After that, you snap the picture and move to the next screen, which asks you to align a blue card that’s displayed so it lines up perfectly with the credit card in the picture. As soon as the two cards are aligned, you click “Measure” and a ruler is displayed, which you can move around and extend to measure the distance between objects in the picture or their length. The actual measurements are displayed above the image.

YouTube on Thursday announced that it’s going to do its part to fight global poverty by launching “In My Name,” a global effort to raise awareness around eight time-bound, measurable goals that the United Nations set back in 2000 to combat global poverty. Known as Millennium Development Goals, the ideas outlined during that session were promises made to the poor to hold world leaders accountable for not doing enough for those that have fallen below the poverty line and force leaders to do more to help them.

YouTube is teaming up with Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, and nonprofit organizations Oxfam, GCAP, Save the Children, and Comic Relief to get the word out that poverty throughout the world needs to be eradicated.

Cramster on Thursday announced that it has raised $3 million in a Series A funding round, which was led by Shai Reshef, an online education industry veteran. Reshef has also been appointed Chairman to help steer the company in the right direction.

Cramster is a global study community that helps students across the globe understand math, science, and engineering. Students can share notes on the site, review practice exams, and walk each other through homework problems while using the service. The site is populated by college students, high school students, educators, and those that are knowledgeable on the subjects to help students.

The company said it will use the funding to expand its operation and bring more users into the fold.

If Netvibes is getting old and you’re tired of looking at your desktop to find all your favorite apps, Schmedley might be a worthwhile alternative.

Leading up to its public beta next week, Schmedley is offering 5,000 private beta invites for TechCrunch readers who want to take the site for a spin. The premise is simple: you sign up and get brought to your start page, which can be littered with well-designed widgets that let you search Google and Yahoo at the same time, check up on your Twitter feed, work with Facebook, check your stocks, and much more, without surfing to the respective sites.

Schmedley offers a full range of widgets to add to your page and each can be expanded or removed with a click of the mouse. The design is quite appealing and the general uniformity of the widget designs improves the experience, but considering the popularity of Netvibes, it’ll be interesting to see how Schmedley can compete.

Evri, a site that uses semantic searching to help users discover more Web content in the shortest amount of time, has added a number of new product features today to mark its open beta.

The site now features a content recommendation engine that publishers can add to their sites to let visitors browse Evri’s listings and profile pages where Evri will collect all the related content on a particular topic. In addition to videos, Evri also added an image carousel to its results pages, which it collects from across the Web.

The idea sounds fine — Evri wants to collect some of the best news, videos, photos, and important information from news sources, Wikipedia, and Google (to name a few) to create a more informative experience — but it falls flat on its face on too many levels.

Google yesterday announced a few updates to Google Reader. The company tried to throw in some cool lingo to make the announcement sound better than it was, but let’s face it — how excited can you really get about putting your feeds in alphabetical order?

According to the company, sharing is now available to friends across the globe. Prior to this announcement, it was only available in the US. To improve Notes, Google also added tagging to help you organize your posts. To round out the improvements, Google will now let you put your feeds in alphabetical order if dragging and dropping isn’t for you via an “Options” menu at the bottom of the window and has information in the “details” section to let you know when it last crawled a feed.

All these features are available now in Google Reader.

KickApps, a company that provides on-demand social media applications that enable web publishers to monetize online audiences announced today that it’s trying to make it easier for website owners to add video advertising to their own videos and websites using the KickApps Widget & Video Player Studio.

Using drag-and-drop, KickApps’ clients can add translucent overlay, interstititial, and pre- and post-roll advertising to any of their videos running on KickApps’ video players. The company also announced that along with its drag-and-drop feature, it now supports integration with Google AdSense for Video, Scanscout, Adap.tv, and 24/7 Real Media. So far, it doesn’t support DoubleClick’s DART, but the company promised that it will be made available over the next few weeks.

Last year, media search platform Pixsy was in the news for forming a strategic partnership with Veoh, which would let the company play Pixsy videos directly in the page with the help of Pixsy’s new embed feature. Realizing the value of that, Pixsy will unveil a new service called Video Search Playback, that will open its embed feature to any company that asks for permission to use it.

By sending an email to Pixsy asking to use its embed feature, website publishers can embed Pixsy videos into their sites, opening them up to the millions of videos currently offered by the site. So far, Pixsy has approved a handful of publishers to participate in the service, but once it goes live on Thursday, anyone can email Pixsy for inclusion.