- Flickr abandons the "old skool"; Yahoo is discontinuing the old email-based Flickr sign-in system and from 15 March, all users will be required to have a Yahoo ID to sign-in to Flickr. They're also restricting a user's contacts to 3000. Steve O'Hear writes that "in upsetting those early adopters I can't help thinking that Yahoo just broke one of the golden rules of 2.0." Personally I think it's a storm in a teacup - so you need to change your login process?! Remember that many people these days regularly change their identity. So this Flickr move is not a big deal IMHO, although they should find another way round the 3000 limit.

- Microsoft Zune Phone In the Works; Grunchgear speculates that Microsoft is working on a smartphone to be branded under the Zune moniker, but that it won't run the Windows Mobile OS (why? won't the Apple iPhone use OS X?). Crunchgear says it will be able to sync with the Xbox 360 and stream video from the system to the phone via a wireless data connection. I think this tip is plausible, although Microsoft was proclaiming at CES that it was already number 1 with Windows Mobile (outselling Blackberry). So Microsoft would be competing with its own phone partners on such a device....

- J Allard takes Zune reins; In related news, J Allard - the guy credited as a major force behind Xbox - has now taken charge of the Zune program. This signals Microsoft is very serious about getting the Zune brand up to the high standards of the iPod. They can start by losing the brown color....