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Spotify, the red-hot European music service that's like iTunes, Pandora, MOG and more combined, released a new version last week that integrates with Facebook last week. I've been hearing about Spotify for months but hadn't actually seen it before - it's not available in the United States yet and no one knows when it will be. Even traveling to Europe, downloading the app and then coming back to the States will get your account shut down after a grace period streaming from a US IP.

Thanks to a friend though, I got a copy of Spotify a few days ago! I can report that it is simply awesome, and I'm just using the free version so far. Here's an annotated screenshot below, in case you're as curious as I was. This may be old news for some uber-hip types, but I'm guessing most readers haven't seen the interface before. I hadn't.

At last week's F8 developers' conference, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled plans to offer "instant personalization" all over the Web - a way for websites to become instantly more social. Without even signing in, sites gain access to publicly available Facebook information like your name, profile picture, friend list and more, in order to personalize your experience on the site. At launch, only three partner sites are offering this feature: Microsoft's new Docs.com, Internet radio Pandora and user review site Yelp. You can opt-out of this experience if you like, but by default, you're opted in.

When the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted and subsequently spread its ash across European flight paths the industry it had the most effect on was travel. But it has had an effect on the tech sector as well, even if it has been under-reported.

That tech industry mainstay, the conference, was the first element affected. One of ReadWriteWeb's writers had his trip to Funconf rescheduled.

Thanks to voice-controlled systems like Ford's Sync, drivers don't have to take their eyes off the road if they want to place a call or switch to the next track on their playlists. Today, Ford announced the next step in the company's roadmap to connect mobile phones and cars. With Sync AppLink, Ford is introducing a new platform that allows developers to offer voice controls for their mobile apps on Sync-enabled cars. At first, AppLink will only work with Android and BlackBerry devices, but the company plans to offer support for Apple's iPhone OS and other smartphone platforms next year.

It's not every day you get the chance to hear a half dozen executives from successful startups speak openly about how their companies managed to get to where they are. In fact, its most likely that to get that kind of access in one day, you'd have to be at some high-priced convention that costs several hundred dollars to attend. This isn't the case, however, with Starter Day, an event hosted by software makers Atlassian that will showcase six CEOs and founders from various startups, including Boxee, Aardvark and Pandora.

Mashups artists make the coolest things possible. If you like listening to music on Pandora, why not share your favorite songs with your Twitter friends as well? Dora.fm is a mashup of Pandora, Twitter and link-shortener Bit.ly built by Isaac Salier-Hellendag.

This is just one of many mashups built using the Bit.ly Application Programming Interface, which recently saw a substantial upgrade.

It was just about a year and a half ago now that we were hearing the bells toll for Internet radio service Pandora, but, as evidenced in today's New York Times profile of the decade old stalwart, the service seems to be going nowhere but up.

While Pandora "has been on the verge of death, struggling to find investors and battling record labels over royalties," according to the Times' profile, a recent move by Warner Music may help to put one Internet radio station above the rest.

Today marks the official start to the 2010 Consumer Electronics Showcase in Las Vegas where all of the biggest electronics manufacturers show off their coolest and newest products. While CES is mainly a gadget show, entrepreneurs looking for the next big thing should pay close attention to the innovative ideas being pushed into the consumer market.

The big show is just getting underway, but we are already seeing some trends emerge that could point to new opportunities for startups in 2010.

The only reason streaming web music hasn't completely killed all other forms of music distribution is the fact that it's not available when you're traveling across wireless networks - say, in a car. Well hold on to your hats and start canceling your satellite radio subscriptions, Pandora is taking to the road.

Larry Marcus is one investor with the ability to turn good core technology into consumer success. Five years ago he helped change the mathematical algorithm of the Music Genome Project into music sensation Pandora. Today, Marcus' work with Melodis' Sound2Sound Search Science is already celebrating market success with music identifying application SoundHound. ReadWriteWeb caught up with Marcus to hear about his latest project.