Top Items:
Peter Ha / CrunchGear:
BlackBerry 9000 revealed, major disappointment? — It appears the rumored touchscreen BB is just a myth if you believe what first time poster Cooper over at BB Forums has to say. This photo was purportedly taken in Waterloo at the RIM campus. The 9xxx line won't see a touchscreen for a long …
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Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
New Blackberry 9000 in iPhone Black? — A picture of what may or may not be the next-generation Blackberry 9000 popped up in an online forum. The device does not appear to have a touchscreen, but it does sport a black iPhone-like sheen. Again, this could be the real deal, a hoax, or some unrelated prototype.
Discussion:
Silicon Alley Insider
The Boy Genius Report:
BlackBerry 9000 surfaces? — Who knows at this point, honestly. From our own mock-up, to many other ones online, it's going to take a lot to convince us. That said friends, this does look pretty legit if it turns out to be true. We'll let you all debate whether you like or not.
ABC News:
Conroy announces mandatory internet filters to protect children — Telecommunications Minister Stephen Conroy says new measures are being put in place to provide greater protection to children from online pornography and violent websites. — Senator Conroy says it will be mandatory …
Discussion:
The Register, Tinfinger, WebProNews, Librarians Matter, Mashable!, Infothought and Scobleizer
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Duncan Riley / TechCrunch:
Australia Joins China In Censoring The Internet — The Australian Government has announced that they will be joining China as one of the few countries globally that broadly censor the internet. — The Labor Party's policy was announced prior to the Australian Election in November …
Discussion:
Guardian Unlimited, TechFold, duncanriley.com, Global Neighbourhoods and Delicate Genius Blog
Mike Butcher / TechCrunch UK:
Data privacy is a startup opportunity, alas — While TechCrunch reports that Australia has plans plans to censor the Internet for its citizens, the UK is keeping up its fight for freedom and justice by being ranked as the worst in Europe for privacy, much of it in the technology realm.
Discussion:
Ars Technica
Electronista:
LG preps 52, 84-inch multi-touch LCDs, more — LG Phillips LCD has today revealed some of its first multi-touch displays and is targeting them at users who want to bring the technology to large rooms and public spaces. At 52 and 84 inches, the two new displays are the largest yet to allow …
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Bill Ray / The Register:
Vonage shakes off patent disputes — Annus horribilis ends with Nortel agreement — Vonage and Nortel have agreed to settle their patent differences with an exchange of licenses, and no money changing hands, ending a year of litigation for Vonage and clearing the decks before 2008.
Discussion:
Computerworld
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Reuters:
Vonage and Nortel settle patent dispute — NEW YORK (Reuters) - Internet-based calling company Vonage Holdings Corp (VG.N) said it has agreed to settle a patent dispute with Nortel Networks (NT.TO) (NT.N) with no payment of damages, sending its share up more than 8 percent.
Podcasting News:
High Definition DVD Formats Going Nowhere Fast — Despite the fact that prices have plummeted for next-generation high-definition DVD players, the two systems — Blu-ray, developed by Sony, and HD DVD, from Toshiba, have sold only about one million stand-alone players combined.
Discussion:
Gizmodo
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Conrad Longmore / Dynamoo's Blog:
Js/snz.a - likely false positive in eTrust / Vet Anti-Virus — It appears that CA's eTrust Anti-Virus product (also known as Vet Anti-Virus, often bundled with other security applications such as ZoneAlarm) is coming up with a false positive for js/snz.a for several complex javascript applications.
Susan Kinzie / Washington Post:
Internet Access Is Only Prerequisite For More and More College Classes — Berkeley's on YouTube. American University's hoping to get on iTunes. George Mason professors have created an online research tool, a virtual filing cabinet for scholars. And with a few clicks on Yale's Web site …
Discussion:
Digg
Ionut Alex Chitu / Google Operating System:
Top Google Apps in 2007 — This is a top of the Google products that improved the most in 2007. For reference, here's the chart from last year: — 10. Picasa + Picasa Web Albums — 9. Blogger — 8. Google Books — 7. Google Calendar — 6. Google Reader — 5. Google Maps + Google Earth
Jenn K. Lee / Pocketables:
E-Lead Electronic Noahpad UMPC — Taiwan-based E-Lead Electronic will show off its new Noahpad UMPC at CES 2008 next week. Dubbed “classmate, roommate, and travelmate,” the unit runs Ubuntu 7.10 by default but is capable of running Windows XP on its 1GHz VIA C7 Eden processor (CX700 chipset), 30GB hard drive, and 512MB of RAM.
Evan Blass / Engadget:
iPhone firmware 1.1.3 video walkthrough posted — It seems pretty clear by now that the images and videos floating around of an iPhone running firmware 1.1.3 are legit, but if you still have doubts as to their veracity, a new walkthrough that's been posted should put those to rest.
