Top Items:
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
The Next Google Search Challenger: Blekko — Rich Skrenta, who created the first computer virus (Elk Cloner), co-founded the Open Directory Project, and co-founded online news site Topix, may have bitten off the biggest challenge of his career - taking on Google. In search. — Skrenta left Topix last June.
RELATED:
Skrentablog:
Why Search? — I've gone and founded a search startup... you can read it about it in this write-up in TechCrunch. But I get asked - why do search? — Simple - the idea that the current state-of-the-art in search is what we'll all be using, essentially unchanged, in 5 or 10 years, is absurd to me.
Brad Stone / New York Times:
Netflix Partners With LG to Bring Movies Straight to TV — SAN FRANCISCO — Netflix, the DVD-by-mail company with more than seven million customers, has a new strategy that may one day make those red envelopes obsolete. — The company wants to strike deals with electronics companies …
Discussion:
Netflix, last100, ParisLemon, Silicon Alley Insider, NewTeeVee, Associated Press, Hacking NetFlix and Gizmodo
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Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Plaxo's For Sale — Plaxo, the Sequoia-backed start that transformed itself from a hated spam monster into a mild mannered and interesting business social network, has started a sale process according to a source. They've hired an investment bank, Revolution Partners, who are spearheading the sale effort.
RELATED:
Megan McCarthy / Epicenter:
Facebook Ads Make You the Star — And You May Not Know It — Have you used Facebook to give a shout-out to businesses you like? Best make sure your profile picture catches your best side, because you might be an unwitting star in those businesses' next Facebook ad campaigns.
Discussion:
Consumer Passion
The Boy Genius Report:
Jay-Z launching record label with Apple — This one's been floating around like a hot air balloon, but we've just about confirmed it. For those that don't know, Jay-Z left Def Jam as President last month, and everyone's been talking about where he's heading.
Discussion:
Engadget, Cult of Mac, louisgray.com, CrunchGear, Gizmodo, ParisLemon, Insanely Great Mac, Mashable! and Digg
Joseph Weisenthal / paidContent.org:
Free WSJ.com Would Need 12x Traffic To Offset Loss; DJ Buy To Shave A Penny From NWS: Analyst — Turning WSJ.com into a free site would require a 12x increase in traffic growth to offset the lost revenue, according to a new report from Bear Stearns analyst Spencer Wang.
Glenn Derene / Popular Mechanics:
Macworld 2008 Prediction: Apple's MacBook Plus Tablet Laptop — In his biweekly trends column, PM's senior tech editor forecasts what he thinks Steve Jobs will show the computer world at this year's Apple developers conference: a touchscreen “MacBook Plus” to enter the growing tablet market.
Jason Calacanis / The Jason Calacanis Weblog:
The three business models that make Twitter a billion-dollar business in 12-24 months. — Allen wrote a blog post today about Twitter focusing on a business model. Allen, my friend, you're thinking small. Get out of Brooklyn and spend more time in the Valley. Business models!?!?!
Discussion:
mathewingram.com/work, The Last Podcast, WinExtra, MentallyRetired, Epicenter, Geek Speaker, Ryan Stewart, Scripting News, Maple Leaf 2.0, Insider Chatter, Furrier.org, Leveraging Ideas, CenterNetworks, Techquila Shots, Technovia, /Message, broadstuff, Smalltalk Tidbits …, Roam4free, Marc's Voice, Mashable! and The Social Web
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Arn / MacRumors:
iPhone 1.1.3 to Include Copy/Paste? — According to MacScoop, the recent iPhone 1.1.3 firmware leak is an incomplete and unpolished version of the upcoming iPhone update which may still contain a few surprises when it is finally released. — According to the rumor site …
Discussion:
MacScoop
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Peter Ha / CrunchGear:
Lenovo lets loose three IdeaPads — Ever since my conversion into the Apple race, I tend to shake my head at other notebook manufacturers and think their hardware isn't as nice or pretty or whatever. I obviously come to my senses shortly after and take another look at it from an objective standpoint.
Michael Kanellos / CNET News.com:
Coming soon: A notebook with a terabyte — It's the notebook for neurotics. — Asus, the Taiwanese computer maker, will come out with a notebook that sports two 500GB hard drives from Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. Combined, this will give a fully configured Asus M70 notebook a terabyte of storage.
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
Sears: Come see the softer side of spyware — Sears and Kmart are places you might go when you need a new air conditioner filter or a lawnmower; they're not generally thought of as havens for spyware. But that's what the two stores have become, at least online, where their websites were found …
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb, The Register, Swarming Media, GracefulFlavor, WebMetricsGuru, SC Magazine US and Techdirt
John P. Falcone / CNET News.com:
HP bows updated MediaSmart TVs — New MediaSmart TVs will sport full MCE functionality — HP has updated its MediaSmart TVs for the new year. On the surface, the new SL4282N (42-inch) and SL4782N (47-inch) are very similar to their 2007 counterparts: full 1080p resolution LCD flat-panels …
Ryan Block / Engadget:
LG.Philips announces 14.3-inch flexible e-paper display for CES — Try to contain yourself when we rattle off the following list of specs for LG.Philips's latest A4 sheet of flexible e-paper: 14.3-inches, 1280 x 800 pixels, 16.7m colors, 300 micrometers thick, full 180° viewing angle.
