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
RELATED:
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:
Andrew Ross Sorkin / New York Times:
Social Net Site Is Said to Be for Sale — Plaxo, an early social networking site that helps people keep their address books updated, is up for auction, people briefed on the offering said Wednesday night. The company, which has not made a profit, is seeking as much as $100 million, these people said.
Discussion:
Valleywag
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
MacScoop:
Next iPhone software update to allow copy-paste — Apple will release an iPhone software update during MacWorld Expo 2008, well informed sources confirmed MacScoop. But it appears that the unpolished iPhone sofware version recently leaked on the Internet doesn't include all the features of the final release.
RELATED:
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, louisgray.com, CrunchGear, Cult of Mac, 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, Maple Leaf 2.0, Scripting News, Insider Chatter, Furrier.org, Leveraging Ideas, Techquila Shots, Technovia, /Message, broadstuff, Smalltalk Tidbits …, Roam4free, Marc's Voice, Mashable! and The Social Web
RELATED:
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.
Mark Ward / BBC:
Cyber thieves target social sites — Technology Correspondent, BBC News website — Social sites are already being targeted by hi-tech thieves — It is not just the average net user who is a fan of social network sites, so are hi-tech criminals. — So say security professionals predicting …
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 …
