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7:15 PM ET, January 15, 2008

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Devin Coldewey / CrunchGear:
MacBook AirHead: why Apple's new laptop is basically useless  —  First, let me just say that the Air is an extremely impressive piece of technology.  The miniaturization, the optimization of space, the blatant disregard for current standards — it's everything a revolutionary machine should be.
Discussion: Venture Chronicles
RELATED:
Nilay Patel / Engadget:
MacBook Air doesn't have a user-replaceable battery  —  We sort of understood it with iPods, and we grudgingly accepted it with the iPhone, but the MacBook Air has a sealed, non-user-replaceable battery, and that means we're suddenly a lot less in love.  We're digging for details …
Jason Chen / Gizmodo:
MacBook Air Hands-on  —  Here's our take on the MacBook Air.  It's super light, super fragile, and super small.  If you just tap the screen lightly, the whole thing closes because it's so light.  The keyboard looks a little weird because it's black on the aluminum, but the keyboard feels great.
Thomas Ricker / Engadget:
Sizing it up: MacBook Air vs. the rest
Discussion: Furrier.org
Ryan Block / Engadget:
MacBook Air: plenty more details
Discussion: Valleywag
Mathew / mathewingram.com/work:
Hey, Steve — you broke the Internet  —  Thanks for all the great toys, Uncle Steve, but did you have to go and break the Internet?  I and about 7,000 other people were all signed up to get Twitter updates from MacRumors, but I never saw a single one — and in fact the entire Twitter.com network …
RELATED:
Paul Kedrosky's Infectious Greed:
Steve Jobs Proves the Interweb Can't Beat TV ... Yet  —  Live media events are great, when they work.  But watching live services like Twitter collapse around the Steve Jobs keynote this morning provides more great examples (if needed) why the Interweb isn't yet TV.
Nicholas Carlson / Valleywag:
Now we know what Twitter's good for: not much
Discussion: CenterNetworks
Duncan Riley / TechCrunch:   Twitter Fails Macworld Keynote Test
John P. Falcone / Crave: The gadget blog:
Slew of new features—including movie rentals and HD video—en route to Apple TV  —  The Apple TV just got a whole lot more useful.  —  Steve Jobs unveiled a major feature update to the Apple TV today during his Macworld keynote address in San Francisco that aims to transform the device …
RELATED:
Tom Neumayr / Apple:
Apple Premieres iTunes Movie Rentals With All Major Film Studios  —  New Apple TV Software Lets You Rent Movies Directly from Your Widescreen TV  —  Apple® today announced iTunes® Movie Rentals featuring movies from all the major movie studios including 20th Century Fox …
Apple:
Apple Enhances Revolutionary iPhone with Software Update  —  Apple® today announced a free software update for its revolutionary iPhone™ that allows users to automatically find their location using the redesigned Maps application*; text message multiple people in one message …
Matt Buchanan / Gizmodo:
Apple TV Take 2: $229, No Computer Required, Direct Rentals (Netflix Screwed)  —  Holy crap, Jobs admitted Apple TV failed at getting computer content to the square screen.  Apple TV Take 2 requires no computer, you can rent from iTunes directly from the box—movies and music—and it's only $229.
Michael Gartenberg / JupiterResearch:
iTunes Does Movie Rentals & Apple TV Update - First Take
Discussion: Guardian Unlimited
Ryan Block / Engadget:
Live from Macworld 2008: Steve Jobs keynote  —  Thanks for joining us for our live Macworld 2008 keynote coverage!  We're in, so click on, all our real-time updates are posted just after the break.  —  Note: this time we're updating from bottom to top, with the latest updates below.
RELATED:
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Breaking: Samwer Brothers Invest In Facebook  —  Serial German entrepreneurs Alexander, Marc and Oliver Samwer have invested in Facebook, we've heard from a very reliable source - presumably as part of Facebook's recent $15 billion valuation round with Microsoft.  We are still trying to nail down the size of the investment.
Clint Ecker / Infinite Loop:
Macworld.ars: iPod touch users to pay $20 for iPhone applications  —  Within thirty minutes of purchasing my original iPod touch, I had it jailbroken and installed those iPhone applications that Apple had purposefully left out.  Those include Google Maps, MobileMail, Stocks, Weather, and Notes.
RELATED:
VMware:
VMware to Expand Desktop Virtualization Solution with Acquisition of Thinstall  —  Thinstall's Best-of-Breed, Agentless Application Virtualization to Join VMware's Desktop Portfolio; VMware Also Acquires Virtualization Services Assets from Foedus  —  VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) …
Wilson Rothman / Gizmodo:
Apple Announces Time Capsule Server for Wireless Time Machine Backup  —  At Macworld 2008, Apple just announced Time Capsule, a full Airport Extreme base station with 802.11n wireless and four Ethernet ports, plus server grade hard drives to back up all of the Leopard Macs in the house.
GigaOM:
Google's Achilles Heel  —  Does Google not, like everyone else, have an Achilles heel?  —  Before I attempt to answer that question, let me just say right up front that when it comes to this topic, I am highly biased.  I want Google to have competition.  —  Biased or not, however …
Patrik / F-Secure Antivirus Research Weblog:
First Rogue Cleaning Tool for Mac  —  We've just found the first Mac rogue application and it's called MacSweeper.  —  It claims to clean your Mac from compromising files and it will always find something to fix/clean but the only way to do so is to buy the program.
Josh Jones / DreamHost Blog:
Um, Whoops.  —  Hello.. how's your morning going?  —  I hope it's been a little better than mine.  —  We had a teensy eensy weensy little billing error last night... my first clue something was up when I saw this morning's daily billing report (so far): $7,500,000.
 
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 More Items: 
Brian Bergstein / Associated Press:
IBM to add software for Apple devices
Greg Sandoval / CNET News.com:
Move over Netflix, VOD services; here comes Apple
Monica Chen / DigiTimes:
Intel to launch 15 Montevina CPUs in May
Discussion: Gizmodo
Jeffrey Silva / RCR Wireless News:
FCC to probe carrier text messaging discrimination
Discussion: SMS Text News and mocoNews.net
Duncan Riley / TechCrunch:
Google Developing Mac Version Of Picasa, Due To Be Released This Year
Mark Hendrickson / TechCrunch:
Listen to Pandora Internationally with Global Pandora
Nicole Maestri / Reuters:
Borders readies to take over Web site
Discussion: paidContent.org
 Earlier Items: 
Erica Ogg / CNET News.com:
Moxi maker cuts staff by half, loses CEO
Greg Howlett / Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim:
Kudos to Yahoo! Search Marketing
Josh / Redeye VC:
The earlier the better...  Most VC's typically “pass” …
Caroline McCarthy / CNET News.com:
Electronic Arts will bring ‘Spore’ to the Mac this year
Discussion: ParisLemon and Kotaku
Alex Serpo / CNET News.com:
A tenfold improvement in battery life?
Emma Hall / AdAge:
Wanna Be a Popular Social Networker? Prepare to Pony Up
Discussion: WebProNews
Victoria Shannon / International Herald Tribune:
Amazon.com is challenging French competition law
Robby Stein / Official Gmail Blog:
New Gmail for the iPhone
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Analyzing Comcast's spinoff of cable networks, purposefully structured with low debt: the move might be a signal to the industry that it's time to consolidate

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
James Harding says the Tortoise-Observer deal could create a profitable media group and there isn't a guaranteed future for the Observer with the Guardian

Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Trump says Republicans must kill the PRESS Act, which would protect journalists' records and sources from the US government; the bill is stalled in the Senate

 
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