Top Items:
The Boy Genius / Boy Genius Report:
Apple to sell a $99 4GB iPhone at Walmart? — We just got a tip that in addition to the iPhone 3G actually making its way to Walmart, as we exclusively told you, there will be a 4GB model priced at $99 with a 2-year agreement. We're not putting our stamp of approval behind this one just yet …
Discussion:
IntoMobile, VentureBeat, Tech Trader Daily, Technologizer, Infinite Loop, 9 to 5 Mac, SlashGear, TG Daily, Mark Evans, Pulse2, Gadget Lab, CrunchGear, I4U News, Silicon Alley Insider, Gadgetell, DVICE, MacBlogz, Homotron.net, TUAW, Edible Apple, Unwired View, iPhone Buzz, Local Mobile Search, AppleInsider, iPhone Savior, Electricpig.co.uk and The Tech Report
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Avner / boxee blog:
boxee <3 Netflix — when we planned the Dec 4th release we had minor changes in mind, mainly bug-fixes.... but we were undisciplined and immature.. and it turned from a minor release into a big one.. — we could not ignore the number of people asking for Netflix on boxee.. so we called …
Discussion:
Epicenter, Beet.TV, NewTeeVee, 9 to 5 Mac, Technologizer, Appletell, Boing Boing Gadgets, eHomeUpgrade, Lifehacker, SlashGear, TUAW, VC Cafe, GeekTonic, Tech Confidential and Apple Gazette
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Josh Lowensohn / Webware.com:
Boxee gets support for Netflix streaming — Boxee is releasing on Thursday a new version of its media center software that adds support for Netflix Watch Instantly streaming movies. — Unlike streaming solutions from Roku and Microsoft's Xbox 360, Boxee's effort includes the option …
Simon Sage / IntoMobile:
World's Second Android Phone Now on Presale … Kogan's Agora and Agora Pro hinted at last month is now ready to roll, costing AU$299 and AU$399, and shipping on January 29th. The Agora Pro's specs are as follows: — Operating System: Android™ — Google Mobile Functions …
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Rick Turoczy / ReadWriteWeb:
Times Extra: The New York Times Opens Web Front Page to Outside Content — New York TimesAt a time when the online world is continually seen as a more trusted source of news, mainstream media outlets find themselves forced into the position of becoming more and more open to keep their readers coming back.
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Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Former Yahoo Tech Star Qi Lu Likely to Be Named Microsoft's Digital Head by Next Week — Former Yahoo tech star Qi Lu (pictured here) is poised to take on the big job of being Microsoft's top digital executive, according to several sources inside and outside the company.
Discussion:
Search Engine Land, Microsoft Pri0, One Microsoft Way, paidContent.org, Beyond Binary and TechFlash
Electronista:
Apple files patent for hover-ready touchscreen — Apple has developed technology that would let an iPhone or similar device be controlled by hovering fingers nearby rather than just touches alone, a new US patent filing shows. The system would include the company's familiar capacitive touchscreen technology …
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Sam Oliver / AppleInsider:
Apple proposes infrared matrix to aid larger multi-touch designs — A fairly new filing from Apple discusses the advantages of using proximity sensors more generously to aid its multi-touch technology on devices larger than the iPhone, which would allow certain functions to be invoked without …
AT&T:
AT&T Announces Job Reductions — AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) today announced a planned reduction of approximately 12,000 jobs, or about 4 percent of the company's total workforce, citing economic pressures, a changing business mix and a more streamlined organizational structure.
Opera Community:
Peregrine takes flight... Opera 10.0 Alpha 1 is here! — It seems like yesterday we released Opera 9.6 and now you can all get your hands on Opera 10.0. Rather than ramble on, here's a quick list of what's new: — Presto 2.2 Engine — Performance boost — 100/100 and pixel-perfect on the Acid3 test
Discussion:
Opera Press Room, Technologizer, ReadWriteWeb, Epicenter, Lifehacker, SitePoint, TechSpot and jkOnTheRun
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Gartner:
Gartner Says Worldwide Smartphone Sales Reached Its Lowest Growth Rate With 11.5 Per Cent Increase in Third Quarter of 2008 — Apple Overtakes Microsoft As No. 3 Smartphone OS Vendor — In the third quarter of 2008, the global smartphone market reached its weakest year-on-year growth since Gartner, Inc. began tracking the industry.
Discussion:
Engadget, Ars Technica, CNET News, InformationWeek, mocoNews.net, TeleRead, Edible Apple, jkOnTheRun and dailywireless.org
Ben Lorica / O'Reilly Radar:
Facebook Growth Regions and Gender Split — Since we began tracking Facebook demographics in late May, weekly growth has held steady, usually in the low single-digits on a percentage basis. More importantly, it's fair to say that the company has successfully expanded overseas.
Discussion:
WebProNews
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Jeremy Kirk / LinuxWorld.com:
Firefox users targeted by rare piece of malware — Researchers at BitDefender have discovered a new type of malicious software that collects passwords for banking sites but targets only Firefox users. — The malware, which BitDefender dubbed “Trojan.PWS.ChromeInject.A” sits in Firefox's add-ons folder …
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William M. Bulkeley / Wall Street Journal:
IBM Offers ‘Microsoft-Free’ Desktop — Applications for Thin Clients Would Operate From Back-Office Server — International Business Machines Corp. is hoping to convince corporate customers that they no longer need Microsoft Corp. — IBM says it has created a “Microsoft-free” …
Discussion:
The Microsoft Blog, Microsoft Pri0, The Register, Silicon Alley Insider, CNET News, Obsessable and BloggingStocks
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Eric Lai / LinuxWorld.com:New virtual Linux desktop bundle comes ‘Microsoft-free’
Discussion:
Computerworld
Oliver Marks / Collaboration 2.0:
Open source thrives in downturn — Collaboration initiatives are all about streamlining business processes, and the interfaces between legacy closed systems and open source stacks are an increasingly common place to find business collaboration environments.
Discussion:
Network World
Nate Anderson / Law & Disorder:
New short film asks, “Why Copyright?” — 50 years ago, did anyone but big rightsholders and lawmakers care about copyright? It certainly wasn't the tremendous public issue it has become today, and a new short film from Canadian law professor Michael Geist takes a look at why copyright matters …
Rafe Needleman / Webware.com:
Facebook Connect officially open...and it will win — Facebook is officially announcing today that the company's log-in system, Facebook Connect, is officially open for business for non-Facebook sites. Facebook is making the implementation of Facebook Connect self-service …
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Google Friend Connect Now Open To All Websites — Update: Facebook just opened up FB Connect as well in a self-serve fashion. — The battle over who will control access to your online identity is heating up. In the wake of more and more partners finally starting to take a shine …
Mark Hendrickson / TechCrunch:
Flickr Revamps Mobile Site, Adds Video Streaming Support — Flickr has released a new version of its mobile site that affords several new features, most notably the ability to stream video clips up to 90-seconds in length. — Video streaming will be initially available for only the iPhone and iPod Touch …
Kate Greene / Technology Review:
A Winning Web Formula — Advertisers could benefit from analyzing the early popularity of online content. — As online advertising money starts shrinking in the economic downturn, some researchers are looking for ways to make the most of every single dollar.
Hamilton Nolan / Gawker:
The Dreaded Viacom Layoffs: 850 People — The long-feared Viacom pre-post holiday layoffs are here, and they're not pretty. We heard earlier that as many as 300 layoffs might be coming at MTV today, but the total, Viacom-wide numbers are even worse: 850 people are being cut, about 7% of the company's global staff.
