Top Items:
Gmail Blog:
New in Labs: Tasks — Posted by Jonathan Terleski, Michael Lancaster, and Brett Lider, Tasks team — People use Gmail to get stuff done, so we've added a lightweight way to keep track of what you need to do, right from within Gmail. — Take entering a new task: just click in an empty part of your list and start typing.
Discussion:
Epicenter, PC World, Mark Evans, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, Boy Genius Report, ChannelWeb, ReadWriteWeb, Technologizer, Squash, ReviewSaurus, Search Engine Journal, Lifehacker, /Message, RotorBlog.com, CNET News, TECH.BLORGE.com, TechBays, Profy, Google Blogoscoped, Google Watch, VentureBeat, Regular Geek, Download Squad, WebProNews and InformationWeek
RELATED:
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Gmail Finally Gets A To-Do List — Someone at Google finally realized how helpful it would be to add a to-do list to Gmail. It is called “Tasks” and is now available in Gmail Labs (click on the beaker icon next to “Settings” on the upper right hand corner of Gmail).
Sony Corporation:
Sony Announces Initiatives to Improve Profitability and Enhance Operational Efficiencies in its Electronics Businesses — Sony Corporation ("Sony") has embarked on a series of measures to strengthen its corporate structure and bolster profitability across the Sony Group.
RELATED:
Aidan Malley / AppleInsider:
Rumor: Apple's iTunes going DRM-free starting Tuesday [u] — Apple is believed to be on the verge of an end-of-year push that would start by finally offering unprotected iTunes Store music from all major labels and would switch a special post-holiday campaign giving away music and videos to Europeans.
Bob Walsh / Webware.com:
Appcelerator Titanium puts more Web apps on your desktop — The line between Web and desktop apps is getting fuzzier Tuesday, with the preview release of Appcelerator Titanium, platform designed to turn Web app developers into desktop and mobile phone developers.
RELATED:
Mark Hendrickson / TechCrunch:Appcelerator Raises $4.1 Million for Open Source RIA Platform
Discussion:
Open Source
Rory Cellan-Jones / dot.life blog:
Kosmix - searching for optimism — What's the definition of optimism in these troubled times for the hi-tech economy? How about starting a business which plans to take on Google from a base in Mountain View, the search giant's home town? Or maybe ploughing $20m into that business …
RELATED:
Google Code Blog:
Native Client: A Technology for Running Native Code on the Web — Modern PCs can execute billions of instructions per second, but today's web applications can access only a small fraction of this computational power. If web developers could use all of this power, just imagine the rich, dynamic experiences they could create.
Wall Street Journal:
Yahoo Closer to Naming CEO — Yahoo Inc. directors steering the search for a new chief executive are moving closer to a recommendation and have authorized checking references on a few key candidates, say people familiar with the matter, although a decision is likely to be weeks away at the earliest.
Discussion:
Search Engine Land, BoomTown, Silicon Alley Insider, Guardian, BloggingStocks and TechFlash
Jeremy Kahn / New York Times:
Mumbai Terrorists Relied on New Technology for Attacks — MUMBAI, India — The terrorists who struck this city last month stunned authorities not only with their use of sophisticated weaponry but also with their comfort with modern technology. — The terrorists navigated across the Arabian Sea …
Discussion:
Communications …
Melissa Shapiro / The Mozilla Blog:
Firefox 3.1 beta 2 now available! — Editor's note: Mozilla released Firefox 3.1 beta 1 on Monday, December 8, 2008 at 2:39 pm PT. Check out the Mozilla Developer News announcement reposted below for more details. — Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 now available for download
RELATED:
Ryan Paul / Ars Technica:First look: Firefox 3.1 beta 2, now with private browsing
Discussion:
The Register, Slashdot, Mozilla, nixCraft Linux Sys Admin Blog, AppScout, Lifehacker, Between the Lines and Mashable!
Business Technology:
Tech Spending to Grow 1.6% in 2009 — Technology spending will grow at its lowest rate in six years in 2009, a research firm said, as businesses shift their buying habits in response to the economic downturn. — Businesses and other organizations in the U.S. will spend $573 billion on computer software …
Matt Buchanan / Gizmodo:
New MacBooks Are Cranky: They Have Insomnia and Hate Third-Party RAM — The standard “journalism” rule is that three is trend. So here's one with the new MacBooks: They've got problems! Screwy video cards, insomniatic, power-sucking sleep and not playing well with other RAM.
Adam Frucci / Gizmodo:
FYI: Blending a Charged iPhone Causes Explosions — On Saturday at the Gizmodo Gallery, we blended a fully-functioning iPhone with a Blendtec, sacrificing it to the gods of copy and paste. What we learned was that if you blend an iPhone with its battery inside, it explodes. Whoops!
Eric Eldon / VentureBeat:
Friendster nabs fourth social networking patent, dozen more pending — Friendster was the first modern social network to really gain traction on the web. But it has lost ground to rivals like MySpace and Facebook over the last five years or so, due to a number of missteps.
Scott M. Fulton, III / BetaNews:
Leaks indicate Microsoft is un-rethinking the Win7 taskbar — During last week's touring WinHEC conference in Beijing, attendees were treated to the latest Windows 7 build running in a virtual machine. Trouble is, someone apparently pilfered a copy of the VHD, and now it's loose.
Amanda Kelly / Inside AdWords:
An update to the AdWords alcohol policy — As many of you know, we're constantly evaluating our AdWords program policies to keep them current and effective. This means making changes from time to time by either adding new policies, such as the endangered species policy, or updating existing policies, such as the Display URL policy.
GamesIndustry.biz:
Atari acquires Cryptic Studios — Atari has announced that it has acquired US-based MMO developer Cryptic Studios in a performance-linked deal. — The company, previously responsible for City of Heroes and City of Villains, which made over USD 100 million for NCsoft, is in production on three titles …
Joe Wilcox / Microsoft Watch:
Oxite: Just MIX and Serve — The thing is called Oxite, and Microsoft released the code to its CodePlex site on Dec. 5, but made the announcement today. Oxite is labeled an alpha, and as of this posting a whopping 344 people had downloaded the software. Let's not rush to give up Movable Type or WordPress, shall we?
Erica Naone / Technology Review:
The Social Life of Routers — How a 1960s sociology experiment could hold the key to better Internet routing. — Just like an old-fashioned piece of mail, data traveling over the Internet normally follows a predictable path. As the Internet continues to grow, however …
Associated Press:
LG develops handset chip for fast downloads — ANYANG, South Korea - LG Electronics Inc. claimed a step forward in the commercialization of the next generation of Internet capable handsets, demonstrating a modem chip with a download speed eight times that of the fastest mobile phones currently on the market.
Discussion:
InformationWeek
BBC:
Microsoft Office to debut online — Microsoft is preparing web versions of some of its most popular programs. — In 2009 web versions of Word, Excel and other programs in the Microsoft Office suite plus Exchange and Sharepoint will go online. — Users will be able to get at the programs via …
Stan Schroeder / Mashable!:
TVLoop.com - Where TV Meets Social Networking — If you're an avid Facebook user and TV aficionado, you've probably heard of Watercooler's TVLoop. It's a Facebook application that brings full TV episodes of many popular shows directly to your Facebook profile; recently …
Discussion:
VentureBeat
Ashlee Vance / Bits:
Dell Sees Double With Data Center in a Container — Ty Schmitt, principal thermal and mechanical architect for Dell's Data Center Solutions group, outside of Dell's double-stacked data center in Round Rock, Tex. (Credit: Erich Schlegel for The New York Times)
