Top Items:
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Investment Group Makes Run For Yahoo, Using Microsoft's Money — Interest in troubled Internet giant Yahoo has not waned, it just took a break for the holidays. A group of well known Silicon Valley executives and top investment bankers are putting together a Yahoo takeover deal …
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Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:
Yahoo Shareholder Ridicules Microsoft-Financed Buyout Plan (YHOO) — TechCrunch's Michael Arrington says a bunch of Valley folks are looking to borrow $20 billion from Microsoft to buy Yahoo for about $15 a share. * Yahoo's search business would be sold to Microsoft, Yahoo's management would get canned, etc.
Joshua Topolsky / Engadget:
Live from Steve Ballmer's CES keynote — 6:43PM “Over the next several years, they'll become more connected.” “The 2nd major area is how you'll be able to interact with the computer in natural ways.” — 6:42PM “Technology isn't just about PCs — the phone, TV, and PC are merging.
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Michael Calore / Epicenter:Microsoft Expected to Announce Windows 7 Beta at CES
Discussion:
Tech Trader Daily, Bits, Beyond Binary, IntoMobile, Gadget Lab, paidContent.org and Engadget
Renai LeMay / CNET News:Windows 7 beta: First impressions
Discussion:
The Technology Chronicles, Bits, Digital Daily, Guardian, Boy Genius Report, Electronista, Gizmodo, Guardian, AppScout and Computerworld
One Laptop per Child:
Refocusing on our mission — It pains me to post this, and we have striven to avoid this over the past few months, but it is unavoidable. We are streamlining our operations this month, cutting staff by roughly 50% and laying out broad targets for the coming year. Here is Nicholas's announcement on the upcoming changes:
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Ryan Paul / Ars Technica:
OLPC downsizes half of its staff, cuts Sugar development — The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project announced Wednesday that it plans to downsize half of its staff and reduce the salary of the remaining employees. OLPC will also halt its development of the open source Sugar environment …
Matt Buchanan / Gizmodo:
Sony Vaio P Super Don't-Call-It-a-Netbook Hands On — The keyboard? It rocks. The screen? Beautiful. The trackball is just the right amount of gritty, so your finger sticks to it and doesn't slide off onto the keyboard. The instant-on OS? Classy.
Discussion:
Engadget
RELATED:
New York Times:
Satyam Chief Admits Huge Fraud — NEW DELHI — Satyam Computer Services, a leading Indian outsourcing company that serves more than a third of the Fortune 500 companies, significantly inflated its earnings and assets for years, the chairman and co-founder said Wednesday …
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Adam Lashinsky / Fortune:
Google news — (Fortune Magazine) — You'd think the executives at Google would be chortling over the latest headlines involving newspapers: The Christian Science Monitor eliminates its print edition; Tribune Co. declares bankruptcy; Detroit's two dailies slash home delivery to three days a week.
Elinor Mills / CNET News:
Yelp user faces lawsuit over negative review — San Franciscan Christopher Norberg went to a chiropractor after being injured in a car accident in 2006. After a disagreement with the chiropractor over billing, he posted a negative review of the business on Yelp suggesting that the doctor was dishonest.
Patrick Thibodeau / Computerworld:
Stimulus math: $30B in spending equals 950k tech jobs — ‘Shovel-ready’ projects would likely get first dibs — For every $1 billion that the federal government spends on tech as part of a stimulus package, it will create or retain approximately 31,000 jobs, according …
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Emily Steel / Digits:
CES: MySpace is Coming to Your TV — Channel surfers will soon be able surf MySpace with their remote controls. — MySpace announced Wednesday at the CES trade show that it is working with Yahoo and Intel to bring features from the social network to some TVs.
Discussion:
VentureBeat
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Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
Google's Street View Takes A Byte Out Of Crime — Google Street View may get a bad rap from some overzealous privacy watchdogs and conspiracy theorists, but it just helped police save a young girl who had been kidnapped over the weekend. — In the case, which involved a woman …
Emil Protalinski / One Microsoft Way:
Windows 7 build 7000 64-bit version hits torrent sites — Almost two weeks after Windows 7 build 7000 32-bit was leaked, the 64-bit version (7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_ Ultimate-GB1CULXFRE_EN_DVD.ISO) has hit torrent sites. The first 7xxx build marks the entrance of Windows 7 into beta phase …
Discussion:
All about Microsoft
Michael Liedtke / Associated Press:
Google cuts temporary workers but murky on details — SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google Inc. has jettisoned a substantial number of temporary workers in a recent austerity drive spurred by the recession, although the Internet search leader still intends to spend billions of dollars during the next …
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
Seven Post-Macworld Questions For Apple (AAPL) — As usual, Apple's (AAPL) Macworld keynote led to more questions than answers. We learned about some of Apple's new products and services — 17-inch MacBook, more DRM-free music at iTunes, new software suites — but missed out on a lot more.
Discussion:
Infinite Loop
PC World:
LG Display on Verge of Launching 15-Inch OLED — LG Display is on the verge of beginning commercial production of a 15-inch OLED (organic light emitting diode) panel that's suitable for use in televisions and laptop computers, the company said Wednesday. — The screen, which is being shown …
Maya Baratz / VentureBeat:
Who did Apple hurt with its Macworld announcements? — In yesterday's keynote address at Macworld, Apple unveiled a series of software product upgrade that will potentially encroach on the territory of a handful of startups and larger companies. Should you be worried? — What iPhoto might maim
Reuters:
CES-UPDATE 3-Verizon picks Microsoft search over Google, Yahoo — Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) has chosen Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) to provide Internet search services for cell phones, in what is seen as a blow to rivals Google Inc (GOOG.O) and Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O).
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Apple 2.0:
Pogue rocks Macworld with “Where is Steve?” — David Pogue, New York Times tech columnist, creator of the Missing Manual series, and frustrated Broadway producer, led his Macworld Live! feature presentation in San Francisco Wednesday with a musical riff on Steve Jobs' non-attendance.
Glenn Fleishman / Ars Technica:
AT&T moves closer to offering in-home cell base stations — AT&T is contacting some of its customers asking if they'd like to test an in-home extension to its cellular networks powered by a subscriber's own broadband—a femtocell. Femtocells use frequencies licensed by the carrier for data and voice …
Macworld:
Macworld Expo Best of Show 2009 — Our editors pick the coolest new products being shown off at Macworld Expo — Every January, Macworld's editors scour the show floor at Macworld Expo to find the hottest products making their debut at the trade show. This year, we chose nine products worthy …
Discussion:
O'Grady's PowerPage
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
CES: Samsung dives into connected TV market — Samsung Electronics is diving into connected TVs just like the other big companies that have made presentations today at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. — Samsung said it will team up with Yahoo to deliver TV Widgets …
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
EMC cuts 2,400 jobs — EMC said Wednesday that it will lay off 2,400 workers, or 7 percent of its workforce, as an effort to cut $350 million in costs in 2009 and $500 million in 2010. — The company also added in a statement that its fourth quarter revenue will be $4 billion, up 4 percent from a year ago.
Stacey Higginbotham / GigaOM:
Cisco Details Consumer Push and Products — At a press conference at CES today, Cisco's CEO John Chambers talked about the router maker's push beyond routers and into the home. As Om has said before, this is a well-worn path trod by Cisco in its need to continue its growth …
Matt Burns / CrunchGear:
The Sony Webbie - a colorfully HD shooter — Sony has a little camcorder aimed at the Internet crowd. The Webbie captures HD MPEG-4 video and 5 MP photos. It has a 5x optical zoom and special software that makes uploads speedy. Content is recorded on Sony's Memory Stick PRO Duo media.
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
CES: Toshiba to launch TVs with Cell microprocessor — In a bid to move to the high-end of high-definition TVs, Toshiba will introduce a new series of TVs in 2009 that feature the Cell microprocessor developed by Sony, Toshiba and IBM. — The Cell has a bunch of processors on a single chip …
Kevin C. Tofel / jkOnTheRun:
Netgear's MBR624GU 3G Router — The Netgear press event just finished up and among the new products is the MBR624GU router. Using a USB dock, you can plug your existing 3G USB adapter in the backside of this puppy and share your wireless broadband connection.
John P. Falcone / Webware.com:
LG Blu-ray players stream Netflix, CinemaNow, and YouTube — In 2008, LG's BD300 set itself apart from other Blu-ray players by becoming the first one to include compatibility with the Netflix's “Watch Instantly” streaming service. Unfortunately, the uniqueness of the feature was short-lived …
Discussion:
Gizmodo, PC World, JVC Press Release, Engadget, techblog.dallasnews.com, Electronista and Gearlog
Kevin C. Tofel / jkOnTheRun:
Skype Lite Coming to Android & Java-Enabled Phones — We'll put this in the rumor column now but I suspect we won't have to wait long for official confirmation since Skype has a Press Event tomorrow morning. Piecing together some web sources, anonymous tips, possible leaks and scouring …
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Bush: Fix Your “Miserable Failure” Googlebomb Legacy Before Obama Takes Office — Few realize that outgoing US president George W. Bush has left behind a unique legacy for future presidents, including Barack Obama — that they are all condemned to rank tops for a search on “miserable failure” in major search engines.
Mark Zuckerberg / Facebook Blog:
A Great Start to 2009 — Today, we reached another milestone: 150 million people around the world are now actively using Facebook and almost half of them are using Facebook every day. This includes people in every continent—even Antarctica. If Facebook were a country …
Discussion:
Tech Central, SitePoint, Todd Watson, All Facebook, VentureBeat, BetaNews, RotorBlog.com, SarahLacy.com, The Social, Inside Facebook, Search Engine Watch and Furrier.org
Brian Krebs / Security Fix:
Caveat Emptor: Watch Out for Phantom Stores — Most people are proud to say they would never fall for a phishing scam, that they would never give their personal and financial information away at fake banking sites, just because someone asked them to in an e-mail.
