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Welcome to the Windows 7 Beta Customer Preview Program — Test Windows 7 Beta in your lab environment — Stay informed on updates and resources — Windows 7 is... the next release of the Windows client operating system, built on the secure foundation of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.
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Windows 7 public beta is available now — As Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer promised at CES 2009 during his preshow keynote, the Windows 7 beta is now available to the public for download. It is only available to the first 2.5 million people who download it, so make sure to get your hands on it as soon as you can!
Discussion:
Hardware 2.0, Electronista, Computerworld, the Econsultancy blog, Lifehacker, I4U News and Maximum PC all


Windows 7 Public Beta Will Be Available at 12 Noon PST — [Update! The Microsoft Partner Program website has the official time: “Partners with a MSDN or TechNet subscription can download Windows 7 Beta now. All other partners can download Windows 7 Beta starting January 9, 2009 at 12:00 P.M. Pacific Time.”
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb, Intel Software Network Blogs, Full of I.T., Gizmodo Australia and Lifehacker

Microsoft holding off on Windows 7 public beta — Microsoft has postponed, at least for a short time, making the beta of Windows 7 publicly available. — The move comes as Microsoft has struggled to keep its Windows 7 Web site up on Friday. — “Due to very heavy traffic we're seeing …
Discussion:
Beyond Binary


Chrome 2.0 Preview Means Mac, Linux Versions Coming Soon — Google has rolled out an alpha preview of the next major revision for its Chrome web browser. Those undaunted by the current alpha status of 2.0 can get an early taste of what's to come in Chrome.
Discussion:
Silicon Alley Insider, Between the Lines, AppScout, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, PC World and Asa Dotzler
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Dell Adamo hands-on! (Update: now with video!) — Looks like our puppy-dog eyes have served us well yet again — we just got to spend some time with Dell's ultra-hot Adamo. It's really small, less than an inch thick, we'd say — and although we didn't measure, we'd say that 13-inch screen rumor was spot on.
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Dell officially unveils Adamo, Mini 10 — A model shows off Dell's new luxury notebook called Adamo. — (Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET Networks) — LAS VEGAS—Dell trotted out a fashion model to show off the newest addition to its notebook lineup, but beyond explaining the name of Adamo, gave no further details.


Google's New Favicon (Again) — Google changed their favicon once more (the last change happened in May 2008). Above you can see the recent history of this icon showing in the address bar and elsewhere. The new design consists of four color areas - blue, red, green and yellow - overlaid by a lowercase white “g”.

China Mobile to launch 3G phone on android platform-source — China Mobile (0941.HK), the world's largest wireless carrier, plans to launch a 3G handset built on the Android platform in the first quarter, a source with direct knowledge of the issue said on Friday.
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Manage Amazon EC2 With New Web-Based AWS Management Console — Today we're announcing the availability of the Web-based AWS Management Console, which in this first release provides management of your Amazon EC2 environment via a point-and-click interface. A number of management tools already exist …
Discussion:
GigaOM, CloudAve, ReadWriteWeb, InfoWorld, Data Center Knowledge, Pulse2, CNET News and Between the Lines


Apple at CES? Unlikely — A Stevenote at CES? Don't hold your breath. — (Credit: James Martin/CNET News) — A report that Apple is planning a visit to CES next year had eyes rolling Friday morning from Las Vegas to Cupertino. — Cult of Mac reports, citing a source with …
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Electronista
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Yahoo Nears End of CEO Search — Yahoo Inc. is in the final stretch of its search for a chief executive officer, and a decision could come as soon as next week, said people close to the Internet company. — Among candidates still under consideration is Carol Bartz, the former chief executive officer …
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Is Yahoo CEO Candidate Carol Bartz Any Good? (YHOO)
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p2pnet


The pre's got Mojo: a developer speaks about Palm's new SDK — Thursday Palm announced its next-generation foray into mobile computing with a one-two hardware/software punch at CES 2009. The company talked about its new mobile phone platform called pr that combines impressive hardware …

Microsoft's quest to beat Google — The consumer electronics and technology world is used to starting the year with a landmark presentation from one of the industry's leading figures. — That role has traditionally fallen to Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, whose annual appearances …
Discussion:
9 to 5 Mac, Between the Lines, Silicon Alley Insider, Rolling Stone, Gizmodo, Gawker, CrunchGear and MacDailyNews

For BlackBerry, Obama's Devotion Is Priceless — This week, Michael Phelps signed a deal worth more than $1 million to advertise Mazda in China. Jerry Seinfeld earned a reported $10 million to appear in Microsoft's recent television campaign. — But the person who may be the biggest celebrity pitchman …
Discussion:
GMSV, Gawker, GPS Obsessed, CrunchGear, Unwired View, Todd Watson, BloggingStocks, Silicon Alley Insider and New York Times

CES: Wireless USB 1.1 coming, devices appear — LAS VEGAS—At the Consumer Electronics Show, wireless USB devices made an appearance en masse. — What does that mean exactly? Wireless USB notebooks, docking stations, hard drives. And more consumer-centric devices like Wireless USB speakers, displays, and USB phones.
Discussion:
SlashGear

Fatal police shooting posted on YouTube — The footage is shaky and low quality, with chaotic shouts and protests from onlookers at a subway station in San Francisco's east bay. But it clearly shows three policeman roughly handling a group of young men - including one who is pinned to the ground by two officers and shot in the back.

Business wiki AboutUs lands $2.5 million from Voyager Capital — Portland-based AboutUs, which today is announcing a $2.5 million venture round from Voyager Capital, has something going for it that many Internet startups can only dream of. Last year, the 3-year-old business wiki turned a profit …


Google, Facebook, MySpace and More Meet to Talk Activity Streams — Last night at the offices of blogging software company Six Apart, engineers and social media specialists from a number of companies large and small met to discuss proposed standards for the future of “activity streams” …


Report: Community Platforms Market Led by Jive Software and Telligent — Forrester released a report today about the ‘community platforms’ market. They evaluated nine vendors, concluding that Jive Software and Telligent Systems “lead the pack because of their strong administrative and platform features.”


Goldman Sachs: IT-spending growth to halt — Investment bank Goldman Sachs just released its “Americas: 2009 Software Outlook” report, and it promises near-term pain for an already struggling technology industry: … (Credit: Goldman Sachs) — In other words, things are going to get worse before they get better.
Discussion:
OStatic blogs

Delaying DTV Could Mean Longer Wait for LTE — President-elect Barack Obama is asking Congress to delay the transition that will force the nation's TV broadcasts to switch from analog to digital signals. Depending on how long the delay is, it could affect the deployment of several services destined …
Discussion:
PC World, Consumers Union, FierceWireless, InformationWeek, dailywireless.org, DSLreports and TV Decoder

Dell acquires Allin for $12 million — Dell has acquired Microsoft IT consulting company Allin in a $12 million stock deal. — The acquisition, announced Friday, aims to bolster Dell's consulting work in the areas of designing and implementing scalable networks and application architectures …