Top Items:
Harry McCracken / Technologizer:
The Speculative Prehistory of the iPhone — Remember the very first iPhone-the one that sold for $249, had an iconic click wheel, a cool slide-out keypad, and a unique two-battery design-and which ran on Apple's very own nationwide wireless network? No, not the iPhone that Steve Jobs unveiled …
Discussion:
Brainstorm Tech, GigaOM, Zatz Not Funny!, Engadget, Shanzai.com Analyzing …, CrunchGear, The iPhone Blog, Bits, Gizmodo Australia, Gizmodo, TUAW and ParisLemon
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Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
The Apple Tablet: Will It Be Called iSlate, iGuide, Or Something Else? — After discovering that Apple had registered iSlate.com in late 2006 (we dug a little deeper and found trademarks had been filed for ‘ISLATE’ in both the United States and Europe by a company that was most likely …
Arn / MacRumors:
Another Buried Apple Trademark - ‘iGuide’ as Another Name or Service for iSlate? — With the revelation that Apple had acquired the iSlate.com domain and iSlate trademarks, it seemed clear to us that iSlate was the likely name for Apple's upcoming tablet computer.
Discussion:
ITworld.com, QuickPWN, Silicon Alley Insider, VentureBeat, The Next Web, TeleRead, PC World and iLounge
Darren Murph / Engadget:
Ford becomes first automaker to offer HD Radio with iTunes tagging — If you thought the automakers would be leaving CES to the TV and PMP makers, Ford would like to have a word with you. A few words, actually. Aside from announcing that in-car WiFi will be available next year …
Trevor Johnston / Google LatLong:
Plan a trip in one click — Why should trip planning be any more complicated than opening your browser and entering the name of your favourite city? Six months ago we launched City Tours on Google Labs with the goal of making vacation planning as easy as searching the web.
Gary Merson / HDGURU.Com:
DirecTV To Launch A 3D Channel-HD Guru Exclusive — (December 28, 2009) DirecTV intends to launch the first US 3D HDTV channel early next year. The satellite TV provider plans to make the announcement at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on January 7th.
Kevin J. O'Brien / New York Times:
Cellphone Encryption Code Is Divulged — BERLIN — A German computer engineer said Monday that he had deciphered and published the secret code used to encrypt most of the world's digital mobile phone calls, saying it was his attempt to expose weaknesses in the security of global wireless systems.
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Will good come from the huge piracy of Modern Warfare 2? — Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has broken records for game sales. So it's only natural that it is also the most-pirated game of 2009, according to downloads measured by TorrentFreak. — Modern Warfare 2 was the most pirated game on the PC and the Xbox 360 this year.
Andrew Parker / Financial Times:
O2 says sorry for snags in London network — has apologised to customers who could not make phone calls because the mobile operator's London network was overwhelmed by bandwidth-hungry smartphones. — Ronan Dunne told the Financial Times he was disappointed with O 2 's network performance in London since the summer.
Jeff Barnard / Associated Press:
Couple stranded 3 days after GPS leads them astray — Buzz up! — KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - A Nevada couple letting their SUV's navigation system guide them through the high desert of Eastern Oregon got stuck in snow for three days when the GPS unit sent them down a remote forest road.
Chris Ziegler / Engadget:
Ten years of BlackBerry — The year is 1999. Bill Clinton is the President of the United States, gas is 94 cents a gallon, Bondi Blue iMacs are a staple in dorm rooms across the country, and Microsoft is trying to bring the desktop Windows experience to the pocket, pushing its Palm-size PC concept …
Times of London:
Why we can never rest: a year in the life of Twitter — ON June 15, our technicians told me to add a note to our website, writes Biz Stone, a co-founder of Twitter. — The note warned users of a planned maintenance session that meant our service would be inaccessible while we carried out an overdue system upgrade.
Erik Larkin / PC World:
Good Guys Bring Down the Mega-D Botnet — Chalk up one for the defenders. Here's how a trio of security researchers used a three-step attack to defeat a 250,000-pronged botnet. — Recommends — For two years as a researcher with security company FireEye, Atif Mushtaq worked …
Ian Paul / PC World:
Chrome Netbook Specs Stretch Believability — Interest in Google's Chrome OS is heating up with the emergence of new rumors about specs for an upcoming . The device would supposedly have a 10.1 TFT HD-ready multitouch display; 2GB RAM; and WiFi, Bluetooth, and 3G connectivity.
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Mark Davies / IBTimes.co.uk:Google Chrome OS-based netbook tech specs are out
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Aaron Ricadela / Business Week:
Google's Chrome OS Cited as Likely Hacker Vehicle — The HTML 5 technology intended to power Google's forthcoming computer operating system can access a PC online or off, warns security vendor McAfee — Google's computer operating system, due to be released next year …
Discussion:
CrunchGear
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
Wow! 2 Million Downloads For ‘Tap Tap Revenge 3’ Since Going Free Last Week — Another iPhone Christmas winner: Tapulous, whose “Tap Tap Revenge 3” music/rhythm game is the most popular app in the App Store right now. (iTunes link.) — Since dropping its price to free (from 99 cents last week) …
Jonny Evans / 9 to 5 Mac:
Apple sells 1.8million-2 million iPhones in France in 2009 — Apple has achieved almost 10 percent of the entire French mobile phone market in 2009, according to leading French newspaper, Le Figaro. — The report 'The iPhone, France's favourite smartphone' doesn't provide sources for the claims …
SophosLabs blog:
Twitter banned passwords — As you may have heard in the last few days, Twitter has banned 370 passwords (actually only 369, ‘password’ appears twice in the list) as ‘too obvious’ to be safe for their users. A good move in theory but why are so few words banned? And what are they?
Alexei Oreskovic / Reuters:
AT&T site resumes selling iPhone to NYC residents — SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - AT&T Inc temporarily stopped selling the iPhone on its website to New York City residents over the weekend, raising fresh concerns about the wireless network's capacity in the Big Apple.
Discussion:
Silicon Alley Insider
Dan Butterfield / iPhonAsia.com:
China Unicom has now sold 300,000 iPhones — iPhone sales are building momentum in China. On the heels of a major iPhone advertising campaign, last week China Unicom launched a 46-city iPhone roadshow/education campaign. Today we've learned that China Unicom has now passed the 300,000 iPhone sales threshold.
Discussion:
Brainstorm Tech
Wall Street Journal:
Keep a Civil Cybertongue — Rude and abusive online behavior should not be met with silence. — Printer — Friendly — In less than 20 years, the World Wide Web has irrevocably expanded the number of ways we connect and communicate with others. This radical transformation has been almost universally praised.
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
LinkedIn Polishes Its iPhone App Into A More Facebook-Like Gem — Following a bit of planned iTunes Connect downtime for the holidays, LinkedIn came out with the latest version of their iPhone app today. As you might expect from a 3.0 release, the app has been much improved, namely in its user experience.
Tim Bradshaw / Financial Times:
Students power BlackBerry growth — Young people are becoming one of the largest sources of growth for BlackBerry, as students turn to the traditionally corporate devices to feed their instant messaging and texting needs. — BlackBerry's sudden popularity on university campuses has taken many by surprise …
Judie Lipsett / Gear Diary:
The Camangi Webstation Unboxed — Click here to view the embedded video. — It seems like it took forever, but my Camangi WebStation finally showed up today. Dan's is out for delivery, so in the meantime he is processing the raw video I've uploaded of my unboxing. While we wait for that, here are some pictures.
New York Times:
Ex-Employee Says Seagate Violated Law — A decade-long lawsuit pitting a tiny company called Convolve against Seagate Technology has taken an unexpected turn after a whistle-blower claimed that Seagate had appropriated Convolve technology and later destroyed evidence in the case.
John Paczkowski / Digital Daily:
NYC iPhone Fraud Epidemic Solved! AT&T Web Site Selling iPhones to New Yorkers Again. — Looks like AT&T has gone and “modified its promotion and distribution channels” again. Either that or the carrier has a better handle on the “online fraudulent activity” that prevented it from selling Apple's …
