Top Items:
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Google And Spotify Dance Over U.S. Launch — Spotify. The elusive European streaming music startup that you just can't get access to in the U.S., unless you know someone or jump through a few hoops. — The U.S. launch has been delayed over aggressive negotiations with the labels …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
What to watch for at the Consumer Electronics Show — The International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is the gadget industries SuperBowl. This year's CES events start Tuesday. Floor show exhibits open on Thursday and run through Sunday. VentureBeat's Anthony Ha and I will be covering lots of stories at the show.
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Darren Murph / Engadget:
Freescale reveals 7-inch smartbook reference design, hopes to see it ship for $200 — Freescale Semiconductor is helping to kick this year's CES off with a bang, as its latest reference smartbook design actually has somewhat of a sexy flair to it. Currently, the model is little more than a great idea …
John Battelle / John Battelle's Searchblog:
Predictions 2010 — A new decade. I like the sound of that. I'm a bit late on these, but for some reason these predictions refused to be rushed. I haven't had the contemplative time I usually get over the holidays, and I need a fair amount of that before I can really get my head around …
Brad Stone / New York Times:
Trying to Add Portability to Movie Files — It is easy to take a DVD to a friend's house and watch it on his TV. But things are more complicated when digital video downloads are involved. A movie file bought from Blockbuster.com will not work on a Sony HDTV, for example …
Ashlee Vance / New York Times:
Watching TV Together, Miles Apart — SAN FRANCISCO — For the lonely couch potato, help is on the way. — Simple technology, including video chatting services like Skype, is making it possible for far-flung friends to watch shows together, even if they can't share the same bowl of popcorn.
Noam Cohen / New York Times:
Link by Link: In Allowing Ad Blockers, a Test for Google — IN a manifestolike e-mail message sent last month to all Google employees, Jonathan Rosenberg, a senior vice president for product management, told them to commit to greater transparency and open industry standards.
Robert Scoble / Scobleizer:
Oh, Joe, the world doesn't need a Tablet? Really? — Oh, Joe Wilcox sure knows how to get bloggers going when he wrote about how the hype over Tablet PCs is just way overdone. His headline? The world doesn't need an Apple tablet, or any other. — I'll focus on the “or any other” part of the discussion first.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Computerworld, BetaNews, Enterprise Irregulars, CloudAve, Shooting at Bubbles, EverythingiCafe, Technovia, Digitalia and Daring Fireball, Thanks:atul
Louis Gray:
Twitter Continues Hiring Spree, Adding Ten New Staffers — Twitter's pedigree is getting increasingly rich at the expense of Google and other Silicon Valley tech titans. With the holidays behind us, the microblogging powerhouse is starting the new year with more new faces at its San Francisco headquarters.
Elizabeth Woyke / Forbes:
Vonage's Second Calling — Forbes Magazine dated January 18, 2010 — The Internet telephone company wants to go from your home to your cell phone. — In 2002 Internet telephone company Vonage pioneered service that routed phone calls over the Web, cutting frequent callers' long-distance phone bills by as much as half.
Alice Rawsthorn / New York Times:
Impact of ‘iSlate’ Could Rival iPhone — LONDON — You don't need a crystal ball, seer stone, scrying pool or any other spooky stuff to guess what one of the most talked-about design projects of 2010 will be. The tech blogs have been buzzing about it for months.
Vladislav Savov / Engadget:
Lenovo leaks ThinkPad Edge, X100e, T410s, W510, T510 and more ahead of CES — Hey Lenovo, your cards are showing. Just weeks after the FCC tipped us off on a new pair of netbooks that are all but definitely slated for a CES unveiling, Lenovo has no one but its web administrator(s) to blame for this one.
Discussion:
Computerworld, PC World, jkOnTheRun, Liliputing, Softpedia News, Netbooked, Electronista, VentureBeat, Gizmodo, Zatz Not Funny!, Pocket-lint.com, I4U News and DisplayBlog
Sarah Lacy / TechCrunch:
The Dark Side of the Late 2009 M&A Surge — With the year—and decade—coming to a close, the business press has been awash with stories about just how lousy the '00s were. As Paul Krugman details in the New York Times, it was a decade with a tiny amount of job creation …