Top Items:
Peter Bright / Ars Technica:
Ballmer (and Microsoft) still doesn't get the iPad — “The operating system is called Windows,” claimed Steve Ballmer when asked about Microsoft's plans for the tablet/slate/pad form factor at the company's annual Financial Analyst Meeting on Thursday. He expressed dismay …
BBC:
Two Gulf states to ban some Blackberry functions — Two Gulf states have announced bans on some functions of the Blackberry mobile phone, claiming security concerns. — The United Arab Emirates is to block sending emails, accessing the internet, and delivering instant messages to other Blackberry handsets.
Discussion:
tra.ae, Reuters, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, CNET News, Tech Eye, ArabCrunch English, Yahoo! News, CrackBerry.com blogs, Daring Fireball, Engadget, Boing Boing and Gawker
Elinor Mills / CNET News:
Researcher detained at U.S. border, questioned about Wikileaks — LAS VEGAS—A security researcher involved with the Wikileaks Web site was detained by U.S. agents at the border for three hours and questioned about the controversial whistleblower project as he entered the country on Thursday …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Hacker shows how he can intercept cell phone calls with $1,500 device (video) — A security researcher showed in a live demo today how he can intercept cell phone calls on 80 percent of the world's phones with just about $1,500 worth of equipment. — Chris Paget, who also showed yesterday …
Discussion:
Threat Level, Agence France Presse, The Firewall, Engadget, PC World, Associated Press and Slashdot
Jeff Jarvis / BuzzMachine:
Cookie Madness! — I just don't understand Julia Angwin's scare story about cookies and ad targeting in the Wall Street Journal. That is, I don't understand how the Journal could be so breathlessly naive, unsophisticated, and anachronistic about the basics of the modern media business.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, broadstuff, Doc Searls Weblog, Beyond Search, TechFlash, Workbench and Technologizer, more at Mediagazer », Thanks:arjo
David Murphy / PC Magazine:
Microsoft Researchers Combat Camera Blur with Sensor Package — Microsoft researchers presented a novel new anti-blurring technology at the recent SIGGRAPH 2010 conference in Los Angeles. The solution is fundamentally simple—using a hardware attachment on a camera to measure the movement produced …
Discussion:
Microsoft Research
Jim Taylor / BBC:
UK soldiers use iPad app to train for Afghan operations — For the first time, UK troops are using a special app developed for the iPad to learn how to handle a fire mission. — That's when artillery is being fired at the enemy from several miles away. — In early trials at the Royal School …
Vivek Wadhwa / TechCrunch:
Opportunities In The Patent-Free Zone — China may overtake Japan to become the world's second-largest economy this year. On its heels is India, and countries such as Brazil and Russia are not far behind. What does this mean for entrepreneurs? That, increasingly, the big opportunities lie outside …
Thanks:craignewmark
Clive Thompson / Wired:
Clive Thompson on the Death of the Phone Call — My phone bills are shrinking. Not, unfortunately, in cost. I mean they're getting shorter. I recently found an old bill from a decade ago; it was fully 15 pages long, because back then I was making a ton of calls—about 20 long-distance ones a day.
Steve Cheney / TechCrunch:
Why Apple Should Buy Infineon: To Own Mobile And Screw Intel — Apple's earnings and revenue growth in mobile have been awe-inspiring to witness. From zero presence three years ago, Apple is now the most profitable cell phone maker in the world. — Apple's success in this compressed period …
Discussion:
9 to 5 Mac
Paul Carr / TechCrunch:
Blind Item: Which Editor of Valleywag Needs to Resign? Right Now. — Criticising Valleywag in 2010 is something of a pointless exercise, like offering diplomatic counsel to the Ottoman Empire ten years after the Treaty of Lausanne. More pointless still, attacking the site's titular editor Ryan Tate …
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Rival Smartphone Attenuation Videos Vanish From Apple's Website — Well this is interesting. One of the key points at Apple's recent press conference to discuss the iPhone 4′s antenna, was that the problem (called “attenuation") is not unique to the iPhone 4.
