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Exclusive: BlackBerry Dakota gets pictured; the touch and type BlackBerry you've been waiting for — We just got our hands on a crystal clear photo of the BlackBerry Dakota — you know, the device that's going to sit right at the head of the BlackBerry family dinner table.
Discussion:
Computerworld, BerryReview.com, Electronista, Neowin.net, Electricpig.co.uk, Digital Trends, PC World, Engadget, Life On My Mobile, The Toybox Blog, MobileWhack.com, Mobile phones, Yahoo! News, eWeek, Techland, Gizmodo, SlashGear, GottaBeMobile, PhoneArena, Erictric, Newlaunches.com, Techie Buzz, IntoMobile, Softpedia News, MobileCrunch, Black Web 2.0, Network World, Ars Technica, Geeky-Gadgets, InformationWeek, Geek.com, ITProPortal, The Next Web, Pocket-lint, Tracy and Matt's Blog, CrackBerry.com blogs, LAPTOP Magazine and T3.com News
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Exclusive: Next-generation BlackBerry Curve appears, brings specs with it — That BlackBerry 8520 feeling a bit outdated? Well, we might have just what you've been waiting for — the next generation BlackBerry Curve. Codenamed “Apollo,” the new BlackBerry Curve finally brings …
Discussion:
CrackBerry.com blogs, Electricpig.co.uk, Erictric, Gadget Lab, Thoughts from the Sidelines, IntoMobile, PhoneArena, BerryReview.com, GottaBeMobile, Electronista, Geeky-Gadgets, BB Geeks, Techie Buzz, Softpedia News, Engadget, Life On My Mobile, Tracy and Matt's Blog, Know Your Cell, MobileBurn.com and pocketnow.com


Exclusive: BlackBerry Torch 2 gets detailed — Research In Motion's “best BlackBerry ever” — the BlackBerry Torch — definitely wasn't the most competitive device to hit the smartphone market place. But it looks like RIM is trying to change all that with a new take on its QWERTY, horizontal-slider: the BlackBerry Torch 2.

RIM WebWorks SDK Will Allow Developers to create Apps Compatible …
Discussion:
Engadget, Phone Scoop and Research in Motion

Too much hardware choice — From my Verizon iPhone post: Even the gadget blogs have a hard time feigning enthusiasm for this week's hot Android phone because they still haven't taken the shrinkwrap off of last week's. Not enough Nick's response: Wait, the stream of high-quality …
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Android upgrades: Which manufacturers can you trust? — For most smartphone users, Google's Android upgrades are both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, each upgrade opens the door to exciting new features and functions for a phone. On the other hand, the updates don't arrive instantly …
Discussion:
IntoMobile, Droid Life, Android Phone Fans and Engadget, Thanks:jr_raphael


The first look at The Daily, Rupert Murdoch's iPad newspaper — An official introduction to The Daily, Rupert Murdoch's new iPad newspaper, is expected on Jan. 19, possibly at an event with Apple's Steve Jobs. — But peeking inside the source code of its recently-launched companion website …
Discussion:
9 to 5 Mac, Electronista, App Advice, MacStories, The Next Web, The Atlantic Online and RazorianFly, more at Mediagazer »
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Next-Generation iPad to Launch in the U.S. on April 2nd or 9th? — MacNotes.de reports that the second-generation iPad is currently scheduled to debut in the United States on one of the first two Saturdays in April: the 2nd or the 9th. (The report's headline states the 2nd or 7th …
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iPad 2 will take pics, shoot flicks
Discussion:
Apple Headlines, TiPb, Fonehome.co.uk, Erictric, RazorianFly, iLounge, App Advice, Fast Company, ITProPortal, Electronista, Electricpig.co.uk, PC World and iPhone, Thanks:9to5mac

Why Apple won't yet ditch the home button on the iPhone and iPad
Discussion:
The Seattle Times, App Advice and BGR

Is the removal of H.264 from Chrome a step backward for openness? — In a lengthy article at Ars Technica, Peter Bright argues that removing support for a closed standard from Chrome is a step backward for openness. — I disagree strongly with this assertion, and will try to somewhat briefly explain why …
Discussion:
jd/adobe, USA Today, techno.blog, parislemon, ZDNet, OSNews and L.A. Times Tech Blog
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The Practical vs. Idealistic Scenarios for the Near-Term Future of Online Video — Or: How Google's decision to drop native H.264 playback from Chrome serves to prop up Flash Player — Stefan Richter, of FlashComGuru (a Flash developer site) tries answering my five simple questions.
Discussion:
Ars Technica, ConceivablyTech and Hardware 2.0 Blog


AOL Outsources Sports; Fanhouse Brand Absorbed Into Sporting News — AOL (NYSE: AOL) organized a hasty after-market call to announce three content deals designed to buttress its push towards premium content. The most prominent involves a content sharing arrangement with The Sporting News.
Discussion:
Bits, SAI, TechCrunch and Mixed Media, more at Mediagazer »
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AOL Announces Big Changes To Three Major Properties
Discussion:
paidContent, SportsBusiness Daily and CNNMoney Tech Tumblr


New Survey Shows Verizon iPhone Will Have Major Impact on U.S. Wireless Service Providers — Can AT&T Forestall Large-Scale Defections? — The details of a Verizon iPhone have finally been released, but what impact will this long expected move actually have on U.S. wireless service providers and their subscribers?
Discussion:
Internet2Go, PC World, AppleInsider, MacRumors, L.A. Times Tech Blog, IntoMobile, 9 to 5 Mac, Electronista, 24/7 Wall St. and eWeek


IBM's Watson wins Jeopardy practice round: Can humans hang? — IBM's Watson supercomputer won a practice round against Jeopardy champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter and raised a lot of questions about the capabilities of artificial intelligence. — Watson, a four-year effort by IBM …

Steve Ballmer finally shows who's in charge of Microsoft — In his 11th year as chief executive and third outside the shadow of Chairman Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer is asserting surprising control over Microsoft. There were signs in 2010, but events over just the last week …
Discussion:
TechFlash, All about Microsoft Blog, The Microsoft Blog, The Register and SAI


New iOS Feature Coming: ‘Find My Friends’ — Some further digging into the newly released iOS 4.3 developer build has revealed settings for a new feature called “Find My Friends”. The strings are associated with the Settings app and is related to “MobileMe”.
Discussion:
BGR, 9 to 5 Mac, Lifehacker, App Advice, The Iphone Spot, TechSpot, AppleInsider, TUAW, Macgasm, Covering Web, Pocket-lint, Edible Apple, SiliconANGLE, lalawag, Adotas, Mobile Marketing Watch, TiPb, MacStories, Apple Headlines, ReadWriteWeb, MarketingVOX, ITProPortal, Engadget, Gadgetell, Computerworld, internetnews.com, VentureBeat, Softpedia News and Examiner


Is Android more efficient than iOS at generating search revenue? — Thanks to David Chu for forwarding the data that made this possible. — iOS and Android are both growing rapidly. According to Gartner, during the first three quarters of 2010, 30 million iOS devices and 36 million Android devices were put into use.


A new look for Google Translate for Android — When we launched the first version of Google Translate for Android in January 2010, we were excited about the year ahead. For the first time, we were bringing the capabilities supported on Google Translate—like machine translation …
Discussion:
BGR, Gizmodo, Gadgetell, Techland, Epicenter, The Huffington Post, MobileWhack.com, dailywireless.org, Computerworld, Techie Buzz, eWeek, T3.com News, I4U News, PhoneArena, Inquirer, Daily Mail, Tech Report and Gadget Lab


Groupon Met With Bankers Today To Discuss A Potential Spring IPO — Groupon met with Wall Street bankers today to discuss a potential IPO for the spring, Kate Kelly at CNBC just reported. — She was thin on details other than the meeting. She hears the offering could be in the range of $1 billion to $1.5 billion.


The Greatest Scam in Tech — In the tech world, a few questions are usually enough. Does the product work? Is the idea good? How much does it cost? But as Peep Telephony reminds us, there's a fourth, all-important qualification: Is it real? — The Consumer Electronics Show …

How Much Revenue Does Flickr Make From Paid Pro Accounts, My Guess? $50 Million Per Year — Over at Quora today somebody asked the question, How many Flickr accounts are pro accounts? Yahoo doesn't make the number of accounts or Flickr's financials public, but I thought I'd just do a brief bit of guessing on my own.
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb


Millennial: For The First Time, Android Surpasses iOS Mobile Ad Impression Share — This has been a significant few weeks for Millennial Media. The ad network just closed a $27.5 million investment round, announced that the company had tripled its revenue in 2010, and today, is releasing one of its more noteworthy monthly reports.


BBC Says ‘No Thanks’ to Smart TV Fragmentation — The BBC Trust has determined that the national broadcaster won't build custom applications for device manufacturers looking to add its iPlayer to their smart TV platforms. While in the short term the decision could mean fewer consumer electronics platforms …
Discussion:
bbc.co.uk and paidContent:UK

Microsoft releases free WebMatrix Web development tool — Today Microsoft released WebMatrix, a free Web development tool designed to give students and beginners an easy introduction to Web development. It has been in beta since July. — WebMatrix is designed as a one-stop-shop …
Discussion:
Microsoft

China, Russia, South Africa - And The Facebook Connection — There is something going on in China, Russia and South Africa. Via various internet investments and creations, these three countries combined have built up major stakes in some of the world's biggest sites and social networks.


Beyond The Filters: Brands Begin To Pour Into Instagram — What do NPR, NBC News, Playboy, Pepsi, CNN, Starbucks, Grammys, and David Blaine all have in common? They've all recently signed up for Instagram. Yes, the mobile photo sharing service. And there's apparently a plan beyond simply sharing filtered pictures with fans.


Twitter Considers Moving Its Headquarters. To Brisbane, CA? — The San Francisco Business Times is reporting that San Francisco-based microblogging darling Twitter is looking into a real estate purchase in Brisbane California, specifically the 200,000 square foot current home of Walmart.com at the Sierra Point Towers.
Discussion:
bizjournals, The Snitch and L.A. Times Tech Blog