Top Items:
Jonathan S. Geller / BGR:
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:
Appmodo, PC World, BerryReview.com, Electronista, Neowin.net, Digital Trends, Yahoo! News, eWeek, GottaBeMobile, Electricpig.co.uk, Newlaunches.com, MobileCrunch, Mobile phones, Techland, Computerworld, IntoMobile, Techie Buzz, SlashGear, PhoneArena, MobileWhack.com, Network World, Engadget, The Toybox Blog, Gizmodo, Geek.com, Softpedia News, Erictric, Tracy and Matt's Blog, Black Web 2.0, Life On My Mobile, LAPTOP Magazine, Ars Technica, T3.com News, Pocket-lint, CrackBerry.com blogs, Geeky-Gadgets, InformationWeek, ITProPortal, The Next Web, Know Your Cell and Phones Review
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Jonathan S. Geller / BGR:
Exclusive: Next-generation BlackBerry Curve appears, brings specs with it — That BlackBerry 8520 feeling a bit outdated?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:
Pulse2, Electricpig.co.uk, CrackBerry.com blogs, BlackBerry Cool, Mobile Magazine, Erictric, Gadget Lab, IntoMobile, PhoneArena, BerryReview.com, GottaBeMobile, Electronista, Thoughts from the Sidelines, BB Geeks, Techie Buzz, Softpedia News, Engadget, Geeky-Gadgets, pocketnow.com, Tracy and Matt's Blog, MobileBurn.com, Know Your Cell, Pocket-lint, Life On My Mobile, Phones Review and Near Field Communications …
Jonathan S. Geller / BGR:
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.
DealBook:
Groupon I.P.O. Said to Value the Company at $15 Billion — Updated — Groupon, the social buying site that spurned a $6 billion offer from Google, is pushing ahead with plans for its initial public offering, a debut that could value the company at $15 billion or more.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, VatorNews, ReadWriteWeb, The Next Web, CNBC and The Blog Herald, Thanks:davidjamesdiaz
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Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
A Delay for the Daily: Apple, News Corp. Push Back Launch Date — Turns out you'll have to wait a bit longer to see the Daily, Rupert Murdoch's long-awaited iPad news service. — Apple and News Corp. have made a joint decision to push back next week's planned launch, according to sources familiar with the companies' plans.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, The Apple Core Blog, AppleInsider, 9 to 5 Mac, The Next Web, MacStories, Daring Fireball, Erictric, Apple Headlines and Electronista
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Damon Kiesow / Poynter:
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:
CNET News, 9 to 5 Mac, Electronista, MacStories, RazorianFly, The Next Web, App Advice, The Atlantic Online, everythingiCafe, Epicenter and CrunchGear, more at Mediagazer »
Marco Arment / Marco.org:
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 …
Discussion:
Daring Fireball
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JR Raphael / JR Raphael's blog:
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, Engadget, JR Raphael and HowardForums, Thanks:jr_raphael
Paul Carton / InvestorPlace:
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?
Joe Wilcox / BetaNews:
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:
All about Microsoft Blog, TechFlash, The Register, SAI and The Microsoft Blog
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John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
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:
ConceivablyTech, Digital Society, Hardware 2.0 Blog and Ars Technica
RELATED:
Haavard / My Opera:
Is the removal of H.264 from Chrome a step backward for openness?
Discussion:
jd/adobe, Daring Fireball, USA Today, ZDNet, OSNews, techno.blog, parislemon, L.A. Times Tech Blog and rc3.org
David Kaplan / paidContent:
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, Mixed Media, SAI and TechCrunch, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:
Jay Yarow / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:
AOL Announces Big Changes To Three Major Properties
Discussion:
paidContent, SportsBusiness Daily and CNNMoney Tech Tumblr
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Intel showering employees with 4X bonuses — Intel is giving four times the usual bonuses for its employees thanks to its record year with $43 billion in revenues. The company is also giving three extra days of paydays on top of that. — The higher bonuses caps a year …
Discussion:
Electronista and The Next Web
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Arik Hesseldahl / NewEnterprise:
Intel Beats Earnings Expectations Despite Slower PC Market
Discussion:
eWeek, The Register, News Stories, Computerworld, Datamation, VentureBeat, ITworld.com, BBC, Engadget, Between the Lines Blog, CNET News, Tech Trader Daily, SAI and TechFlash
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines Blog:
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 …
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Mr. Cutts Goes To Washington, Testifies Google Has Integrity — The head of Google's search spam fighting team, Matt Cutts, is in Washington DC this week, doing an “educational tour” to explain to US Federal Trade Commission members and congressional staffers that his company's search results don't require government regulation.
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Call Of Duty Invades The Mac App Store; How It Does Should Be Telling — It has now been a week since the launch of the Mac App Store. So far, the reviews have seemed fairly mixed. While nearly everyone praises the simplicity of the store, and Apple touted 1 million app downloads in the first 24 hours …
Discussion:
Computerworld
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
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 …
Discussion:
9 to 5 Mac, TUAW, BGR, Engadget, Ars Technica, TiPb, Redmond Pie, Thoughts from the Sidelines, Apple Headlines, Erictric, App Advice, Macgasm, Techie Buzz, Fonehome.co.uk, PhoneArena, Edible Apple, Know Your Cell, ITProPortal, NBC Bay Area, SlashGear, iLounge, Fast Company, MacStories, Electronista, RazorianFly, everythingiCafe, MACNOTES.NET and iClarified
Robin Sloan / Twitter Media:
The science of the hashtag — So last week I talked about the art of the hashtag: the power of mad libs, universal particulars, and feedback loops. The day after I posted it, the #LessAmbitiousMovies hashtag took off on Twitter—you might have seen it in your timeline.
Spencer Ackerman / Danger Room:
Unfollowed: Pentagon Deletes Social Media Office — At a time when Facebook has 500 million users and Twitter is closing in on 200 million, the Pentagon no longer has a single person guiding its communications shop on how to use social media to get the military's message out.
Thomas Hawk / Thomas Hawk Digital Connection:
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
Ryan Lawler / GigaOM:
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
Peter Bright / Ars Technica:
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
Horace Dediu / asymco:
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.
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
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.
Discussion:
Mobilized, SAI and ProgrammableWeb
Ashlee Vance / Business Week:
Microsoft's Ambivalence About Kinect Hackers — The tech giant risks alienating independent software developers who love its hit gaming device — Bearded, clad in a hoodie, and with a mouthful of swear words, hacker Kyle Machulis took the stage last month at San Francisco music joint Rickshaw Stop.
