Top Items:
Arn / MacRumors:
Next Generation iPhone Model Revealed in Firmware — MacRumors has discovered that Apple's iPhone 2.x Firmware has evidence of the next generation iPhone which has been designated “iPhone2,1”. — Apple uses these models numbers to distinguish between different hardware models.
Discussion:
Technologizer, Silicon Alley Insider, 9 to 5 Mac, Crave, TheAppleBlog, Boy Genius Report, IntoMobile, Boing Boing Gadgets, The Toybox, O'Grady's PowerPage, GPS Obsessed, The Apple Core, Gearlog, SlashGear, MobileCrunch, I4U News, VentureBeat, Newlaunches.com, Gadget Lab, ChannelWeb, The iPhone Blog, MobileBurn.com, iLounge, Gizmodo, Electronista, World of Apple, iSpazio and Engadget
RELATED:
Christopher Breen / Macworld:
iTunes Plus upgrades go à la carte — If you've been skipping the daily double-wet-cappuccino in order to save enough money to upgrade your iTunes library to the DRM-free iTunes Plus format, you can put coffee back on the menu. Apple has dispensed with the iTunes Store all-or-nothing upgrade policy.
Discussion:
Ars Technica, MacRumors, The Apple Core, TUAW, TechSpot, The iPhone Blog and Insanely Great Mac
Freeman Klopott / www.dcexaminer.com:
Ex-Fannie Mae worker charged with planting computer virus — A fired Fannie Mae contract employee allegedly placed a virus in the mortgage giant's software that could have shut the company down for at least a week and caused millions of dollars in damage, prosecutors say.
RELATED:
Arik Hesseldahl / Business Week:
The Eye of the (BlackBerry) Storm — iSuppli took apart Research In Motion's BlackBerry Storm to determine the cost of its components. Guess what? The iPhone parts are cheaper — As the battle for the smartphone market heats up, comparisons abound between Research In Motion's BlackBerry Storm …
Discussion:
Silicon Alley Insider, OtterBox, Electronista, MobileCrunch, InformationWeek, Gizmodo, IntoMobile, Boy Genius Report, MacDailyNews and Digital Daily
Stuart Dredge / Mobile phone games industry …:
Rumour: Apple planning $19.99 games section on App Store — But only with a restricted number of publishers — Product: — Manufacturer: — Apple is planning to introduce a premium games section to its App Store where it will sell a range of iPhone games for $19.99, sources tell PocketGamer.biz.
Discussion:
CNET News, AppleInsider, MacRumors, ChannelWeb, The iPhone Blog, Touch Arcade, MacBlogz and iLounge
The Boy Genius / Boy Genius Report:
AT&T Samsung Propel Pro in the concrete jungle — Hmm... so we've got an update to the Samsung Propel, have we? More or less, yes, this is as we're told, the Samsung Propel Pro and it brings pro-level features with it. Things like Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard, an optical joystick …
Discussion:
IntoMobile, Unwired View, wmpoweruser.com, WMExperts, Electronista, Mobility Site, MobileBurn.com, Engadget Mobile, FierceWireless and Gearlog
Nokia:
New arrivals in the world's most successful mobile phone range — Espoo, Finland - Nokia today announced the Nokia 6700 classic, the Nokia 6303 classic and the Nokia 2700 classic, three devices that build on the formula that made Nokia the world leader in mobile phones.
Discussion:
iTech News Net, CrunchGear, Boy Genius Report, SlashPhone, Phone Scoop, Neowin.net, Unwired View, Gearlog, Mobilewhack.com and SlashGear
Stephen Wildstrom / Tech Beat:
Windows 7: A Clarification on XP Upgrades — A number of commenters on my column on Windows 7 expressed dismay that Microsoft does not plan to provide an upgrade path from XP. I want to clarify just what that means, since I seem to have caused a bit of confusion.
Discussion:
Download Squad
Anthony Ha / VentureBeat:
Flash and AIR: Record downloads, winning platform race — Adobe Flash, the company's platform for web applications and video, is already on virtually every computer everywhere, but the latest version is on an even faster track to world domination. Flash Player 10 and AIR have been downloaded …
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb, Adobe, CNET News, Adobe Blogs, eWeek, TechCrunch, CloudAve, Beet.TV and jd/adobe
Liam Tung / CNET News:
Chrome, Firefox face clickjacking — Security researchers have discovered a flaw affecting Google's Chrome browser that exposes it to “clickjacking”—in which an attacker hijacks a browser's functions by substituting a legitimate link with one of the attacker's choice.
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
ComScore Report: Fastest-Growing Sites And Top-Ten Advertising Magnets — Of the top 100 sites on the Web, which ones grew the fastest in 2008? In a report it is preparing to release tomorrow, The comScore 2008 Digital Year In Review (which you can sign up for here), comScore ranks the 20 fastest-growing Web properties.
Edward J. R. / msmobiles.com:
i-mate to unveil new revolutionary Windows Mobile phone at Mobile World Congress 2009 next month — i-mate is alive and kicking! … Note: we will be at MWC 2009 on location, and we will bring first-hand reports from the i-mate! Since by now i-mate has been releasing several Windows Mobile phones …
Brian Stelter / New York Times:
YouTube Close to Video Deal for Pro Talent — YouTube and the William Morris Agency, the Hollywood talent agency, are close to signing a deal that would place the company's clients in made-for-the-Web productions. — The deal would underscore the ways that distribution models are evolving on the Internet.
Leo Lewis / Times of London:
Nintendo cuts profit forecast by 33 per cent — Nintendo, the maker of the Wii games console and the favourite safe-haven share on the Tokyo stock exchange, has stunned the market with a 33 per cent cut to its full-year profit forecasts. — Analysts described Nintendo's guidance as a …
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Google Gobbled Up 90 Percent Of All U.S. Search Growth In 2008 — Google ended the year with 63.5 percent market share of all search queries performed in the U.S., estimates comScore. And that market share has inched up steadily from 58.5 percent in January, 2008.
Adrian Holovaty:
Looking toward EveryBlock's future — It's been a year and a half now since I've started working on EveryBlock, and I'm still having the time of my life. Starting from scratch in July 2007, our team of six has built a one-of-a-kind local news site that now serves 11 cities and makes …
David Meyer / ZDNet:
Acer plans Linux, SSD version of 10-inch netbook — Acer has confirmed it plans to release a Linux version of its 10-inch Aspire One netbook, even though its initial announcement of the upcoming machine said it would be Windows XP-only. — Acer announced details of the 10-inch Aspire One on Friday …
Omar / The Life and Times of AdMob:
AdMob Raises $12.5 Million in Series C Extension Round — I'm happy to announce that we've secured an additional $12.5 million in a Series C extension round of funding from Draper Fisher Jurvetson's (DFJ) Growth Fund and Northgate Capital. This gives us a combined $28.2 million in Series C funding …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, CNET News, Silicon Alley Insider, VC Ratings, mocoNews.net, VentureBeat, FierceMobileContent and GPS Obsessed
Elizabeth Holmes / Digits:
Blogger Infighting Played a Role, Says TechCrunch Founder — TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington blamed fellow technology bloggers for the recent attacks on him, saying that his competitors' criticisms made him a target. … Mr. Arrington announced Wednesday he was taking a break …
Matthew Moore / Telegraph:
Microsoft SongSmith: Flawed music software produces comedy gold — A lounge jazz version of Radiohead's Creep. The Police's Roxanne reworked with a reggae beat. Eye of the Tiger as a lo-fi love song. These are just a few of the hilarious cover versions of famous songs created …
Discussion:
Associated Press
Michael Masnick / Techdirt:
Why Is It So Difficult To Opt-Out Of Copyright? — from the no-easy-way-to-get-into-the-public- domain dept — Every so often, when someone new shows up on Techdirt, reading a post about our complaints about overly aggressive copyright holders, they'll make a comment along the lines of …
Douglas Quenqua / New York Times:
Friends, Until I Delete You — “UNFRIENDER” Rachel Heavers, with her daughter, Ellen, removed a lifelong pal in “a hormonal moment.” Now she says, “I really, really regret it.” During the “Whopper Sacrifice,” 234,000 people were trumped by a free burger. — A PERSON could go mad trying to pinpoint the moment he lost a friend.
Discussion:
Gawker
discuss.joelonsoftware.com:
Don't ever use Google Apps for anything important — Here's why you should never use Google Apps for your domain paid or unpaid. — I started using the free version Google Apps a little over a year ago for one of our intranets. Luckily it was an intranet and not the main site!
Jason Calacanis / The Jason Calacanis Weblog:
We Live in Public (and the end of empathy) — This was an email to my private list which you can signup for at — Listen To This While Reading: Love Theme from Blade Runner — I've been thinking about empathy and the Internet non-stop for the past week.
Discussion:
Susan Mernit's Blog
Slash Lane / AppleInsider:
Apple sued over ‘broken promises’ regarding 3G speeds — A new class-action lawsuit claims Apple knowingly profited from faulty iPhone 3Gs that couldn't stay connected to the faster 3G network, costing buyers inferior service and missed opportunities to use an alternative provider.
Eric Eldon / VentureBeat:
Social ad network Social Media gets funding boost, after strong year — Social Media, a new-fangled advertising network for applications on Facebook and other “social media” sites, has raised a second round of $6 million from IDG Ventures and existing investor Charles River Ventures.
Sumner Lemon / Macworld:
Intel to detail eight-core Xeon processor — Intel plans to detail an eight-core Xeon processor at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco next month, offering an early look at what appears to be the company's first eight-core chip.
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Obama Gets a Google Vet-But Not for CTO — Barack Obama has yet to announce who his chief technology officer will be. But he has hired a Silicon Valley exec for another role: Google product manager Katie Jacobs Stanton will be the new President's “director of citizen participation,” starting in March, sources tell me.
Amit Agarwal / Digital Inspiration:
Google Updates Privacy Policy — This may slightly concern privacy advocates who continue to worry about Google storing too much data about their users. — Google today updated their privacy policy document and it now says that, in addition to retaining server logs, Google …
