Top Items:
Farhad Manjoo / Slate:
What does the “netbook” craze tell us about the future of laptops. — There isn't much mystery to why a little-marketed computer known as the Eee PC has lately seized the top spot on Amazon's laptop best-seller list. The machine, a three-pound ugly duckling made by the Taiwanese company Asus …
tera.ca:
PHOTO PAGE 6 — This page is dedicated to breastfeeding women everywhere. They provide a superior and inimitable start to life for their children, among much else! — Here we present photos banned from the social utility Facebook, as well as photos that it would probably remove.
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Arn / MacRumors:
Vaja Also Hints at iPhone Nano? — Relatively well-known iPhone case manufacturer Vaja has curiously added an “iPhone Nano” listing to their website. The link simply directs you to a form asking you to sign up for information about “the upcoming release of our iPhone nano cases.”
Discussion:
Mobile Tech Addicts, SlashGear, Gizmodo, Mobilewhack.com, iPhone Buzz, HotHardware.com News, Sevenmac.net, AppleInsider, Unwired View, Tech-Ex, InformationWeek, Engadget, Tech Beat and MacBlogz
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
CES preview: what to expect at the big, not-so-gloomy tech trade show — THE BIGGEST U.S. TECH TRADE SHOW WILL FEATURE EMERGING MARKET TECHNOLOGY, 3-D GLASSES, AND DIGITAL CONTENT, ACCORDING TO SHOW CHIEF GARY SHAPIRO — The International Consumer Electronics Show coming up next week promises to be a sober extravaganza.
RELATED:
Steve O'Hear / last100:Deja vu: Internet ‘widgets’ coming to the TV in 2009
Discussion:
Electronista
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Amazon Wins An Award It Didn't Give Itself: Tops In Customer Satisfaction — Amazon's data-free claim that it posted its “best ever” holiday season this month has gotten a deservedly skeptical reception. But here's one vote in favor of Jeff Bezos' e-commerce giant: A customer satisfaction poll …
Discussion:
Silicon Alley Insider
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Content Sites Bracing For 50% Revenue Slowdown — The U.S. economy has likely been in recession for a year, and tech companies have been bracing for a big slowdown in growth. But the fact is that revenues for most Internet-based companies haven't dropped yet.
Emil Protalinski / One Microsoft Way:
The Windows 7 build 7000 leak and Microsoft's reaction — This past weekend, Windows 7 build 7000 leaked to torrent sites. It's not the first build of Windows 7 to leak, but it definitely is the most important one so far. You see, the first 7xxx build marks the entrance of Windows 7 into beta phase …
Daniel Lyons / Washington Post:
The iPhone's Golden Touch — Ge Wang never dreamed of becoming a high-tech Silicon Valley entrepreneur. He's an assistant professor at Stanford, a specialist in computer science and music whose biggest passion has been organizing nerdy “laptop orchestras” composed of 20 people each “playing” a notebook computer.
Discussion:
textually.org
Rick Merritt / EE Times:
Server makers get Goooogled — Elements of Google's most secretive product—its unique PC server design—is beginning to ripple throughout the rest of the industry. — Like many companies with giant Internet data centers, Google uses big clusters of commodity x86 servers.
Matthew Lasar / Ars Technica:
Martin drops porn filtering from FCC free wireless broadband plan — Kevin Martin, the Chair of the Federal Communications Commission, called Ars Technica today to let us know that he has revised his proposal to roll out a free (and smut-free) wireless broadband service.
Discussion:
The Register
InfoWorld:
What future is in store for Microsoft? — It's been six months since Bill Gates retired from Microsoft, though he remains an adviser, and the Redmond giant is chugging away as if business were usual. Work continues on Windows 7, Internet Explorer 8, Windows Mobile 6.5, the Azure cloud development platform, and so on.
iSuppli:
Second-Generation PlayStation 3 Features Cost Reduction, Supplier Shifts — Sony Corp.'s new-generation PlayStation 3 (PS3) features a cost-reduced design due to integration and some key changes in components from the previous-generation model, according to a teardown conducted by iSuppli Corp.
Discussion:
Silicon Alley Insider
TOP 20 MSI News:
The World's First Hybrid Storage Netbook- MSI U115 Hybrid — Taipeiã€' MSI today announces U115 Hybrid. The very first notebook computer in the world that is capable of operating both SSD and HDD hard drives simultaneously, combining all the features of SSD and HDD in the U115 Hybrid for your enjoyment.
Justin Berka / Infinite Loop:
Contract-free iPhones now available in France — The iPhone 3G is available without a contract in a handful of countries, but iPhone owners in France have been tied to Orange under Apple's current exclusivity contract. Until now, that is. MacNN has pointed out that French store FNAC is now selling the iPhone 3G without a contract.
Discussion:
The Register, Gadget Lab, SlashGear, VentureBeat, TUAW, Engadget Mobile, MacBlogz and AppleInsider
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
It's Time For An Apple Tablet: Where's My iPod Touch HD? (AAPL) — Apple's (AAPL) iPod touch is a hit, and PC makers like Dell (DELL) and Asus are doing good business selling cheap, small “netbook” laptops. It's time for Steve Jobs to smash them together into a killer multi-touch tablet.
Jason Chen / Gizmodo:
Apple's Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter Has Periodic Distortion Issues — We've been waiting a few months for the Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter in order to hook up our 30-inch Dell 3007WFP monitor, but when it got here, it was periodically unusable.
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Cisco's Misguided Foray Into the Living Room — Cisco Systems, a company best known for selling mundane (albeit very lucrative) routers, switches and other networking gear, has designs on the consumer electronics market. To that end, at the upcoming CES trade show, the company plans to launch …
Andrew Chen / Futuristic Play:
Freemium business model case study: AdultFriendFinder ARPU, churn, and conversion rates — A case study for the Freemium business model — There's been a lot written about the Freemium model over the years, particularly from Fred Wilson at AVC. Here'a couple articles I'll recommend on the topic:
Wall Street Journal:
Internet Providers Join Broadband Push — President-elect Barack Obama's call to improve the nation's broadband infrastructure has cable and phone company lobbyists maneuvering to get a leg up. — Lawmakers in Congress want a plan that will create jobs over the next two to three years …
Discussion:
Silicon Alley Insider
Alex Kuretz / MediaSmartServer.net:
Review: HP MediaSmart Server EX487 — When the MediaSmart Server was first released, it didn't take long for limitations and areas of improvement to be discussed amongst the Home Server community. One of the first improvements was to upgrade the memory from the stock 512MB, usually to 2GB.
RELATED:
Cleve Nettles / 9 to 5 Mac:HP MediaSmart Home Server may get some competition from Apple
Discussion:
The iPhone Blog, TUAW, DailyTech, Technologizer, MacBlogz, Mac Soda, We Got Served, Gadgetell, The Technology Chronicles, Gizmodo, Tech Beat, SlipperyBrick.com, Webware.com, The Mac Observer, Engadget HD, I4U News, CrunchGear, Boy Genius Report, eWeek, Infinite Loop, MacRumors and Business Week
