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12:15 PM ET, January 8, 2009

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Brandon LeBlanc / The Windows Blog:
Information on Downloading and Installing Windows 7 Beta  —  As of today, I am running the Windows 7 Beta on several different PCs including my laptop, my work PC, and my PC at home, which I upgraded recently to Windows 7 from Windows Vista SP1.  (I'll be outlining the PCs I'm using to test Windows 7 shortly.)
RELATED:
Microsoft:
Microsoft's Ballmer Announces Availability of Windows 7 Beta and Windows Live  —  Company previews simpler, better Windows operating system and highlights connected entertainment offerings at CES.  —  In a keynote address at the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) …
James Niccolai / PC World:
Windows 7: Less of a Resource-Hog Than Vista  —  Good news: the next version of Microsoft's Windows OS appears to be less of a resource hog than Windows Vista.  —  Microsoft announced Wednesday that a beta version of Windows 7 will be available for the general public to download and try out on Friday.
Discussion: Smalltalk Tidbits …
BBC:
Hard drive destruction ‘crucial’  —  The only way to stop fraudsters stealing information from old computer hard drives is by destroying them completely, a study has found.  —  Which?  Computing magazine recovered 22,000 “deleted” files from eight computers purchased on eBay.
Matt Buchanan / Gizmodo:
Sony Vaio P Super Don't-Call-It-a-Netbook Hands On  —  The keyboard?  It rocks.  The screen?  Beautiful.  The trackball is just the right amount of gritty, so your finger sticks to it and doesn't slide off onto the keyboard.  The instant-on OS?  Classy.
Nilay Patel / Engadget:
GiiNii's Movit Mini WiFi Android tablet hands-on  —  We just spent some quality time playing with GiiNii's Movit Mini WiFi Android tablet, which might be one of the best things we've seen at CES so far — think of it as the Android version of the iPod touch and you'll get why we're so stoked.
Nokia:
Messaging made simple - the Nokia E63 heads to the United States  —  This affordable QWERTY smartphone to be made available with US 3G optimization  —  Las Vegas, NV, USA - At the Consumer Electronics Show today, Nokia announced it will bring a US optimized version of the Nokia E63 to the North American market.
RELATED:
Nokia:
Stylish Nokia 7510 to launch with T-Mobile USA
Discussion: Gadgetell and Unwired View
Business Wire:
Lenovo Announces Resource Redeployment Plan  —  RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. & SINGAPORE—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Lenovo today announced a resource redeployment plan that will help the company increase its efficiencies and become more competitive in the face of the continuing global economic downturn.
Long Zheng / istartedsomething:
Microsoft Tag: Microsoft's own 2D barcode  —  It just wouldn't be right if Microsoft didn't have its own barcode technology too, which is why today Microsoft Tag (Beta) was announced at CES 2009.  Much like other 2D barcode technologies including the popular but underwhelming QR Code …
Discussion: Redmond Pie, Neowin.net and Channel 10
Kelly Fiveash / The Register:
Google quietly ices contractors  —  Keeps hush-hush SEC filing off the interwebs  —  Internet giant Google quietly got rid of an unspecified number of contract workers late last year.  —  Mountain View's spending plans were outlined in a 15 December Securities and Exchange Commission filing …
Marco Chiappetta / HotHardware.com News:
Enter The Dragon: AMD Phenom II X4 940  —  AMD has been fighting an uphill battle on two fronts for the last few years.  For a time, fierce competition from NVIDIA, coupled with some of their own problems executing, put the ATI graphics division in a deep hole.
RELATED:
Xavier / Notebooks.com:
New Generation of Netbooks: $199 and $299, Eight Hour Battery & Sexy Design  —  Freescale and Pegatron are ushering a new generation of netbooks that will combine excellent battery life, good looks and low cost.  The two partners are hoping to bring the ARM-based netbook to market within …
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Corkd Gets Hackd  —  If you try to visit the URL for wine review website Corkd, you'll automatically get rerouted to porn site Adult Friend Finder (obviously NSFW).  We're not sure how long this has been the case, but we're not the only ones noticing.  —  What's weird about the redirect …
Rob_sheridan / forum.nin.com:
Lights In The Sky HD Footage Downloads!  —  page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11...last >  —  This is my custom title. Location: Los Angeles  —  Posts: 160 … There is about 405gb of HD footage available.  It was recorded with multiple consumer HDV cameras during three shows: Victoria 12.05.08 …
Discussion: Techdirt and TECH.BLORGE.com
Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:
Author Solutions Buys Xlibris  —  Author Solutions Inc., one of the country's biggest print-on-demand publishers, has agreed to acquire rival Xlibris, making it one of the largest book publishers in the world by annual titles.  —  The purchase price wasn't disclosed.
One Laptop per Child:
Refocusing on our mission  —  It pains me to post this, and we have striven to avoid this over the past few months, but it is unavoidable.  We are streamlining our operations this month, cutting staff and contractors by roughly 50% (from every team) and laying out broad targets for the coming year.
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Canesta teams up with Hitachi to create a Wii-like next-generation TV control  —  Canesta is announcing today it has teamed up with Hitachi to create a next-generation user interface for a TV that is similar to the way arm-waving controls the Nintendo Wii video game console.
Discussion: WatchingTV Online
RELATED:
Chris Albrecht / NewTeeVee:   Show of Hands: Gestures Control Hitachi TV
Kris Graft / Edge Online:
Sony: Competitors “Continue Peddling Add-Ons”  —  Who really cares about BLURAY?  I play my 360 on an HD tv with a 20 quid hdmi cable and it looks amazing, I think LIVE is well worth the money, the game demos, arcade game have some decent choices and now the Movie catalogue is getting decent there is always a decent film to download.
Will Park / IntoMobile:
Hands-on with the T-Mobile Shadow @ CES Las Vegas 2009!  —  It's been a long time coming, this new T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) Shadow II.  Actually, the T-Mobile Shadow successor will be known as the... wait for it... T-Mobile Shadow!  Sure, a name like “Shadow II” might be a little obvious …
Electronista:
Creative Zii outed as flexible system-on-chip  —  Creative today finally confirmed the nature of the Zii.  The one-time mystery device is now known to be a processor platform based on the notion of very generalized, software-based cores known as Processing Elements: the “stemcell” …
Discussion: Gizmodo, Engadget and Boy Genius Report
Jessica Dolcourt / Download.com editors:
Googlepedia for Firefox brings Wikipedia to you  —  If you're one whose search results lead you to a Wikipedia page nine times out of ten, you would do well to install the Googlepedia extension for Firefox.  —  This free, terrifically easy add-on pulls the Wikipedia article most closely associated …
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
New Prospect for Yahoo CEO: Carol Bartz  —  How did BoomTown forget former Autodesk exec Carol Bartz for Yahoo CEO?  —  Yahoo certainly hasn't.  According to several sources familiar with the Yahoo (YHOO) search for a new leader to replace Co-founder Jerry Yang, the company is looking hard …
Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider
Erik Sherman / BNET Technology:
Is Google Developing a Router?  —  There's an intriguing rumor floating about.  SDTimes.com is reporting that according to multiple sources, “including one at Cisco,” Google is working on developing its own router.  When I contacted Google, the answer was the now-standard …
Enigmax / TorrentFreak:
Game Developer Confronts iPhone Software Cracker  —  Whack 'em All is a newish game for iPhone and iPod Touch, based on the ‘Whack-a-Mole’ idea.  The creators are married couple Constance and James Bossert, who together form Fairlady Media.  —  James told TorrentFreak …
David Gelles / Financial Times:
Yelping in London  —  Yelp, the directory website that has emerged as the US leader in local user-generated reviews, is taking its first trip overseas.  With the debut of a London directory, the company is hoping to capture the enormous, and potentially lucrative, local advertising market in Europe's largest city.
Discussion: GigaOM
Rick Turoczy / ReadWriteWeb:
Mr. Microphone 2.0: Microsoft Songsmith Puts Even the Worst Lyrics to Music  —  Like to sing in the shower or in the car?  Want to subject others to your incoherent warblings as if they were a real song?  Microsoft Songsmith may be for you.  And if you're a professional lyricist, musician, or someone with real musical talent?
Discussion: Scobleizer and Microsoft Pri0
 
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 More Items: 
Stephen Schenck / Obsessable:
JVC's CES products include HDTVs galore, digital camcorders, Blu-ray, and more
Reuters:
Japan may promote lower mobile phone fees
Discussion: mocoNews.net
CNET News:
Verizon intros on-the-go DVR programming
Discussion: Digits and Tech stories
Panasonic:
PANASONIC INTRODUCES WORLD'S FIRST PORTABLE BLU-RAY PLAYER
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
Students, law prof want RIAA trial live and online
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
JibJab Closes $7.5 Million Series C Round To Keep The Laughs Rolling
Discussion: Xconomy, NewTeeVee and paidContent.org
 Earlier Items: 
Prince McLean / AppleInsider:
An extensive look at Apple's new iWork.com service
Macworld:
Macworld Expo Best of Show 2009
Discussion: O'Grady's PowerPage
Kevin C. Tofel / jkOnTheRun:
Skype Lite Coming to Android & Java-Enabled Phones
Discussion: VoIP & Gadgets Blog and FierceVoIP