• John Capone, Dec 31, 2009, 10:51 AM
  • Apple Tablet Heralds The Second Coming Fox News et al. Forget all this Nexus One nonsense. Apple would like you to know it has much more than any mere phone in store. It is offering a life-changing experience.

    Sources within the Cupertino company is saying it will be ready to announce its tablet device in January and the blogosphere, predictably, is abuzz.

    Sources inside Apple have confirmed a "big" event in January. And you can bet it won't be a moderate improvement to the iPhone. Mashable speculates that the Mac-World team will be none-too-happy about the January 26 announcement, since it was told by Apple that the company would not participate in the expo, because preparing a presentation over the holidays is just too taxing.

    In Asia, former president of Google China Kaifu Lee, who claims to have seen the device, says it looks like a big iPhone. Of course he could have made that up after reading any one of the reports over the past six months.

    And Business Week, calling the forthcoming device the Jesus Tablet, says Apple's new gambit will herald the return of print, and will be embraced by publishers: "Expect to see publishers launch visually stunning versions of their magazines with swooping typography, video insets, CNN iReporter-style news uploads, social media overlays-whatever it takes to make you think you're seeing a magazine or newspaper like never before, so much so you'll even want to pay for it."

    So an April date for the release makes sense, since it's more of an Easter-resurrection type of deal than a Christmas-birth sort of thing. Read the whole story...
  • Google Is Not Done With You Yet The Next Web You will pay attention to the Nexus One. You will. Look at this new leaked video. Holy cow, it's 10 minutes long. Look at it.
    Read the whole story...
  • Kim Kardashian: Paid Tweeter New York Post "Kim Kardashian tweets with one hand and collects cash with the other," writes The New York Post. Not so shocking. What is shocking is that that the erstwhile Maxim covergirl and reality TV star gets upwards of $10 grand per tweet to keep her 2.7 million followers in the know. She is signed to "in-stream advertising" company Ad.ly.

    One of her latest gems: "The Carl's Jr grilled chicken salads came out yesterday!! I'm on my way to Carl's Jr for lunch now . . . have you tried them yet?" All of which begs the philosophical question: If Kim Kardashian tweets about ordering a salad at Carl's Jr. in a forest does a 12-year-old girl get an eating disorder? Read the whole story...
  • Productivity Is Down, Blame Facebook San Francisco Examiner Shockingly, businesses complain that time-sucking social networks hurt their productivity, according to a new survey conducted by Robert Half Technology. "It takes away from primary responsibility," Dave Knapp, regional vice president for Robert Half told the San Francisco Examiner. "When socializing on sites such as Facebook, we lose track of time."

    Besides just wasting time, companies are also worried about employees leaking sensitive information. Of course, there is always the option of blocking the sites, and according to the survey, 54 percent of businesses do just that. Read the whole story...
  • YouTube Takes on TV New York Times It seems that Google's YouTube, has only one really competitor: television. So says the New York Times. YouTube is 10 times as popular as its nearest online competitor. Hunter Walk, director of product management at YouTube, says that the average user spends about 15 minutes a day on YouTube, but five hours in front of the television.

    And though the endeavor is still not yet profitable, Google looks on the bright side, and has hopes for the promise YouTube holds for search, which is why the tech giant bought YouTube in the first place. With 20 hours of video uploaded to the site every minute, YouTube is a giant lab for recommendations engines. Read the whole story...