Google's forthcoming Chrome OS operating system -- previewed recently to mixed reviews -- just received a serious nod from Engadget. After prepping a USB key so it could boot to Chrome OS natively, the tech and gadget blog exclaims, "What we're seeing with Chrome OS is actually on par performance-wise with our crazy expectations for a stripped-down OS." The highly-anticipated operating system "boots in mere seconds and loads Web sites with the best of them," according to Engadget. "The build we're using, courtesy of @hexxeh on Twitter, who made all this possible with some great instructions and a …

"Digital is so yesterday," declares the always provocative head of Denuo, Rishad Tobaccowala. That's right, consumers have moved on to the "post-digital" age in which digital tools and services are blended with analog ways of life, and they demand that the real and the virtual co-mingle in a seamless way. What does that mean for marketers? To survive, they will need to combine and leverage "the full spectrum of marketing levers" online and off. Communities, for example, should exist online and be enabled in the real world. Who's doing it right? Apple, for one, which combines the simplicity, …

Giving Downtown pub Tom & Jerry's a run for its beer money, the recently refurbished Ace Hotel in lower Midtown has quickly been colonized by Silicon Alley's top tech entrepreneurs and the VCs who love them -- until it gave them the cold shoulder yesterday, putting up "Get a room" signs. The question remains, however, whether the hotel will embrace such a multitasking, WiFi-monopolizing, pleated khaki-wearing, female entourage-lacking, geeked-out crowd. With the rise of Facebook and our culture's broader embrace of technology, blogger Charlie O'Donnell argues that techies are now "the cool kids," and should therefore be embraced by any …

Ahead of AOL's expected spin off from Time Warner next week, some Wall Street banks have started coverage of the stock, which, at first glance, appears less than kind. RBC analyst Ross Sandler, for one, started AOL off on Tuesday with a "sector perform" rating, "above average" risk, and a $27 price target. Like most analysts, he focuses on AOL's obvious challenges: A declining dial-up business that makes up most of the company's profits; its reliance on that shrinking subscriber base to bring viewers to its media business; its poor performance in growth areas like in social media; its declining …

On Tuesday, news broke that Dow Jones & Co. had agreed to sell its Online Financial Solutions business to Interactive Data Corporation. A day later, an SEC filing has revealed the price of the sale -- $13.5 -- which industry watchers see as shockingly low, and the best evidence yet that Dow Jones is under serious pressure from parent News Corp. to slim down. Calling the selling price "a shocker," paidContent surmised that Dow Jones "really really wanted the unit off its hands." To put the sale price of $13.5 million into perspective, …

Apple's slice of mobile data traffic has grown to now exceed 50% share in the US, UK and in global figures, according to new monthly mobile data traffic report by AdMob. AdMob just released its first monthly mobile ad trends report following its acquisition by Google earlier this month. Despite Apple's lead in rank and growth, the new report focuses much of its attention on Google's third place Android and RIM's fourth ranking BlackBerry. The report also comments on second place Symbian and the fifth place Windows Mobile, without making any detailed comments about the iPhone and iPod …

The Times takes a look at the war brewing between Wal-Mart and Amazon. At this very moment, "The two heavyweight retailers are waging an online price war that is spreading through product areas like books, movies, toys and electronics." The battle apparently began last month as a relatively trivial but highly public back-and-forth over which company had the lowest prices on the most anticipated new books and DVDs this fall. By last week, it had spread to select video game consoles, mobile phones, even to Hasbro's Easy-Bake Oven. Last Wednesday, Wal-Mart dropped the price of the oven to $17, from …

Engaged in a little damage control, Google is buying ads to explain why an offensive image of First Lady Michelle Obama has returned to its index, and is ranking highly in searches for her name in Google Image Search. Google had previously removed the Michelle Obama image on the grounds that the site hosting the image violated Google's guidelines by serving malware to visitors. The same image, however, remained available on other sites that hadn't run afoul of the rules. Google's ad leads searchers to a site featuring an apology to users who've "had an upsetting experience using …

Speaking at a news conference in Tel Aviv, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone says he's interested in additional acquisitions, and even earning a little ad revenue. "We made an acquisition last year that turned out to be an outstandingly good decision," Stone said. The micro-blogging service actually bought two companies in 2008: software designer Values of n; and search engine Summize -- Stone was most likely referring to the latter. Repeating earlier assurances, Stone said Twitter will "start making money" in 2010, and plans to unveil an ad-based monetization model early next year. "There are no dates when we …

The New York Observer has more details on a long-rumored partnership between the magazine industry's biggest names, which would theoretically give them more leverage against digital platform gatekeepers like Apple and Amazon. Time Inc., Condé Nast and Hearst are all expected to join, bringing along more than 50 titles, including The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Time, People, Sports Illustrated, Esquire and O, The Oprah Magazine. The new company will prepare magazines that can work across multiple digital platforms, whether the iPhone, the BlackBerry or other digital devices, all accessible to consumers via a iTunes-like platform. John Squires, …