Category: News

Some readers have been asking how to become a tech reviewer for PD, and this might be that chance. We’re looking for a couple of volunteer contributors for PhoneDog’s upcoming network site, TodaysiPhone.com.

If you’re passionate about mobile Apple handhelds (that’s right, this site could cover more than just phones, like iPod Touches or tablets) and are good at boiling down and sharing information, we want to hear from you. Read on to know if you have what it takes to join the team:

REQUIREMENTS:
(1) You have to know the iPhone OS — no, you have to LOVE it.

(2) You’ve got to be a great communicator, whether writer or vid creator, who can whip up fun, engaging content. (Horrible spellers, grammar victims and perpetrators of the “Yo, this sux!” style of expression need not apply.)

(3) You must be reliable and responsible. (No plagiarizing or making up facts. You’ll have to fact check your stuff, and our own double checking won’t be uncommon.)

(4) Previous writing/blogging experience is highly desired, but not required. (Prove that you have a way with words and a penchant for keeping up on the latest related news or debuts, and we might overlook the whole “previous experience” thing.)

(5) Most importantly, you need to have a great attitude, and a big desire to learn and contribute. (Oh, and if you’re under 18, you’ll need a parent’s written approval.)

(6) We aren’t able to supply handsets, so having direct access to an iPhone (or possibly an iPod Touch) is highly preferred.

This is not a paid gig (for now), but an opportunity for people who either want to break into the biz or just love sharing knowledge. In return, successful candidates will get bragging rights, blogger bylines, and maybe even the chance to play with some cool apps or accessories.

Here’s how to apply:

• Send an email to [email protected]. Include your full name and a few sentences summing up why you’re perfect for this and give us an idea of what your specialty or desired beat is (news/rumors, tutorials, app or accessory reviews, whatever).
• Include two sample blog posts or vids. This could be news or rumors, a hot app, accessory or how-to article — your choice. If it’s a written piece, PASTE it into the body of your email. (If you don’t do this, seriously, we’re not even going to look at it.)
• Tell us how often you’d like to contribute (once a day, once a week, several per day or week, monthly). It’s not a rigid commitment, just a general sense of your desired involvement.

We won’t be able to respond to everyone, so if you don’t hear back from us, it doesn’t mean you stink. It just means we’re getting overwhelmed with applications, or we’re interested in a different style, so don’t take it personally. (And hey — there will be lots of chances to show off your master iPhone virtuosity on the site as a visitor once it launches.) For now, though, we can only respond to candidates we’re interested in.

(One last hint: Concise and well-written emails will get noticed a lot faster than long-winded inquiries or typo-ridden messages. So use that spell check!)

Thanks everyone! You can go back to your regularly scheduled PhoneDog programming now…

UPDATE: Since we don’t have hardware to give out, it is strongly preferred that candidates own or have direct access to an iPhone (or at least an iPod Touch). The number 6 requirement above was added to reflect that.

Another human superstition driving a protected species closer to extinction: Vulture brains are believed to increase luck in the lottery and at the race track.

Africa’s protected vultures are becoming the victims of a growing trend: According to a popular superstition, smoking dried vulture brains will result in “visionary” powers.

Read more of this story »

Only the truly adventurous are running Chrome OS on their computers today. But it’s the elephant in the room whenever Jolicloud, an ambitious netbook operating startup, is discussed.

We first covered the startup in late 2008, when netbooks were mostly running Widows XP or Linux. In June, when the first invites to Jolicloud went out, it looked like a winner.

But less than a month later Google announced Chrome OS, their own operating system tailored to netbooks.

Jolicloud soldiered on, raising a high profile $4.2 million venture round and finally, earlier this month, releasing a public beta of the product at Le Web in Paris.

I caught up with CEO Tariq Krim and Director Partnerships Brenda O’Connell backstage at Le Web and asked them how Jolicloud would compete with Chrome OS.

Krim doesn’t have a full answer, but he says that part of the answer is Jolicloud’s focus on partner services like Dropbox. Google will rely mostly or entirely on Google services to run Chrome OS, although you’ll be able to access website services.

Jolicloud netbooks will be able to run local high definition video, which is hard to do over the browser today. And with services like dropbox users can store files locally on their netbooks and sync them to the cloud. Chrome OS users won’t be able to store files locally on their machine, other than via offline browser access.

It’s not clear Krim believes that’s much of an advantage, though. He says in the interview that hardware is becoming unimportant and that people will start to spend that money on cloud services instead.

Jolicloud is negotiating partnerships with hardware manufacturers to ship their OS directly with devices. Eventually consumer decisions will say whether there’s a place for Jolicloud in a suddenly crowded netbook OS market. Krim, who has fought Google successfully before with Netvibes (which competes with iGoogle), seems reasonably optimistic.

The video is below:

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

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The BonJour Primo Latte milk frother is one of my favorite Christmas gifts ever. With this frother, I really don’t need Starbucks anymore. As a latte lover, I have no idea why I waited so long to get one of these. It beats any latte foam I’ve had from Starbucks.

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I’ve used the milk frother to make both lattes and cappuccinos. I first tried the frother with 2% milk, but since BonJour recommended using nonfat milk, I gave that a whirl. I found that the nonfat milk does make hardier foam. I didn’t miss the fat.

I love the sleek little wire stand that comes with the frother. The unit and stand doesn’t take up much space, and using the stand is good for allowing the coil to air dry. You’ll need to rinse the coil immediately after use to avoid deposit buildup. I’d also recommend keeping the stand in a location where it can’t get knocked to the floor easily.

The frother requires two AA batteries that aren’t included. The only thing I dislike about this product is that I found battery installation to be a bit awkward.

To get the most out of your frother, make sure your batteries are completely charged. At first, I put in rechargeable batteries that needed a bit more power. After charging the batteries, the frother worked much more quickly.

If you have no idea how to make lattes and cappuccinos, no worries. The frother comes with several recipes. Making the froth is simple. You just fill a glass 1/3 full with cold milk and froth for around a minute, making sure to stop pushing the button before lifting the frother out of the glass. To make a cappuccino, I used the frother with a Bialetti Casa Italia Moka Express, a stovetop espresso maker. The frother retails for $20.

Have you tried the BonJour Primo Latte milk frother?

(Image via amazon)

Post from: Blisstree

Review: Primo Latte Milk Frother

Here is an in depth video of the new Documents tab in the latest Manila packages from the 2.01 Leo ROM. For those of you with an HD2, you know what your missing if you’re using the 1.61 ROM or earlier. For everyone else, you know what you’re missing by not having an HD2! :p

What tabs would you like to see in the future?

Around 1:00 PM Pacific time on Sunday, Apple’s MobileMe suite of cloud applications stopped working for me. According to one Twitter post, it’s been down for some users for three hours now.

The volume of Twitter updates in multiple languages in the past hour suggests this isn’t a small outage.

Apple’s PR hotline sent me an auto-response, “Our offices are closed for the holidays.” But if I hear back, I’ll update this post with any info Apple provides.

MobileMe, for which Apple charges $99 per year, grew from the company’s .Mac (pronounced “dot-mac”) services. Usually it works — I use it daily — but MobileMe got off to a bad start last year with frequent outages. So much so that even Apple fan Walt Mossberg declared it “too flawed to be reliable.”

MobileMe beats Google Apps in some ways, most notably its browser-based replications of the familiar mail, calendar and contact apps built into Apple computers. But for a hundred bucks a year in 2010, shouldn’t it be bulletproof?

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China Mobile’s Vice Chairman Zhang Chunjiang is being investigated by officials for alleged breach of conduct related to personal reasons, which historically has meant that he is suspected for corruption.

China Mobile didn’t elaborate on the probe, but a company spokeswoman said Saturday that the probe would have no impact on the company’s operations, reports the WSJ. Corruption in China has been a problem in its state corporations, which typically dominate large parts of the telecom, financial, and energy sectors.

Zhang joined China Mobile, which is the largest carrier in the world by subscribers, in June after working for more than 25 years in the state telecom sector. Previously, he was chairman of state-owned fixed-line carrier China Netcom Group and helped engineer an corporate governance overhaul aimed at giving outside board members greater say. Zhang is also head of the powerful Communist Party committee at China Mobile’s state-owned parent, China Mobile Communications.

Filed under: Opel, Russia

It not only takes money to close a deal, it takes money to get close to closing a deal. Sberbank, which was Magna’s Russian partner in the bid for Opel, said it assembled 9,000 contract pages during the negotiations. Unless Russian corporate lawyers are that much cheaper than their American counterparts, the associated legal fees could probably be described by the word “heinous.”

Sberbank says GM walked away from the deal 48 hours before contracts were due to be signed, and did so without reasonable explanation. In that case, Sberbank believes it is owed for the money it spent in preparation. Company CEO Stefan Gref said “In reality we spent an awful sum, because we had to address complex tasks,” and “I hope that we shall be able to settle all issues out of court, but we shall be prepared to defend our position in courts of law.”

Unless there was a provision restricting GM’s ability to walk away from the deal, it is unclear what kind of chances Sberbank will have in court. By comparison, Magna CEO Frank Stronach said his company’s bills from the transaction “weren’t material,” which could be his way of saying, “water under the bridge.” With the other issues on GM’s mind right now — like, oh, Opel and the German government, among others — Sberbank should probably just grab a place in line.

[Source: Auto News, sub req’d | Image: AFP/Getty]

Russia’s Sberbank wants GM to pay for dropping the Opel deal originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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INDIANAPOLIS — Legislation that could bring more wind turbines and solar power projects to Indiana has a good chance of passing in the upcoming legislative session after failing in the last session’s closing hours, two state lawmakers say. While …

Filed under: Opel, Russia

It not only takes money to close a deal, it takes money to get close to closing a deal. Sberbank, which was Magna’s Russian partner in the bid for Opel, said it assembled 9,000 contract pages during the negotiations. Unless Russian corporate lawyers are that much cheaper than their American counterparts, the associated legal fees could probably be described by the word “heinous.”

Sberbank says GM walked away from the deal 48 hours before contracts were due to be signed, and did so without reasonable explanation. In that case, Sberbank believes it is owed for the money it spent in preparation. Company CEO Stefan Gref said “In reality we spent an awful sum, because we had to address complex tasks,” and “I hope that we shall be able to settle all issues out of court, but we shall be prepared to defend our position in courts of law.”

Unless there was a provision restricting GM’s ability to walk away from the deal, it is unclear what kind of chances Sberbank will have in court. By comparison, Magna CEO Frank Stronach said his company’s bills from the transaction “weren’t material,” which could be his way of saying, “water under the bridge.” With the other issues on GM’s mind right now — like, oh, Opel and the German government, among others — Sberbank should probably just grab a place in line.

[Source: Auto News, sub req’d | Image: AFP/Getty]

Russia’s Sberbank wants GM to pay for dropping the Opel deal originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I hope that everyone had a lovely holiday weekend with friends and family. I know that I did! And I certainly got lucky in the gift department this year. I received several outstanding cookbooks, fancy stackable sanding sugars from Williams Sonoma and a couple of antique pieces of pastry-making equipment – a pastry cutter and a moon cake/pastry mold – that a relatively thoughtfully picked up for me on a trip to Southeast Asia earlier this year. There were a fair number of chocolate bars in my stocking, and of course it was also wonderful to spend some quality time with my family.

If I absolutely had to choose, my favorite thing would have to be my new Shun Chef’s knife. I can’t say no to a good knife and, in addition to being a fantastic instrument, it looks gorgeous. Now, I just need to put a knife block on my wish list for next year!

Since we’re sharing, what did everyone else get for Christmas? Books, baking equipment, homemade goodies? I certainly hope that a copy of The Baking Bites Cookbook made it under a few trees, too!

This week ReadWriteWeb is running a series of posts analyzing the five biggest, most cutting-edge Web trends to come out of 2009. We’re posting one trend analysis per day. Then at the end of the week we’ll publish a major update to our standard presentation about web technology trends.

Our opening post was about Structured Data. In this article we look at probably the most hyped trend of 2009: the Real-Time Web. It has become a core part of many Internet products this year: Twitter, FriendFeed, Facebook, Google, Delicious, WordPress, and many others.

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Editor’s note: This story is part of a series we call Redux, where we’ll re-publish some of our best posts of 2009. As we look back at the year – and ahead to what next year holds – we think these are the stories that deserve a second glance. It’s not just a best-of list, it’s also a collection of posts that examine the fundamental issues that continue to shape the Web. We hope you enjoy reading them again and we look forward to bringing you more Web products and trends analysis in 2010. Happy holidays from Team ReadWriteWeb!

What is the Real-Time Web?

Ken Fromm wrote an insightful primer to the Real-Time Web for ReadWriteWeb. In it he explained that the Real-Time Web is a new form of communication, it creates a new body of content, it’s immediate, it’s public and has an explicit social graph associated with it, and it carries an implicit model of federation.

One of the early leaders in the Real-Time Web was FriendFeed, a lifestreaming service that became popular with early adopters. Co-founder Paul Buchheit (who also built the first version of Gmail, during his time at Google) told ReadWriteWeb in May that "the open, real-time discussions that occur on FriendFeed are going to become a major new communication medium on the same level as email, IM and blogging."

Everything is Real-Time Now

We must of course begin our product overview with Twitter. In March this year the super-trendy microblogging service marked its 3rd birthday. As Marshall Kirkpatrick explained at the time, it’s really the story of Twitter as a platform that is most exciting.

However the Real-Time Web is much more than Twitter. It has changed the products and strategies of almost every major Internet company in 2009.

Google may have missed the early action, but by May 2009 co-founder Larry Page was proclaiming that Google had to do a better job of being real-time. It’s started that process. For example Google is behind a project called PubSubHubbub, which delivers RSS feeds much faster (near real-time). PubSubHubbub is already making Google Reader faster.

But while you’re waiting for Google search to become truly real-time, you can at least add Twitter results to it with this plug-in.

In March, Facebook launched a site redesign emphasizing a real-time stream of updates on users’ homepages. Although this was unpopular with users, Facebook continued to dabble in Real-Time. In June, Facebook announced a new search interface allowing users to search for content from people, organizations, and other public figures as soon as they share it on Facebook. This was described as “up-to-the-minute” search results – in other words a real-time search engine.

Meanwhile in April, FriendFeed introduced a revamped user interface that focused much more on real-time updates than previously. The most impressive change was the new advanced filters, which made it a lot easier for users to create streams based on keywords, groups, sets of friends and more. FriendFeed’s filters added something powerful to the Real-Time Web.

In August, Facebook further strengthened its Real-Time chops by acquiring FriendFeed. This immediately brought more real-time sophistication into the Facebook family – we’re yet to see how Facebook will use it though.

In August Yahoo’s influential social bookmarking service Delicious was re-born as a real-time news tracker. It launched a new home page, combining recent tagging activity and cross-referenced links on Twitter.

The real-time updates continue… earlier today, all blogs on the WordPress.com platform and any WordPress.org blogs that opt-in will now make instant updates available to any RSS readers subscribed to a new feature called RSSCloud.

Conclusion

In May, Marshall Kirkpatrick identified three forms of value from the Real-Time Web: ambiance, automation and emergence. In August, Bernard Lunn compared it to the real-time world of the trader.

The Real-Time Web is all of those things and more. 2009 has in many ways been the Year of the Real-Time Web. But it’s early days yet, because we – collectively – are still looking for ways to use all of that extra real-time data. We’ve made a lot of data real-time and surfaced it in search and our filters. But what new applications and intelligence can we build off this data? That question will be answered over the coming few years.

ReadWriteWeb’s Top 5 Web Trends of 2009:

1. Structured Data
2. The Real-Time Web
3. Personalization
4. Mobile Web & Augmented Reality
5. Internet of Things

Discuss

Marijuana arrests have spiked in New York City under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, according to new research from a Queens College professor, and the people arrested for pot are almost exclusively minorities.

Bloomberg, who once told New York magazine that he smoked pot “and enjoyed it,” has quietly continued the ‘broken-windows’ practices of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and has seriously stepped up marijuana arrests. In 2008 alone, more than 40,000 people were arrested in New York for low-level marijuana offenses — and 87 percent of them were black of Latino. When you consider that white people are more likely to use pot than African Americans, the problem here becomes even clearer.

New York Times columnist Jim Dwyer wrote about these numbers this week, drawing from the research of Queens College sociology professor Harry Levine. Dwyer finds that the city explains the discrepancy away through a reliance on the broken windows theory, which is alive and well in NYC.

“Marijuana arrests — which rarely lead to jail — are concentrated in neighborhoods with the highest concentrations of violent crime because that’s where the police focus their attention in order to reduce victimization,” Bloomberg’s criminal justice aide John Feinblatt told Dwyer.

(more…)