19 new stories on The Next Web today |  |
- Would you buy a TV before it’s been made? Kogan thinks you will [TNW UK]
- iOS 4.2 Cripples iPad Camera Connection Kit [TNW Apple]
- PayPal Cuts Off WikiLeaks’ Cash Flow [TNW Media]
- How, When, & Why to reset the PRAM & SMC on your Mac [TNW Lifehacks]
- Blizzard China GM Leaves After Massive Info Leak [TNW Apps]
- Is this a photo of the new Chrome OS netbook keyboard? It has a SEARCH key. [TNW Google]
- Osfoora for Mac Sneak Peak-Desktop Twitter Clients Still Hot [TNW Apple]
- Windows Phone 7 copy and paste gets described in detail [TNW Microsoft]
- Groupon reportedly rejects Google’s offer, possibly looking to IPO [TNW Industry]
- Vodafone and China Telecom team up to offer SIM cards that cut worldwide roaming fees [TNW Mobile]
- Finally. A high quality video of the Playstation Phone. [TNW Mobile]
- Grooveshark launches new HTML 5 interface, still doesn’t work on iPad [TNW Apps]
- The TNW Microsoft Week: Angry Birds, Homebrew, and Windows Phone 7 [TNW Microsoft]
- LimeWire is dead, will shut down this month for good [TNW Industry]
- Google Confirms Chrome Event For December 7th [TNW Google]
- Digg adds onsite notifications and additional email notifications in latest update [TNW Apps]
- Google reportedly releasing a self-branded Chrome OS netbook in 4 days (along with its App Store) [TNW Gadgets]
- Survey: iPhone now accounts for 23% of business smartphones [TNW Mobile]
- Mint, the king of personal finance, has finally come to Canada [TNW Canada]
- Viacom Appeals YouTube Copyright Ruling [TNW Industry]
| Would you buy a TV before it’s been made? Kogan thinks you will [TNW UK] Posted: 04 Dec 2010 03:43 AM PST
Ruslan Kogan has made a name for himself in Australia by allowing Aussies to buy direct from the factory, therefore cutting out the middleman and in doing so being able to offer prices considerably lower than the competition. Kogan doesn’t just cut out the middleman, it produces its own branded consumer electronics (like TVs) and white goods (like microwave ovens and vacuum cleaners) and has them manufactured, often in the same factories as other leading brands using the same technologies. Kogan currently stocks around 100 items in Australia. The only trouble with this is that there may be a wait to get the product you want as it hasn’t been made yet, so the site publishes an “expected dispatch date” which is of course reliant that the goods have been made, shipped out from the factory in China and then delivered to a distribution point in Australia. Crowdsourced techKogan utilises social network sites like Facebook and Twitter to work out what customers want and then goes off and builds products. If it’s a high-end LED, TV it may use a panel from Samsung and a tuner from LG, but Kogan will pick and choose what’s best for the product and the consumer, i.e. a high end product can be made from best-of-breed parts and, as it’s assembled and tested in a factory in China, it may actually be coming out of the same factory as an original branded product. By getting customers to choose the products, Kogan sells in volume and it’s all about high volume and low margin. UK LaunchKogan’s UK presence is a limited launch with 11 items (TVs, a video camera and 2 SatNavs). The SatNavs are identical apart from one is UK-only and the other is for UK and Europe. The UK site will get more products in-line with the Australian site soon and Kogan fully expect to extend to more territories too. Kogan is again trying to undercut the competition by using high quality parts and selling direct in the same way as in Australia. However, dispatch dates for most products are early next year so they’ve missed the Christmas shopping rush (unless a confirmation notice is good enough as a present for your loved ones). LivePrice – paying for goods before they’re made
Normally a manufacturer has to get finance which pays for the materials used to make the product, then ship them to China, assemble and test them and send them to a distribution point. This all has to be paid for in advance and as everyone knows borrowing money costs. Kogan is now trying to remove the borrowing aspect, by getting the customer to pay up-front, before the product is even manufactured. This pays for the materials, shipping, assembly etc. The earlier in the process that the customer commits to buy, the cheaper a product is. So, a high-end LED TV may cost £400 if the customer elects to commit to buy as soon as the product’s announced, but by the time it’s stocked in a warehouse ready for delivery it may cost £530. So the customer gets £130 off the end price (which Kogan says is already market leading) by taking the risk of buying early, generally a couple of months before the product is ready. The interest lost by the consumer buying early is much less than the discount but Kogan has less risk in manufacturing the product. If things do go wrong the customer can still get their money back. Though Kogan says LivePrice’s structure is transparent, it doesn’t publish the algorythms behind it – that’s their ‘secret sauce’ – but it should work across all their product lines. Will LivePrice take off?It’s a clever model which adopts crowd sourcing for product selection and now adds crowd funding. If enough people do buy into it, it means Kogan needs very little external financing (and financing these days is expensive) so they can keep prices low. However the model depends on lots of early buyers in order to get the big discounts. Though Kogan does make high quality products, the question is whether their name is good enough against the traditional consumer electronics giants. Would you buy a TV from Kogan or a similarly spec’ed but higher priced version from say Samsung? Maybe in these economically hard times people will and Kogan could be on to something. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| iOS 4.2 Cripples iPad Camera Connection Kit [TNW Apple] Posted: 03 Dec 2010 10:59 PM PST Just as we’re all enjoying multitasking, app folders, and a host of other goodies in iOS 4.2 on our iPads, it seems that Apple threw us a bit of a curveball. Turns out that in iOS 4.2 the dock connector port now only puts out 20 mA to the USB interface (compared to 100 mA before). Sounds good at first right? That means devices can’t draw as much power from your iPad (especially that connector is how it also gets power in the first place) when connected. Yeah, except that this also now the iPad Camera Connector kit‘s USB connector doesn’t work with many … cameras. Yep, according to 9to5Mac the change seems to have kinda snuck in. So when you connect a camera to your iPad using the USB connector you might get this message:
Oh by the way, that’s my iPad and trying to connect my wee Samsung point-n-shoot to my iPad. Yep, it’s a problem alright. So, I also tested my Nikon D300 (a much DSLR), and since it uses CF cards, using the SD reader wouldn’t be an option for this camera (the point-n-shoot uses SD cards). It worked. Yep, I guess either the D300 doesn’t need more than 20 mA from the iPad or it supplies enough of its own power from the larger battery to do the work (I suspect the later myself, since you can’t charge the D300 via USB, but you can charge my point-n-shoot that way). This problem doesn’t just mess with photogeeks like me, but also iPad owners who were using the USB port for other devices like headphones, mics, and keyboards too. As it happens I used my Logitech USB headset with my iPad this week with no issues. I didn’t, however, try the mic, but I suspect that if there was going to be a problem I would have seen the above error message. Also tried my flexible USB keyboard and all I got was the usual “unsupported device” warning, and the keyboard worked as expected. Does Apple know about this? If so, they don’t have anything official up but, the problem is on forum posts on Apple.com and other sites as well, so I’m betting they do. Will another iOS update (4.3) fix this? It certainly could since everything was fine in 3.2.2. The rational seems fine, but the real-life outcome is kinda harsh for people who bought the camera connector kit to, well, connect their camera. There are some work arounds that I’ve read:
Let us know in the comments what your experiences are and which cameras do, and don’t, work with the new 20 mA limit.9to5Mac, photo credit [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| PayPal Cuts Off WikiLeaks’ Cash Flow [TNW Media] Posted: 03 Dec 2010 09:29 PM PST
PayPal’s blog post, was short and sweet. No political statements or the rest, just “you violated the TOS so you’re out”. Pretty cut and dry there. One of the options that Julian Assange has had for receiving donations has been through PayPal, it looks like that door has been closed. And this isn’t the first time that WikiLeaks has run afoul of PayPal. Last January large influxes of cash triggered money-laundering alarms and PayPal turned off the account when they couldn’t get an answser about what WikiLeaks was doing. It sounds like this might be the final chapter with WikiLeaks and PayPal this time.BusinessWeek [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| How, When, & Why to reset the PRAM & SMC on your Mac [TNW Lifehacks] Posted: 03 Dec 2010 09:09 PM PST
First, before I get into the hows, whys, and wherefores of resetting the SCM and PRAM, remember…while these are generally safe things to do (and the instructions are freely available on Apple’s support section), make sure you have a recent back up and critical stuff is backed up on an external drive or USB key or something. Also I’d disconnect all drives, speakers, external displays and keyboards before you try this stuff. It’s a good step to make sure nothing interferes with the resetting process. Now on with the show… Resetting the PRAM Since the dawn of Macs we’ve had what is called the PRAM—parameter RAM (you can say it like pee-ram or pram, doesn’t matter)—which stores stuff like this (from Apple support):
Yeah, this is kind of “core” stuff and sometimes strange values get written there or corrupted or something and weirdness ensues. Even back in my beginning tech support days, zapping the PRAM (we were too cool to call it “resetting”) was one of those “okay let’s see if this helps” if the solution to a problem wasn’t obvious. Hey, sometimes it did work. Sometimes the PRAM does get wonky, hence why you need to reset it now and again. For the record, I don’t just reset my PRAM for kicks and giggles. I think I needed to do it over a year ago…and yes, it did fix the problem. Here’s how to reset your PRAM:
When you log back in, you’ll probably will have to adjust your mouse speed, time and date/timezone, and a few other things, but otherwise you should be good to go. Back in the day, we would often let the PRAM zap several times (like 2 or 3) to make sure it was clear. Sometimes, in fact, the machine needed that kind of kick in the pants to clear everything out. However, today’s Macs seem to be good to go with a one shot zap, so no worries there. Resetting the SMC The companion to the PRAM is the SMC (system management controller) and is only for Intel-based Macs and it stores/manages/controls a lot more interesting things than the PRAM:
Although Apple suggests reseting the PRAM first, I’ve found that often reseting the SMC does the magic. Truth be told if I’m resetting one, I usually just go ahead and reset the other as well. Heck, if your Mac is being strange, just give it the full on kick in the pants, don’t go half way. The instructions for resetting your SMC depend on three things:
If you have a MacBook, MacBook Pro, etc that you can remove the battery from here is what you do:
For MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, and MacBooks where you can’t remove the battery on your own, here’s what you do:
Note that you keep the MagSafe in for MacBooks that have the built-in battery and out for MacBooks where you can pull the battery out. For Mac Minis, Mac Pros, iMacs, and Xserves (really on a server?):
That’s it. Really. Lots of steps for something that will take, oh, 10 seconds to do. However resetting the PRAM and SMC are often not only the cure for Mac wonkiness, but also the only solution to problems with AirPort, batteries, and power. Now, remember…just back up that Mac so when your Mac does start having a bad day you’re not in an absolute panic. Resetting your PRAM (Apple), Resetting your SMC (Apple), photo credit [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Blizzard China GM Leaves After Massive Info Leak [TNW Apps] Posted: 03 Dec 2010 09:02 PM PST
There isn’t much additional information at this time and Blizzard is denying the change at the top has anything to do with the leak. We’ll keep an eye and ear out for more information on this and update here if we learn more.BGR, MMOGamesite, photo credit [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Is this a photo of the new Chrome OS netbook keyboard? It has a SEARCH key. [TNW Google] Posted: 03 Dec 2010 05:27 PM PST
The folks over at Engadget has posted an interesting photo that they believe is the keyboard on board Google’s rumored Chrome OS netbook that likely will be unveiled at an event next Tuesday in San Francisco. At first glance, it appears to be an ordinary keyboard. Look again though. There is a key on the left hand side there, above Shift and below Tab that says Search. That’s of course in the place where the Caps Lock key usually resides. Let the speculating begin. And in less exciting news, there are also forward and back keys placed right up above the row of numbers. The tipster that sent the photo in claims that Google’s netbook is going to be headed to shelves on December 14th, 7 days after Google’s Chrome OS event so it looks like Tuesday might just be an announcement and not a full-fledged launch. Whatever the case may be, we’ll find out in just a few short days and we’ll be there to cover the action for you from the event itself. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Osfoora for Mac Sneak Peak-Desktop Twitter Clients Still Hot [TNW Apple] Posted: 03 Dec 2010 05:27 PM PST According to MacStories and some screen shots of “a pre-alpha” version, iOS Twitter client Osfoora is making the jump to the desktop:
In a world dominated by a few big Twitter clients (TweetDeck and HootSuite come first to mind), Osfoora making a jump to the desktop (soon after Weet for Mac emerged in beta form) is a good sign that developers think they can offer something new and interesting to the Twitter apps market. I think Twitter apps are going to quickly fall into two categories: those for people like us at TNW and other info junkies (following lots of people or lots of lists) who need columns and tabs and as much info in front of us as our screens and eyeballs can handle; and those for the majority of Twitter users who follow a few hundred people at most and a nice, clean Twitter client one their desktop will beat using the website. So, sure, I couldn’t live in a one column, one account, no tabs world, but a lot of people I know could and might like to try an app for Twitter. If the price is right. No word on how much Osfoora might cost, but the iOS apps are $3 for iPhone and $4 for iPad/HD version. Would you buy a Twitter app? Would ad-supported or freemium be more to your liking? Ah, the challenge that faces all developers.MacStories, Dribble (screenshots) [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Windows Phone 7 copy and paste gets described in detail [TNW Microsoft] Posted: 03 Dec 2010 04:57 PM PST
One developer has taken it upon himself to describe one of the biggest features of the update, that of course being copy and paste, something Windows Phone 7 adopters are eagerly awaiting. Here’s what this dev told WMPoweruser about the feature:
Unfortunately, we weren’t treated to anything beyond how the copy and paste function works (sadly no video), so the conspiracy theories about this “massive” WP7 update should continue to flow in until January.Image Credit [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Groupon reportedly rejects Google’s offer, possibly looking to IPO [TNW Industry] Posted: 03 Dec 2010 04:38 PM PST
Since this is the Chicago Tribune and Groupon is based in Chicago, this could be a pretty reliable report. Of course, the rumors have been swirling for about two weeks that Google had made an offer to Groupon – first we heard for somewhere around $2.5 billion, then it went up to $5.3 billion with a $700 million buyout option. Whatever the price that Google eventually offered Groupon, the still very young startup reportedly didn’t think it was worth it. This must have been an extremely hard decision, since no one – no one – scoffs at $6 billion. However, Groupon must have done a lot of thinking about what it could be worth on the open market, and if it keeps up anywhere near the pace that it has been, when/if it decides to go public – the Tribune says it will possibly make that decision in 2011 – it could very well end up being worth multiples of $6 billion. Or of course, someone else – possibly Google itself – could swoop in and take its crown before it ever has the chance to go public. That’s the risk Groupon just reportedly took. However, there is certainly one thing that separates Groupon from many other hot startups out there – it is raking in cash, which was certainly the main reason that Google want it – badly. The acquisition, if it had gone through at the highest reported figure, would have been Google’s largest to date, nearly twice as much as it paid for DoubleClick and four times that of what it paid for YouTube. Interestingly, just as this news from the Tribune broke, All Things Digital, which has been reporting on the talks since the beginning, now says that sources have told it that Groupon is actually going to bring in $2 billion this year – not the much lower, though still very impressive $500 million that many people have assumed. If that revenue is accurate, then we’re guessing the decision to not sell to Google might have been a bit easier than most believed. Also, turning down the offer helps to explain a bit why Groupon continues to make acquisitions of its own, including these in Asia. We will email both Google and Groupon for comment. So, what do you think? Smart move or will this come back to haunt Groupon if it’s true? UPDATE 1: TechCrunch is saying that it has confirmed “with a source with knowledge of the deal” that Groupon has turned down Google’s offer AND that the company is looking at $2 billion run-rate, though of course it shares money with the businesses it is promoting, and we’re unsure whether how Groupon counts that. We still have not received word from either company after emailing them for comment. UPDATE 2: Google got back to us, unsurprisingly saying, “Unfortunately, we don’t comment on rumor or speculation.”Chicago Tribune, All Things Digital [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Vodafone and China Telecom team up to offer SIM cards that cut worldwide roaming fees [TNW Mobile] Posted: 03 Dec 2010 04:12 PM PST
According to a press release, the SIM cards will save users an average of 50% off their roaming charges on networks in most countries, with deep discounts of up to 70% in “major countries” (whatever that means) including the US, France, Japan and Germany. The highest discount the report mentions is 81%, but it doesn’t say in what market that occurs. Of course, those are the numbers that Vodafone and China Telecom are pushing, and we have no idea how accurately that will be reflected on your final bill, but its an interesting idea anyway, and anything that helps you avoid those really roaming charges is certainly a blessing.Press release [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Finally. A high quality video of the Playstation Phone. [TNW Mobile] Posted: 03 Dec 2010 04:04 PM PST We’ve seen it on video before but never as clear as the video that Engadget got a hold of today. What you see above there is Sony Ericsson’s upcoming device that is right now codenamed, Zeus Z1 aka the PlayStation Phone. Inside the video, you can see the PlayStation branding as clear as day, so that should put to rest any doubts any of you might of had about its capabilities. Other than that little tidbit though, not much else is revealed. Now that this video is out though, don’t be surprised to see this thing pop up all over the place in the near future.Image Credit [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Grooveshark launches new HTML 5 interface, still doesn’t work on iPad [TNW Apps] Posted: 03 Dec 2010 03:57 PM PST
The company has just released a slick new HTML 5 interface that can replace its older Flash brother, but still has some issues being compatible around the device world. Sure, HTML 5 is cool, but the switch from Flash to HTML 5 is only really neat when you get to use the HTML 5 interface where the Flash version failed, right? You know, like on your iPad. The only problem is that this newfangled HTML 5 Grooveshark does not work on your iPad. Or your iPhone. Or your, well, you get the idea. Have some proof, this taken from one of our iPads:
Why doesn’t it work? Because while the interface will (mostly) load using HTML 5, music playback itself still requires Flash. So close, right? We suggest that you check out the new interface, but just don’t expect to start using Grooveshark in new places. Ever since their iPhone app was pulled, we have been aching to use Grooveshark in new places to no avail. Perhaps the team will eventually get us there. For now, no dice.Lifehacker [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| The TNW Microsoft Week: Angry Birds, Homebrew, and Windows Phone 7 [TNW Microsoft] Posted: 03 Dec 2010 02:35 PM PST
We’ll say this one last time: this is a weekly post that we will do for the foreseeable future, so we want your input. If you want to see something different, changed, tweaked, or added to this post, let us know in the comments or by email [alex@thenextweb.com]. That aside, let’s get into it. Everyone Is Angry Over A Lack Of Angry BirdsWhen we brought out the news that Angry Birds was not going to be coming to WP7 this calendar year, we assumed that a few people would care, that it would not become a major story. We were wrong. People flocked to the post and complained bitterly on Twitter. One individual even claimed that he was not going to buy a WP7 handset over the issue. That is some serious dedication. Will the app eventually hit the marketplace? Of course, it is just a question of when. Let’s All Hack Microsoft
We loved the sentiment and the action, saying:
Points to Microsoft for letting people tinker, which brings us to our next point… The Kinect Just Keeps Killing ItMicrosoft sold 2.5 million Kinects in just 25 days they told the world on the 30th, plush with pride. That means that every since the launch of the device, Microsoft has been moving around 100,000 units each and every day. Forget the boring numbers though, take a look at two Kinects working together to produce real time 3D images. Admit it, you are impressed! A Windows Phone 7 RoundupLet’s see, “The first Windows Phone 7 update will be minuscule, not massive,” “Good news: The Dell Venue Pro is here in only a week, and for just $99,” “It's true: No Windows Phone 7 developer payouts from Microsoft until February,” “This is by far the best way to search for Windows Phone 7 apps,” and “HTC: We won't know if Windows Phone 7 is a success until 2011.” Goodbye Apple TV?
We won’t reiterate all our arguments here, but let it suffice to say that if Microsoft does roll out a subscription TV option for Xbox 360 owners, the Apple TV should go right back to what it was before: a hobby for Apple. Silverlight 5 ComethThe Silverlight wars burn on and on, but this week Microsoft has finally managed to get ahead of the news cycle. The company rolled out its plans for Silverlight 5 in all its glory, something that was sure to assuage the most ruffled feathers in the Silverlight development community. We took a few hours and dug through all the information on the topic, and all the past history around the controversy, and came up with what we think is the proper road map for Silverlight 5 inside of the world of Microsoft. We could go on, but we won’t. Be sure to follow us on Twitter to stay up to date at all times. Right, see you all soon.Top Image Credit [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| LimeWire is dead, will shut down this month for good [TNW Industry] Posted: 03 Dec 2010 02:22 PM PST
The company released the following statement:
The RIAA has long been after the file sharing service, now finally getting its way. This shutdown will of course have little impact on the global world of digital piracy, but it may jerk a nostalgic tear from anyone who used LimeWire back in its heyday. By the end of its life, LimeWire was not frequented by any of the technorati, but was instead a mass-market tool used by average browsers to grab whatever the wanted on the sly. That popularity did not help it survive. LimeWire was told by a court to cease operations in October, seemingly sealing the fate of the company. That stop did however give quite a push to BearShare, a similar service. RIP LimeWire, you fought hard.
One last note, the actual P2P network that ran underneath LimeWire does in fact live on. Gnutella, its name, can still be accessed by products like Frostwire among others. While we do not anticipate their survival in the long term, it may provide a temporary home for LimeWire refugees. Thanks to Kieran for the tip. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Google Confirms Chrome Event For December 7th [TNW Google] Posted: 03 Dec 2010 02:10 PM PST Well, it looks like those rumors earlier were true because Google has begun sending out invitations for a Chrome event that is scheduled to take place on December 7th in San Francisco. Engadget has received an invitation for an event that apparently is going to be bringing some “exciting news about Chrome.”
Of course, the invitation gives no clues as to what the Goog will be announcing but those earlier rumors suggest that they will be unveiling a Google branded, Chrome OS netbook of some sort that will apparently will be limited to around 65,000 units. Google will also apparently make clear their plans for the highly anticipated Chrome App Store, support for which just popped up in the stable build of Chrome 8 that was released yesterday. Pretty exciting stuff and we only need wait a couple of days to find out what Mountain View has up their sleeve. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Digg adds onsite notifications and additional email notifications in latest update [TNW Apps] Posted: 03 Dec 2010 02:05 PM PST
Digg’s new release is centered around the expansion of the current notification options. This initial update is comprised of additional email notification options as well as the ability to receive onsite notifications. Here is how both of these work, let’s start with the email notifications: the update allows users to keep tabs on stories that followers have also taken action on. For instance, you post a story and a follower comments or Diggs said story, you then receive an email telling you so. This is highly customizable and you can check out the host of options here. If you’re not a fan of email delivery and you prefer to get updated on the site itself, well, now you can do that too. The second feature that Digg has added to V4 is onsite notification. As you can see in the photo below, there is now a little broadcast icon in the top right corner that will display any new notifications you get in number form. When you click on that little icon, it will bring up a drop down menu that shows you the five most recent notifications with any new ones highlighted in yellow.
Simple and very effective, at least for me thus far. Now, this is just an initial roll out. Digg is prepared to make changes based on feedback it gets from users, so if you see something wrong or you just feel like ranting, make sure you drop them a line. They’ve also made it known that they are thinking about implementing some other notifications including:
Those, especially that comment thread one, would likely prove to be especially useful. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Posted: 03 Dec 2010 12:24 PM PST
Please see updates at the bottom of the post. According to our good friends at Engadget, Google is finally going to let loose some details on what is around the bend for Chrome OS, and at the same time will release a Google branded Chrome OS netbook. If you just reached for your credit card, hang on, this netbook is most likely a limited release of a mere 65,000 units, many of which will go to Googlers and their selected friends. The judgement day is supposedly set for December 7th, in the midst of AllThingsD’s event ‘Dive Into Mobile.’ It could be that Google is going to use that forum as its launch pad for the netbook and most recent (but still beta and buggy) Chrome OS build. We have been fans of the Chrome OS idea ever since Google first brought it to light, and this next step has us giddy. Of course this implies that devices that will eventually ship to consumers are going to come long after the holiday season. Google does not seem content to let rumors and speculation continue that the mobile platform has been shunted to the side by Android tablets. When they come out, will you buy a Chrome OS tablet? Yes, that image is ‘shopped. Update: According to MediaMemo, Google is also going to be giving everyone a peek of what is in stock for the upcoming Chrome App Store on the 7th. Second Update: TechCrunch has an email from Google themselves concerning the forthcoming app store. It is a must read, we have pasted it below:
[Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Survey: iPhone now accounts for 23% of business smartphones [TNW Mobile] Posted: 03 Dec 2010 12:15 PM PST
The survey, conducted by COMScore, suggests that Apple’s smartphone now accounts for almost a quarter of business smartphones, another sign that RIM is losing its iron grip on the market that it used to dominate. Back in October, quarterly business and consumer sales of the iPhone passed RIM and BlackBerry for the first time. Apple sold 14 million devices and RIM sold about 12 million BlackBerrys. That of course led Steve Jobs to remark that Apple had passed RIM and that he didn’t see them catching up anytime soon. As for the rest of the mobile world, Google and its Android platform sit at 12%, Microsoft and Windows Mobile/Windows Phone 7 sit at 9%, Palm and webOS at 3%, and Symbian at 2%. COMScores’s survey is based on two months of data and because the data is there first in terms of business smartphone use, there didn’t include any trends. The survey also doesn’t factor in consumers who use their personal smartphone for business. Instead, the data centers around business professionals whose companies either fully or partially pay their smartphones bill.Image Credit [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Mint, the king of personal finance, has finally come to Canada [TNW Canada] Posted: 03 Dec 2010 11:41 AM PST
No more. Mint has come to Canada in a big way, opening the door for everyone in the Great North to pile on in and track their personal finances. Mint had this to say on the matter:
Mint was acquired last year by Intuit for some $170 million dollars, bringing the startup new status among personal finance gurus around the world. Mint has been praised for its simple personal finance goal setting and financial reporting, allowing even the most backward individuals insight into their spending and how they can control it. What are you waiting for? Go get started! [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Viacom Appeals YouTube Copyright Ruling [TNW Industry] Posted: 03 Dec 2010 11:09 AM PST
The appeal had been expected since all the way back in June when courts tossed Viacom’s copyright infringement lawsuit against YouTube and Google. In that lawsuit, Viacom attempted to obtain more than $1 billion in damages asserting that YouTube had essentially built their website while ignoring rampant piracy. Some of that pirated content, according to the lawsuit, was from Viacom owned outlets including Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and MTV. The judge overseeing the suit decided that YouTube couldn’t be held liable because they had taken down the content quickly after being notified of the copyright violations. That ruling led to the decision that Viacom made today, a sign that the fight in which there have been some interesting shots thrown back and forth between the companies is far from over. The first briefings from Viacom essentially stated that Google knew, before they bought it, that YouTube was based chiefly off of pirated content. They also claimed that Google had the means to prevent this copyright infringement but failed to act and instead, turned a blind eye and filled their vaults with the proceeds. YouTube fired back saying that Viacom had been uploading videos, sometimes even secretly, to the website for years and that their actions defeated their entire point. They also pointed out that if the website was such a pirated site, then why had Viacom made several attempts to buy it? Then, in June, a federal judge ruled in favor of Google and YouTube on the grounds that the website was protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a law from 1998 that protects online sites like YouTube from liability if they remove the copyrighted content upon request. Viacom’s appeal today contends that the judge misinterpreted this law. Since then, Google has made some changes to its copyright policy and just yesterday announced that over the next few months, they will be able to respond to copyright requests on sites such as YouTube in 24 hours or less. And in response to the possibility that Viacom might appeal, a Google spokewomen remarked to the Wall Street Journal that:
In other words, expect to hear about this for a long time to come. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
Earlier this week, the 
Well, there you go – according to the 
Earlier this week, Vodafone and China Telecom, China’s third largest mobile provider, 
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