Meet the Newest Member of YouTube’s Billion Views Club: Eminem

Muhammad Saleem is a social media consultant. Follow him on Twitter for more social media commentary.

Eminem is quickly becoming a digital force to be reckoned with. On Presidents Day, the rapper became only the third artist to reach 1 billion views on YouTube.

Last October, when Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber were racing to 1 billion views on YouTube (which Lady Gaga won by a margin of two weeks), third-place competitor Michael Jackson was hovering around 600 million views. Since then, the needle hasn’t moved much for the King of Pop, who now tallies more than 630 million views. Eminem sneaked in and beat Michael Jackson as well as other formidable contenders such as Rihanna, Shakira and Britney Spears to 1 billion views.

This accomplishment shouldn’t come as a surprise to industry watchers. Eminem, along with Nicki Minaj and Rihanna, topped Billboard’s Social 50 in 2010, a ranking of the most active artists on social media platforms. This week, he ranks No. 5. Furthermore, Eminem has more than 3 million Twitter followers and almost 29 million Facebook Fans, and was recently featured in multiple, well-received Super Bowl commercials.

2011 is already off to a good start, but 2010 was a banner year for Eminem both emotionally (he kicked his drug habit) and musically. Marking his return from a string of albums that were commercially successful but largely considered critical flubs, his latest album, Recovery, landed him yet another No. 1 on the Billboard 200 charts, selling 741,000 copies in its first week in the U.S. and more than 6 million copies worldwide to date. The album earned 10 Grammy nominations and two Grammy awards.

To celebrate this milestone, let’s take a look at some of the hottest music videos from the Detroit rapper. These three singles from Recovery are not only Eminem’s most viewed, but they also share a thematic element. “Love The Way You Lie” tells the tale of domestic abuse, “Not Afraid” deals with suicidal thoughts and “No Love” discusses bullying in schools (a point that became more topical with the recent incidents of gay-bullying).

Note: Video views are based on official counts and do not include numbers from video sites other than YouTube, or from channels other than the official Eminem YouTube/Vevo channel.

View As Slideshow » 1. Love The Way You Lie (feat. Rihanna)

Topping the list is the second single off Recovery. Produced by Alex da Kid with a catchy chorus written by Skylar Grey (sung by Rihanna), the song has been a blockbuster hit. Not only did it hold the number one position on the Hot 100 charts for 7 weeks in a row, the song has sold over 9 million copies worldwide.

Official View Count: 292,198,077 views (174K Likes)

While the first single off Recovery didn't perform as well, at over 200 million views and nearly 3.5 million downloads in the U.S. alone, it was a great way to start building the hype around his latest album. The single, which makes the necessary apologies for letting the fans down in the past, holds the distinction of being only the second hip hop single ever to debut at number one, after Diddy's "I'll Be Missing You."

Official View Count: 203,290,494 views (10K Likes)

Recorded and filmed before Lil Wayne headed off to serve his prison sentence, the third single from Recovery is the third time the two rappers have collaborated and starred in a music video together. While not commercially as successful as the first two singles, "No Love" gained critical support as its release coincided with a string of bullying-related teen suicides. The message offered hope to struggling youth.

Official View Count 46,712,695 views (147K Likes)

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YouTube says it's in talks to stream NHL, NBA games, NHL says it isn't

By Richard Lawler posted Feb 23rd 2011 3:17PM Currently, sports is one of the main things that's tough to stay connected to if you choose not to subscribe to traditional linear pay-TV service like cable or satellite, so it's no surprise there was much ado over Gautam Anand, Google Director of Content Partnerships for Asia Pacific, saying the company is negotiating to broadcast NHL and NBA games on YouTube. However, the key words in Bloomberg's report of the statement are "for Asia Pacific," and while the NHL flat out denied any discussions, the NBA merely noted it was "pleased that YouTube recognizes the value of live sports." YouTube already airs games from the Indian Cricket Premier League, and PaidContent's Staci Kramer has learned talks centered around the possibility of airing NBA games -- but only in Asia. It's doubtful, if not ludicrous, to think TNT or ABC/ESPN would let hoop games escape from cable to the internet like free agents to South Beach and while leagues could see potential in new international broadcast models, don't expect to see things changing in the US anytime soon.

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Keen On… Anthony Wood: The Inventor of Personal Video Recorder on the Future of TV (TCTV)

Meet the man who killed the television industry. In the mid Nineties, while he was looking at a Fry’s ad, Anthony Wood invented the personal video recorder (PVR). From this epiphany, Wood founded ReplayTV in 1997, a PVR company which, for a short while, gave TiVO a run for its money.

But Wood not only invented the PVR, he also helped kill it. In 2002, after leaving ReplayTV, Wood founded Roku, a self-styled “cable killer” hardware company which provides a box for accessing on-demand video.

Almost ten years after founding Roku, Wood really is starting to scare the traditional cable industry. He’s already sold a million Roku boxes and streamed a billion minutes of content from Roku devices. And this year, Wood expects to sell a million and a half boxes, thus making Roku, Wood says, the 10th largest cable company in the US.

And that’s just the beginning. Wood’s goal is to control video access to the world – to be the “one box that rules them all.” The $100 billion question, however, is whether Roku can compete with Google and Apple when these giants really focus on refining the hardware that links the Internet with our screens.

So, will Roku, like ReplayTV, be a footnote to 21st century video content, or can it really be the box that rules them all?

How Wood invented the PVR while looking at a Fry’s ad

Why Roku is a cable killer

Will Apple kill Roku?

Why social TV won’t work

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AT&T's brewing HSUPA-gate: the inside story

By Chris Ziegler posted Feb 23rd 2011 2:28PM Though it really came to a head with the recently-launched Inspire 4G, users have noticed that there really aren't many phones in AT&T's stable that deliver stellar upload speeds -- the Atrix 4G is suffering the same sub-megabit performance, as are older devices that should seemingly support HSUPA like the Samsung Captivate.

We've chatted in the past few days with a source who offers an interesting explanation: AT&T currently requires that all handsets that it sells "handshake" with the network as 3GPP Release 5 devices, the last official set of 3G specifications that lacked support for HSUPA. That feature -- also known as EDCH, or FDD Enhanced Uplink -- was added in Release 6. Though AT&T is apparently working on permitting the bulk of its handsets to handshake Release 6, presently only the iPhone 4 (and presumably all of its recent data devices like USB modems, which may also use Release 7) are allowed. Neither we, nor our source, know why this is. Our source believes that the Release 6 certification may happen within a "month or two," which would explain why some AT&T sales reps in live HSPA+ areas are telling customers that the "4G network" isn't live yet.

You can form your own conclusions as to why AT&T might be imposing this arbitrary limitation, but we do know that "enhanced" backhaul figures prominently into the company's 4G story; there may be concerns that flipping on HSUPA for everyone right now would overwhelm its legacy infrastructure. At any rate, it sounds like this could all be solved soon through a combination of network changes and possibly firmware updates for individual devices, so let's keep our fingers crossed.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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HOW TO: Change Your Business Model From Paid to Freemium

Umberto Milletti is the CEO of InsideView, the social CRM application which brings comprehensive sales intelligence gained from social media and traditional sources directly into any CRM platform for increased sales productivity and revenue.

Much has been written on the pros and cons of the freemium model by Mark Cuban, Malcom Gladwell and Chris Anderson, among others. Rather than debate, this post is a guide to how you can actually implement the freemium model for your business if and when you get to a point of serious consideration. I can share some of the unique experiences from our own business and how we switched from paid to freemium and whether it makes sense for your company.

First question: Does freemium make sense if you already have a healthy paid-only revenue model? The answer is almost always “yes.” I know you’re thinking time is precious and often limited, but ask yourself, “What position would I be in if someone offered a free product that competed with mine?” If you are in the software or information business, the odds that it will happen are pretty good. Sure, it might not be as good as your product, but is it good enough to siphon customers?

We’ve seen this movie before, with enterprise software vendors ignoring SaaS and open–source technologies under the belief that they would not penetrate the enterprise. (Ten years ago PeopleSoft’s CEO famously declared “Marc Benioff is trying to get in the big leagues with a Wiffle ball and plastic bat.” That bat is looking a lot like maplewood now.) The freemium model is creating similar disruption in the enterprise software and information markets.

Upfront, it is much harder for a company moving from a paid product to go freemium (Paid2Freemium) than it is for a company that initially offered a free product. For the latter it’s a matter of survival, while the former usually has a solid business and thus, much more to lose. It is analogous to traditional software companies having a very difficult time shifting to SaaS because of the revenue-recognition impact to their existing model. But in addition to protecting a business from the above-mentioned attacks by a competitor with a free offering, a well-tuned enterprise freemium model can actually bring tremendous sales and marketing benefits: Low-cost, potentially viral adoption, and upsell starting points.

Here are some areas that prospective Paid2Freemium companies should explore:

You can’t afford to have a free version of your offering if it’ll cost you an arm and a leg to support those free users. You need to think about the delivery costs (including IT), support costs and any setup costs incurred by your organization. If you realize free will cost you too much, you have the option to define the free version of your product to be cheap to delivery, easy to support and set up (free users don’t expect a complex application anyway).

If your product doesn’t have momentum, you should probably wait before introducing a free product. You don’t want lots of free users out there bad-mouthing your product because the user experience wasn’t so great. The bar for product quality is actually higher for free products than it is for paid products (which might seem counterintuitive). Some end users might be forced into using a paid product because it’s company mandate. Those same users will not engage with a free product unless they like it, since there is no one to force them. One of the great side-benefits of having a free product is that it really forces you to focus on the user experience.

This is probably the hardest part, and probably one that will take a number of iterations to get right. You might always be tweaking the location of the upsell points that entice a free user to pay for your premium offering. Start with putting these upsell points in places where there is some value for the free user to need more and it’s evident there will be an increase of value if they turn into a paid user. A good example is Skype, which allows you to freely make calls to other Skype users, but upsells you to a paid call when you want to dial physical phones.

You should, otherwise your management team and your board are asleep at the wheel. One of the main areas of concern will be the potential cannibalization of your revenue stream. Your sales organization is likely to be concerned about this point. There might be questions about marketing (“Will free diminish our brand?”), product development and IT (“We need a bazillion dollars to create a highly scalable product and infrastructure”), finance (“You can’t make money with free, it’s just a cost-suck.”)

This transition will require strong leadership and a core belief at the top (usually, the CEO). Otherwise the internal organizational antibodies will kill the free product before it’s had a chance to grow into your successful new business model.

If you do decide to experiment with a freemium model, it’s important that you view it as a long journey — not a project with an upfront start and a finish line. It is an experience that will either modify the DNA of your company, or will fail (which is fine, at least you’ll know the pitfalls that your future freemium competitors will encounter.) The DNA of a freemium company is quite different from that of a traditional B2B company and evolving will make you stronger. Have you experienced the successes or challenges of a freemium model for your B2B company? If so, please share your experience with us in the comments below.

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Image courtesy of Flickr, inggmartinez

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Readability Tries Again With Apple — Has The Subscription Policy Already Shifted?

A couple days ago, Readability was pissed off. In an open letter to Apple, they noted that the new subscription policy “smacks of greed”. And they threatened to abandon Apple’s platform in favor of the open web. This message resonated with many, as there’s a huge amount of unease about Apple’s new policy in the developer community. But now, just two days later, Readability has re-submitted their app to Apple for review. And apparently, a “love letter” to the company is forthcoming.

So why the change from war to peace? Has Apple’s policy already changed? Well, no — not yet, anyway. Readability’s Richard Ziade said his tweet was a “joke” and had this to say:

We did re-submit to Apple with an explanation of why we think they should approve Readability. We did not speak to anyone at Apple. We have no idea if they’ll approve it. We just explained ourselves as best we could through the appeal process.

So no good news yet, but there may be hope.

The reason for Readability initial outburst was because Apple rejected their app on the grounds that it didn’t use their in-app purchase system — the one that would require them to give 30 percent of their revenue to Apple. The company thought this was unfair and didn’t make a lot of sense because they think of themselves as a software as a service (SaaS) company that doesn’t actually sell content, but a service.

This matters because an email supposedly sent by Steve Jobs shortly after this incident claimed that the subscription rules were meant for “publishing apps, not SaaS apps”.

This is a bit of a gray area because Readability does sort of serve up content, but it’s not their content, it’s re-purposed content. Still, Apple taking 30 percent of their revenues would drastically alter their business model, and could have forced them to shut down, or simply not do an iPhone app.

How Apple approaches the app now post-Jobs comment will say a lot about their intentions for the policy going forward. As Ziade says, “stay tuned!”

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The 3 Biggest Stories in Tech, Dev & Social Media This Morning

Welcome to this morning’s edition of “First To Know,” a series in which we keep you in the know on what’s happening in the digital world. We’re keeping our eyes on three particular stories of interest today.

Apple To Unveil iPad on March 2?

Apple is holding an event in San Francisco on March 2, and sources say that the company is getting ready to unveil the newest version of its highly successful iPad tablet.

Android 3.0 SDK Now Available to All Developers

The full software development kit for Android 3.0 (a.k.a Honeycomb), the branch of Android aimed specifically at tablets, is now available to developers.

WikiLeaks Opens Up a Gift Shop

Aiming to raise funds for both the controversial website and leader Julian Assange’s legal defense fund, WikiLeaks has opened an online gift shop.

Further News

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, DNY59

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How Social Media Is Positively Impacting Our Culture [OPINION]

This post reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of Mashable as a publication.

Josh Rose is the EVP, digital creative director of ad agency Deutsch LA, who — when time permits — moonlights as a photographer. Follow him at @joshrose.

Two events today, although worlds apart, seem inextricably tied together. And the bond between them is as human as it is electronic.

First, on my way to go sit down and read the newspaper at my coffee shop, I got a message from my 10-year-old son, just saying good morning and letting me know he was going to a birthday party today. I don’t get to see him all the time. He’s growing up in two houses, as I did. But recently, as I handed down my old iPhone 3G to him to use basically as an iPod touch. We both installed an app called Yak, so we could communicate with each other when we’re apart.

The amount of calming satisfaction it gives me to be able to communicate with him through technology is undeniably palpable and human. It’s the other side of the “I don’t care what you ate for breakfast this morning” argument against the mundane broadcasting of social media. In this case, I absolutely care about this. I’d listen to him describe a piece of bacon, and hang on every word. Is it better than a conversation with “real words?” No. But is it better than waiting two more days, when the mundane moment that I long to hear about so much is gone? Yes.

I guess one man’s TMI is another man’s treasure.

Moments later, I sat down and opened the paper. A headline immediately stood out: “In China, microblogs finding abducted kids” with the subhead, “A 6-year-old who was snatched when he was 3 is discovered with a family 800 miles away.” Apparently, the occurrence of reclaimed children through the use of China’s version of Twitter — and other online forums — has become triumphant news over there. I’m reading about the father’s tears, the boy’s own confusing set of emotions, the rapt attention of the town and country, and I’m again marveling at the human side of the Internet.

I recently asked the question to my Facebook friends: “Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare … is all this making you feel closer to people or farther away?” It sparked a lot of responses and seemed to touch one of our generation’s exposed nerves. What is the effect of the Internet and social media on our humanity?

From the outside view, digital interactions appear to be cold and inhuman. There’s no denying that. And without doubt, given the choice between hugging someone and “poking” someone, I think we can all agree which one feels better. The theme of the responses to my Facebook question seemed to be summed up by my friend Jason, who wrote: “Closer to people I’m far away from.” Then, a minute later, wrote, “but maybe farther from the people I’m close enough to.” And then added, “I just got confused.”

It is confusing. We live in this paradox now, where two seemingly conflicting realities exist side-by-side. Social media simultaneously draws us nearer and distances us. But I think very often, we lament what we miss and forget to admire what we’ve become. And it’s human nature to want to reject the machine at the moment we feel it becoming ubiquitous. We’ve seen it with the printing press, moving pictures, television, video games and just about any other advanced technology that captures our attention. What romantic rituals of relationship and social interaction will die in the process? Our hearts want to know.

In the New Yorker this week, Adam Gopnik’s article “How the Internet Gets Inside Us,” explores this cultural truism in depth. It’s a fantastic read and should be mandatory for anyone in an online industry. He breaks down a whole slew of new books on the subject and categorizes it all into three viewpoints: “the Never-Betters, the Better-Nevers, and the Ever-Wasers.” In short, those who see the current movement as good, bad or normal. I think we all know people from each camp. But ultimately, the last group is the one best equipped to handle it all.

Another observation from the coffee shop: In my immediate vicinity, four people are looking at screens and four people are reading something on paper. And I’m doing both. I see Facebook open on two screens, but I’m sure at some point, it’s been open on all of them. The dynamic in this coffee shop is quite a bit more revealing than any article or book. Think about the varied juxtapositions of physical and digital going on. People aren’t giving up long-form reading, considered thinking or social interactions. They are just filling all the space between. And even that’s not entirely true as I watch the occasional stare out the window or long glance around the room.

The way people engage with the Internet and social media isn’t like any kind of interaction we’ve ever seen before. It’s like an intertwining sine wave that touches in and out continuously. And the Internet itself is more complex and interesting than we often give it credit for. Consider peer-to-peer networking as just one example, where the tasks are distributed among the group to form a whole. It’s practically a metaphor for the human mind. Or a township. Or a government. Or a family.

The Internet doesn’t steal our humanity, it reflects it. The Internet doesn’t get inside us, it shows what’s inside us. And social media isn’t cold, it’s just complex and hard to define. I’ve always thought that you really see something’s value when you try to destroy it. As we have now laid witness to in recent news, the Internet has quickly become the atom of cultural media; intertwined with our familial and cultural bonds, and destroyed only at great risk. I think if we search our own souls and consider our own personal way of navigating, we know this is as true personally as it is globally. The machine does not control us. It is a tool. As advanced today as a sharpened stick was a couple million years ago. Looked at through this lens, perhaps we should re-frame our discussions about technology from how it is changing us to how we are using it.

- Why Social Media Is Bringing Back Our Grandparents’ Values [OP-ED]
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- How Social Media Will Make the Smart Energy Grid More Efficient

Image courtesy of iStock, RichVintage.

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Want to write for us? Engadget is looking for a full-time, New York-based Editor

By Laura June posted Feb 23rd 2011 2:15PM Yes, it's true, Engadget is hiring. In fact, we're looking for a full-time editor. There are a few requirements which differ from our usual call for applications, so we wanted to state them up front: we're hiring a full-time, New York-based editor, and we want that person to have previous experience writing about technology professionally. We'd love to hear from you, so read on below to find out how to apply.

First up, a few requirements -- there are just a few, but they are absolute must-haves (as stated previously). You must live in the metropolitan New York area (or be willing to relocate here!).You must have experience writing about technology.If you do not meet these requirements, please DO NOT apply. We'll let you know when we're hiring for other positions.

About the position: This will be a full-time, salaried position, working for Engadget's parent company, AOL. This means health benefits and the whole nine yards. We can talk more about that once you've jumped through our hoops, but know up front that this is a job that requires almost endless dedication, a lot of hours, and a ton of work. You should also have good social skills, since you'll be required to attend meetings and maintain relationships with PR and company contacts.

To apply, send an application email with the following:
A resume (either in the body of the email itself or as an attachment is fine).A cover letter with links to your previous work.A few words about how you think Engadget differs from other technology news sites out there.If you have any questions, email lauraATengadgetDOTcom directly.
We also apologize, but the sheer volume of applications makes it difficult to respond to everyone. If we're interested we'll get in touch, and thanks in advance!

To apply to Engadget, please send us an email at jobsATengadgetDOTcom with the phrase "Spring jobs" (no quotes) in the subject!

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Joystickers: For When You Wish Your iPhone (Temporarily) Had More Buttons

The iPhone is great for gaming… in some ways. The App Store as a distribution model? Fantastic. The finely-tuned development platform? Amazing! The lack of even a single physical face button beyond the one that exits the application? Ehhh, not so great.

While most game developers have learned to make do in this frightfully buttonless world, there are some ideas that simply require buttons. This has lead to a rather staggering number of games that draw their controls onto the touchscreen — which, for anyone who witnessed the control pad’s evolution from the palm-destroying corners of the NES to the pampering curves of today’s consoles, is a fairly terrifying idea. Playing a fighter game on a slab of tactility-free glass? No thanks.

Enter Joystickers’ Classics — they’re removable, reusable, arcade-style buttons built to give the iPhone (or just about any touchscreen device) that little bit of extra game.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 hitting Vodafone Portugal in March for €699

By Joanna Stern posted Feb 23rd 2011 12:11PM We've been waiting for the pricing and availability pieces of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 puzzle, and a short press release from Vodafone Portugal seems to at least help fill out the edges. While we thought Vodafone's UK branch had exclusive dibs on the 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet, it looks like it will be hitting Vodafone Portugal first in March for €699. That's not exactly a bargain, but it's in line with the pricing of the other Android tablets overseas. Now, if only we knew more about when this one was going to learn English and hit the US. As always, we're digging as hard as we can on that one.

Updated: It looks like Vodafone Spain announced pricing last week, too. Our friends at Engadget Spanish report that the tablet will go for €349 on-contract sometime this spring.

[Thanks, The Wizard]

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The Daily coming to Android tablets this spring?

By Joanna Stern posted Feb 23rd 2011 6:11PM Been sick with jealousy over all those people reading The Daily on their iPads? Well, it looks like that could all end some time soon if AllThingD's PKafka has heard correctly. Apparently, News Corp's tablet-only magazine / newspaper will be heading to Android this spring (or some time in Q2). Considering the team has gotten quite a bit of help from Apple on the development side (word is Apple also rushed to help them fix some of the early bugs) and was the first to use Apple's new subscription service, that does seem a bit quick, but we're certainly not complaining about more apps coming to those Honeycomb tablets. We just hope the random crashes and slow load times are fixed by then.

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iBike Dash turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a cycling computer

IBIKE DASH CC WIRELESS CYCLING COMPUTER LAUNCHED FOR IPHONE & IPOD TOUCH

Works as Your Own Personal Fitness Trainer -- Low-Cost Intelligent Biking System
Calculates Heart Rate, Intensity, Speed, Calories, & Time to Safely Get You into Shape

Boca Raton, FL, February 22, 2011 -- Velocomp LLP, www.iBikeDash.com, a leading sports technology company and creator of the iBike® line of power meters, announced today the iBike Dash CC (Cycling Computer), a light-weight wireless bicycle computer system that turns any iPhone or iPod touch into your own personal fitness trainer. Priced starting at $199, the iBike Dash CC creates an entirely new category of interactive cycling devices, enhancing the cycling experience in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before to help you finally keep that New Year's resolution to get in shape!

Includes Free iPhone/iPod touch Bike App with Easy-to-Read High-Res Color Graphics & Animation

Easy to install, the compact (3.2 oz) iBike Dash CC takes your biking from leisure to fitness, helping you quickly reach your goals by measuring your speed, power, heart rate, wind speed, time, trip, elevation, and calories to become healthier and fitter. The iBike Dash CC includes a free iBike app available from the iTunes App Store at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ibike/id369550718?mt=8, which features customizable tools, from simple speedometers to work-out programs. The app is displayed on the iPhone or iPod touch screen with easy to read high-resolution color graphics and animation.

Dispels "No Pain, No Gain" Myth – "HR Pacing Meter" Tells Boundaries – Critical for Safe Training

Intelligent biking is all about sustaining your energy, so that you have more than enough left for the last few miles. Forget the "no pain, no gain" myth, the iBike Dash CC tells you how hard is too hard. Riding within your boundaries is critical for safe training, and with the iBike Dash CC's "HR Pacing Meter," you can see at a glance whether your heart rate in the right zone. The HR Pacing Meter determines your fitness level with 5 Heart Rate Color Zones from 50% to 100%. These zones indicate the degree of difficulty you will experience when cycling in each zone at your fitness level: from Blue (very light) to Red (very hard). Each of the zones address different goals, from losing weight in the bottom zones to improving fitness in the middle zones, to maximizing performance in the top zones. After regular exercise, you'll find you're able to exercise more comfortably in the upper zones and for longer times in the lower zones.

Use Optimal Cycling Effort to Burn Fat

iBike Dash CC also tells you when your cycling effort is optimal for burning fat; how many calories you're using during the ride, on all rides this week or all rides this month; what speed and distance you're traveling; and even where you are on your bike route. Also, iBike Dash CC can help you set some personal goals, measure your progress and allow you to adjust your performance as you enjoy your ride.

Virtual Co-pilot, Navigator, & Trainer -- All in One

"We'd all like to be fitter, healthier and lose some weight, but the truth is just riding your bike for
half an hour or so a day won't necessarily do it," said John Hamann, CEO, Velocomp. "With the revolutionary iBike Dash CC on your iPhone or iPod touch, you can take the next step, knowing how to manage your biking effort to the best effect to help you become fitter with an amazing cycling dashboard at your fingertips -- a virtual co-pilot, navigator, and trainer -- all in one."

iBike Dash CC Features:
50 power-based and Heart Rate (HR) zone workouts.
Includes ANT+ speed sensor with optional sensors for cadence and HR.
User customizable touch screens display cycling information in color with unique graphics and animation.
Features easy-to-read large fonts with back-light display for night-time viewing.
· iPhone's GPS, map, and weather capabilities operate seamlessly with the iDash, greatly enhancing the rider's experience.
· Power-based indoor trainer feature.
· Bike odometer.
Calendar feature keeps track of weekly cycling stats, including calories, miles and speed.
· HR Zone dial presents cycling exertion in an extremely intuitive manner.
· Easy-to-follow, on-screen instructions and instructional videos.
"Phone BoothTM" dashboard/case houses circuitry, keeps out water and absorbs shock.
Easy to install, use, and move from bike to bike.
No need for calibration.
Allows seamless hands-free calls using your iPhone and Bluetooth headset with no interruption to ride data collection.
Allows full use of touch screen, even while wearing cycling gloves.
A rechargeable/replaceable spare battery can be housed inside the "Phone Booth" to extend the
operating time of your iPhone/iPod touch.
· Compatible with all ANT+ speed, cadence and HR sensors.

Pricing & Availability

The iBike Dash CC is available immediately for iPhone and iPod touch, priced at $199 MSRP for the basic version and $329 MSRP for the advanced version with additional features (including cadence, HR, calorie measurement, battery and charger) through the Apple Store at: http://store.apple.com/us/product/H3828LL/A or Velocomp at: http://www.ibikesports.com/ibikestore.html. iBike Dash CC includes the holder, mount, wireless speed sensor, iBike app for iPhone or iPod touch, and iBike software for Mac and Windows desktop computers. For more information, see www.ibikedash.com.

About Velocomp - First to Deliver Advanced Power Measurement at a Consumer-Friendly Price

Velocomp, LLP is a leading sports technology company based in Boca Raton, Florida. The first in the bicycle industry to deliver advanced power measurement at a mainstream price, Velocomp is dedicated to
product breakthroughs in the areas of performance, measurement, design, and value. Launched in June
2006, thousands of iBike® power meters are being enjoyed worldwide. For more information, see www.iBikeSports.com.

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Motorola Xoom review

By Joshua Topolsky posted Feb 23rd 2011 9:00PM As we put rubber to road on our Motorola Xoom review, it's important to note that it was only a matter of time before the Android army delivered a proper iPad competitor. Moto's partnership with Google (and use of the 3.0 version of its mobile operating system, Honeycomb), has made that assumed inevitability a very serious reality. There can be little question that the Xoom is certainly a contender for the hearts and minds of potential tablet buyers in the market. Besides boasting that fancy new software (a completely redesigned experience masterminded by the man behind webOS, Matias Duarte), the Xoom is equipped with formidable hardware. The 1GHz, NVIDIA Tegra 2-based slate boasts a sizable 1GB of DDR2 RAM, 32GB of internal storage, a 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800 capacitive display, 3G connectivity (Verizon on our review unit), along with front and rear facing cameras, HD video capability, and loads of wireless options. Not only is the Xoom clearly competitive (and frankly, more stacked) than most of its competition, Motorola has attempted to futureproof the device by offering a free hardware upgrade down the road which will give the tablet access to Big Red's 4G LTE network. Of course, all this power comes with a cost... literally. With a list price off contract of $799, the Xoom is quite a pricey piece of technology to own. Still, with all that's packed inside -- and more importantly with what Google has done on the software side -- the Xoom could represent the next stage of tablet evolution. Is it time to take the plunge? Read on for our definitive answer in the full Engadget review!

The Xoom is a handsomely built tablet, though at a glance, you'll think you've seen this before. Maybe it's that little can be done within the constraints of the tablet form factor (or Motorola isn't really trying), but the general shape and build of the Xoom comes off looking just a teensy bit like the iPad's longer, more dangerous cousin. The back and sides of the device are a similar, machined metal (though Verizon's version is painted a matte black, which is a real fingerprint magnet), the corners are similarly curved, and the front is, of course, all screen. That's not to say the Xoom isn't good looking -- it is -- but there isn't much original going on with the general industrial design that's at play here. And that's okay by us.

At 9.8 inches wide by 6.6 inches tall (with a thickness of a half inch), the device isn't massive (albeit a little unwieldy when held in portrait), and its 1.5 pound weight gives it heft without killing your arms -- though it still strains your muscles a bit if you're holding the tablet up for an extended period of time.

The Xoom is clearly meant to be used in landscape mode more than portrait (though it can be rotated any way you prefer). If you're holding the tablet in that orientation, you'll find the front facing camera sitting dead-center between the Motorola and Verizon logos along the top of the glass display. On the left side of the device, there are two volume buttons; along the top is a slot for a future LTE SIM and microSD card (more on that in a moment); on the bottom you'll find a Micro USB and mini HDMI jack, along with dock sensors. Around the back of the device, Motorola has weirdly chosen to place the power / sleep button next to the camera lens and flash -- and those components are flanked by stereo speakers. We had a lot of issues with both the volume buttons and power button on the device; we found the volume keys difficult to find and use as they're extremely shallow and placed right next to a notch in the casing of the device. The power button was even worse; we didn't mind the placement so much, but like the volume buttons the single, small circle is extremely shallow -- and worse, it got stuck a number of times when we were using it! Instead of waking the device up or putting it to sleep, we were prompted to shut down the Xoom. Hopefully this is just a random issue with our unit, but it didn't give us warm and fuzzy feelings about the build quality.

As we said in the intro, the guts of the Xoom are more than competitive -- and performance on the device was really quite brisk. We did experience some slowdown when transferring files from our computer or jumping quickly between lots of apps, but we were blown away by the robustness and speed of applications like the browser and some of the included games. The general responsiveness of the UI and touch reaction was inline with the best the iPad exhibits. Besides that Tegra 2 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and 32GB of internal storage, the device is equipped with WiFi 802.11b/g/n (2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, Verizon's EV-DO Rev. A, along with GPS, a light sensor, and an accelerometer. As we said in the intro, the device can be upgraded to use Verizon's LTE network. That upgrade will come in the form of a hardware swap which either Verizon or Motorola will have to do, meaning your tablet will go into the shop at some point (at least, that's what Motorola reps told us). Strangely, there's a microSD slot present on the device, but it's non-functioning at this point. When we pressed Motorola, the company made it sound like it was waiting on a software update from Google to enable the slot. Very strange stuff. What that means for right now is that you can buy a 32GB tablet... and that's it.

The display on the Xoom is slightly larger than the iPad's 9.7-inch screen, and higher resolution (1280 x 800 to Apple's 1024 x 768). The aspect ratio is substantially different as well, meaning that the Xoom feels a lot longer (or taller) than the iPad. In general, we felt portrait use was slightly uncomfortable given the size, but not in any way a dealbreaker. Though the screen does look nice, pixel density seemed to suffer -- a situation that was particularly evident when using the Google Books application. Still, the Xoom's display is more than capable at making game and video content look clear and crisp. One note, however -- Motorola's auto-brightness controls seem a little extreme to us here, forcing us to manually adjust the brightness most of the time. Hopefully a software update will come along which softens the severity with which it dims the screen; it was simply too dark for our tastes.

On the sound side of things, the Xoom could produce reasonably clear audio at a mid-level volume, but cranking the tablet up created some pretty nasty distortion on basic sounds, like the email notifications. We had to reduce the volume a number of times when we felt that the levels were actually doing damage to the speakers; we're all for loud, but it seems like Motorola (typically very solid in the audio department) might have bitten off more than it could chew here.

Battery life on the Xoom was excellent. Beyond excellent, actually -- some of the best performance we've seen on a slate. Running a video on loop with the screen set at 65 percent brightness, we were able to get playback for nearly eight and a half hours (8:20 to be exact). Motorola claims up to ten, so we weren't far off the mark at all. We had a few background tasks going on, and both WiFi and 3G radios were active. We could easily see maximizing this if you're in airplane mode with a slightly lower brightness setting.

There's no question that it's nice to have a 5 megapixel camera and LED flash on the back of the Xoom, but we found little utility in actually having a decent shooter on a device of this size. It's hard to imagine a scenario where you're using the Xoom as your main camera. Besides looking ridiculous, it's not all that convenient to handle something this large when you're trying to snap away. Another issue is the sheer glare of the screen -- shooting in daylight proved to be a challenge, and sometimes we couldn't even see the display well enough to snap a photo.

That said, the rear camera produced relatively good looking photos -- about the quality we've been seeing with the company's Atrix 4G -- though the interface in Honeycomb is about a million times better looking and more pleasant to use. Again, it is somewhat difficult to hold something of this size and take really steady shots, so we found the use of the Xoom as a camera almost completely impractical in most situations.

Video turned out well, and it's nice to be able to shoot 720p with a display of this size, though we did experience a few instances where the recording video stuttered or stopped completely -- and those defects were present during playback. The included Movie Studio software allows you to fairly easily edit your creations -- though it's by no means perfect -- but it was good of Google to include the package with this device (more on that in the software section).

As far as the front-facing camera goes, you should expect pretty standard stuff. We doubt you'll be using this for fashion shoots, but for hairstyling and video chats, it does the trick. Just the fact that it's there is pretty cool, really.

While the hardware of the Xoom is notable, it's not the real story. The real story is all about Android, and the next stage of its evolution -- namely Honeycomb. Version 3.0 of the mobile operating system represents a significant change for just about every aspect of the user interface, and some notable alterations under the surface as well. As we've extensively covered, UI wunderkind Matias Duarte left Palm to work for Google less than half a year ago, and seems to have immediately dived into the work that he does best -- reinventing user interfaces and user interaction for mobile devices.

The Honeycomb look and feel certainly has the work of a single mind written all over it -- while we know this is very much a team effort (something we discussed with Matias in our interview at CES), it's also clear that someone is steering the ship with far more resolve than ever before witnessed in this OS. From a purely visual standpoint, Android 3.0 comes together in a far more cohesive manner than any previous iteration of the software, and the changes aren't just cosmetic. Much of the obscurity in the OS and arcane functions of this software have been jettisoned or drastically changed, making for an experience that is far more obvious to a novice user... though we wouldn't exactly describe it as simple.

From a visual standpoint, we could most easily explain that Android 3.0 looks very much like the world of Tron. Think soft focus neon and cold, hard digital angles. A homescreen which phases between panels with a blue, ghosting glow that represents your last and next page. When you place items on the homescreens, you see a distant patchwork of grid marks, and a vector outline of where your icon or widget will eventually land. Even in the app list, you see electric blue representations of your icons before the icons themselves. The effect is angular, but the feel is still very human -- like a cross between the "chromeless" environment of Windows Phone 7, and the photorealism of webOS or iOS. It absolutely works. From the overall look and feel down to the method in which you get widgets onto your pages or change the wallpaper, everything is new here.

Unlike Apple and it's single-minded iOS, however, Android is still filled with variables and choices which make general navigation a learning process, and even though Honeycomb has made huge inroads to making that process simpler, it's not 100 percent there. The general vibe of Android is still present here -- you have a series of homescreens which are scrollable, and can be loaded up with a variety of application shortcuts, folders, shortcuts, and widgets. Unlike most mobile OSs, Honeycomb places the status bar along the bottom of the device, and then fills the left side of that bar with the constant pieces of navigation you'll use to get around the OS.

Yes, gone are the hardware buttons of yesteryear -- 3.0 replaces the familiar home and back buttons with virtual incarnations, then adds a couple of extra pieces for good measure. Along with those two main buttons, Honeycomb introduces a multitasking icon which pops open a list of recently used apps along with a snapshot of their saved state. The back button is also a little more dynamic in 3.0, shifting between a straightforward back key, and a keyboard-hider when necessary. If your app utilizes the menu key on Android phones, you get an icon for that as well. The home button will take you back to your main views, but it can't get you to your apps. Instead, Honeycomb introduces a new (and somewhat confusing) button -- an "apps" icon which lives in the upper right hand corner of your device. You might think that comes in handy, but you can only access your app pages from the homescreen of the tablet, meaning that you have to use a two step process to get to your app list. We're not totally clear on why this isn't another button that lives along the bottom of the device with the rest of the navigation, and frankly it proved confusing when we were trying to get around the Xoom quickly.

On the right side of that status bar are your battery and time indicators, along with a a pop-up area for notifications. The whole structure of the status bar feels weirdly like Windows. When you get a new email or Twitter mention, you're alerted in that righthand corner with an almost Growl-like box, which fades away quickly. When you tap on that space, you're given a time and battery window where you're also able to manage notifications (though strangely there's no option to clear all notifications). A settings button present there will also allow you to change your brightness and wireless settings, orientation lock, or jump to the full settings of the device. In all, it's a tremendously convenient piece of this new OS, but not a new OS trick by any means. The desktop feels alive and well in Honeycomb.

In applications like the browser -- which is now far more like a desktop version of Chrome (with proper tabs and all) -- you also get the sense that Google is taking a lot of cues from familiar places. Besides just offering bigger views and more real estate, there are drop down menus (located in the upper-right hand corner) and far more of the navigational items exposed. In fact, in all of the new native applications, there is no menu button present. All of the key elements of navigation are front and center, usually along the top of the app's display, which should make for an easier time when it comes to getting things done, but can create confusing situations. For instance, in Gmail, your items in the upper right of the app change based on the context; that's good for managing messages in one view, but creates some head-scratching moments in others. Worse, the back button (which you use frequently) is in the exact opposite corner, meaning that your gaze is constantly shifting between two places on the tablet -- two places that are furthest apart. The experience encourages a lot of eye-darting, which makes quickly managing tasks somewhat of a chore. We wish that Google had somehow combined the app navigation and tablet navigation into a more closely related space, so that instead of jumping from corner to corner, you were able to focusing on one place for operation of the app, and another for its content. We found ourselves having this same experience all over the Xoom.

On the plus side (and it is a big plus), the Xoom feels much more like a real netbook or laptop replacement. Being able to multitask in the manner Google has devised, having properly running background tasks, and real, unobtrusive notifications feels really, really good in the tablet form factor. Additionally, the fact that Google has included active widgets that plug right into things like Gmail makes monitoring and dealing with work (or play) much more fluid than on the iPad.

One other big note: a lot of the new software feels like it isn't quite out of beta (surprise surprise). We had our fair share of force closes and bizarre freezes, particularly in the Market app and Movie Studio. Most applications were fine, but there definitely some moments where we felt like the whole device was teetering on the brink of a total crash.

That said, there are some significant changes to stock applications and new additions to the family that we thought were worth a slightly deeper look, so here's a breakdown of what you can expect -- both old and new -- when you open the Xoom box.

We loved the browsing experience on the Xoom. The included app is (as we said) far more like a desktop version of Chrome, and if you're already using the software on your laptop or desktop, you'll feel right at home. Pages displayed quickly and cleanly on the tablet, though we have to admit that we're more than a little miffed that Flash support isn't present out of the box with the Xoom. Strange considering this is one of the real advantages Android devices have over Apple's offerings.

Despite our enjoyment, there were some maddening issues, like the fact that the browser still identifies as an Android phone, meaning most sites with a mobile view end up on your big, beautiful browser tab. Given how close this version is to the real Chrome, we're surprised Google wasn't a little more proactive about this.

Gmail has been completely redesigned for Honeycomb, and it's a big upgrade. We'd love to say that it's all rainbows and butterflies, but there are some nagging problems that come along with the changes, and we're hoping Google will clean it up a bit moving forward. The application seems to generally suffer from UI overload; there have always been a lot of hidden features in Gmail for Android, and now that those hidden elements are brought to the surface, it creates a feeling that you're never in a single place. As with other parts of the OS, we found ourselves jumping to and fro trying to locate UI elements and get work done. Adding confusion to this new layout is the fact that menus now change contextually based on what you've selected, which means that not only are you dealing with scattered navigational items, but those items can change on the fly while you're working.

Maybe we're just too addicted to Gmail as it is now, but this incarnation feels splintered to us.

It's about time... isn't it? The music app in Honeycomb has been completely, mercifully rethought, and it is stunning. As you can see in the above photo, gone is the amateurish and drab Android player. It's now been replaced with a dimensional, 3D interface that isn't just good looking, it's actually useful. There are 2D views when you jump into albums and playlists, but the flipbook navigation is actually not bad for finding your music. Unfortunately, the Xoom seemed to have trouble recognizing all of our album art, and there were some issues with album art doubling up (our Engadget podcast logo seemed to get glued to another album). Minor issues aside, we're impressed with the work Google has done here.
Like the Music app, YouTube has gotten a revamp here. Keeping in line with the 3D feel of the Honeycomb interface, you're presented with a wall of videos which you can pan through -- kind of like your own wall of TVs (if TV had nothing but clips of people dancing and / or injuring themselves). If you've always wanted to feel like Ozymandias from the final pages of Watchmen, here's your chance.

Playing videos was pretty much a standard YouTube experience... which unfortunately these days seems to mean watching for stuff to buffer. A lot.

We love the version of Google Talk present in Honeycomb. Not only does it provide clear, seamless integration with accounts you already use, but the way it utilizes both voice and video conversations is terrific.

The app itself is fairly straightforward, but it did take a little bit of head scratching before we figured out exactly how to move between voice, chat, and video. Our callers on the other end of the line said video quality was a bit on the low res side (see the photo above -- Xoom up top, MacBook Pro camera in the corner) even on WiFi. We're not sure why that would be the case, but hopefully it can be cleared up with some software tweaking.

Overall, however, the new Google Talk works in perfect harmony with the Xoom.

We had high hopes for Movie Studio -- a competitor to Apple's iOS version of iMovie. While the software is quite powerful, our experience with it was less than thrilling. Besides being generally sluggish, clip editing is kind of an obtuse affair. We were able to get some work done with it, but it doesn't seem to be nearly as straightforward as it should. More than once while using the app, we found ourselves waiting around for clips to redraw or playback video that seemed to stall out. We're not saying there aren't uses for the software, but it feels like it needs a revision or two before it's ready for prime time. And that's too bad... since the Xoom is in market right now.
There were a handful of applications that we had a chance to play around with which show off the Xoom (and Honeycomb's) capabilities. Google Body (an interactive, 3D body simulator), Pulse (a news reader, which you should know from its iOS incarnation), and games like Cordy all show that the Xoom and its OS are more than powerful enough to pull off iPad like experiences. Unfortunately, there just aren't many of those experiences available to users right now, and it doesn't seem like Google has gotten a big headstart on getting tablet titles into the Android Market.

There is a ton of promise on the software side for tablets running Honeycomb given the new access to 3D tools and system tweaking that Android allows, but right now it's a small island in a sea of phone titles -- and the majority of those titles do not look right on a 10.1-inch screen at this resolution.

Oh, the Xoom pricing. It sure hasn't been much of a secret (we had over five pricing leak posts!), but it certainty has been the focal point of the new tablet's entrance into the market. So, what will this thing cost you? Motorola has set the price of the 32GB, 3G version at $800. Now, that is unsubsidized, however, Verizon is requiring customers pay for one month of service -- $20 for 1GB of data -- to basically unlock the device. It doesn't seem very fair, but such is life.

The other option at the moment is to buy the same Xoom on-contract from Verizon for $600. That does shave off $200, but you're not exactly saving money, considering you're locking yourself into paying $20 a month for the next two years, which comes out to $1,080. Also, don't forget the Xoom is upgradable to LTE. However, the carrier is still keeping quiet on pricing for the 4G service.

Is that a lot of money for a tablet? Sure it is, and if you opt for the $800 unsubsidized version it comes out to $71 more than Apple's comparable iPad -- the 32GB / 3G iPad rings up at $729. Unfortunately, at this point we don't have any real details on when the WiFi only version will be hitting, but Motorola's CEO has said that it will be also priced at $600. Again, that's in line with the $599 32GB / WiFi iPad.

Despite the drawbacks that we've outlined in this review, there is actually a lot about the Xoom to like. Besides boasting what we consider to be the most complete and clearly functioning version of Android, the hardware which is packed inside Motorola's tablet is really quite good. The tablet is fast and sleek, and while not exactly being really futureproof, the fact that you've got a path to a 4G upgrade is tremendous (and frankly, something no one else in the industry is offering).

The problem with the Xoom isn't really about the core of the experience or the core of the hardware -- it's about the details. Too much in both the design (like those wonky buttons) or the software (like the feeling that this is all very much in beta) makes you wonder if this wasn't rushed out to market in order to beat the next wave from Apple. Regardless, there isn't much here for consumers right now. The Android Market is almost devoid of tablet applications, the OS feels buggy and unfinished, and the hardware has pain points that we find troubling. And that's to say nothing of the pricing and carrier commitments being asked of first-time buyers.

Is the Xoom a real competitor to the iPad? Absolutely. In fact, it outclasses the iPad in many ways. Still, the end user experience isn't nearly where it needs to be, and until Google paints its tablet strategy and software picture more clearly, we'd suggest a wait-and-see approach. Honeycomb and the Xoom are spectacular -- unfortunately they're a spectacular work in progress.

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Google Details Chrome’s Background Feature: Run Web Apps Without Seeing Them

Google has been on a mission lately to outline some of the cooler, newer features coming to Chrome on their Chromium Blog. Today brings one of the biggest yet: Background Apps.

This feature has existed on various builds of Chrome/Chromium for some time now. But Google hasn’t been touting it, and it wasn’t really clear how it would be used and/or useful. Well today, it’s very clear. And again, very cool. Essentially, Chrome-based web apps are going to be able to be always open, but hidden in the background.

Why would anyone want to use a web app without seeing it? A couple reasons. First, this allows the browser to notify you in realtime of certain updates, like chat requests or new messages. Second, this may allow the browser to pre-render any page so when you do open it, it will load instantly.

Obviously, the trade-off is the memory hit you take by running an app in the background, but presumably these could be coded to have a minimal impact in terms of memory usage.

Essentially, this gives web apps a “push” notification functionality like Apple uses for the iPhone and iPad. It’s a bit different since that system uses Apple own servers to ping your phone and doesn’t require an app to be open at all, but the effect is the same. A user wouldn’t realize the app is open, but would still get alerts about it.

Of course, there’s a security risk there. But Google addresses that in this way:

To protect our users’ privacy, we’ve made this functionality available only to apps and extensions; regular websites will not be able to open background windows. Developers will also need to declare the “background” capability on their apps.

That’s important beyond the security issue. It could make installing web apps actually useful. Up until now, most of the apps in the Chrome Web Store are similar to the ones that already exist on the web. But with this system, you’d have to “install” an app to get this system working.

Update: And here’s an example app Google has made to show how this will work. This book, when installed, will periodically update in the background.

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New Firefox 4 for Android Available Now

Firefox 4 for Android and Nokia Maemo devices is now available in a new beta version that’s made huge leaps in terms of stability and performance.

Our mobile team has had mixed experiences with earlier versions of the Firefox mobile browser, so the improvements and bug fixes are most welcome.

Some improvements include more pan/zoom responsiveness, faster booting and better page load times, the latter specifically due to JavaScript enhancements. The beta also includes features such as Firefox Sync (which lets you seamlessly carry your tabs, bookmarks and history between devices, whether those devices be mobile or desktop), tabbed browsing, Firefox add-ons and more.

Firefox for mobile is a developing area of the browser sector we’ve been following with great interest over the past year.

The browser originally launched with the codename “Fennec.” The alpha version hit the Android Market last August, and the first beta came out last October.

Sadly, iPhone and iPad users will have to stick to Firefox Home for iOS for now. The Firefox Home app isn’t a browser itself, but it will help Apple mobile users get access to their Firefox bookmarks, browsing history and open tabs — all from within Mobile Safari.

Expect more (and frequent) beta updates before a final tested-and-approved version is released. In the meantime, take the browser for a spin, and let us know what you think of its performance fixes in the comments.

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More Signs Point To Light Peak Debuting On Upcoming MacBook Pros, To Be Called Thunderbolt

Apple rumors are flying left and right, but the latest might just be the wildest of them all. This rumor states the upcoming MacBook Pro models will feature Intel’s Light Peak high speed data connectivity port under the Apple label as Thunderbolt High Speed I/O. Nevermind that Apple rarely (I can’t name one) debuts an unproven industry technology, this port is said to share a connector with the Mini Displayport. There’s even a photo circulating claiming to be the connector in question, complete with a little lighting bolt next to said port.

The rumor started yesterday with an Intel statement talking about an announcement next Thursday, which happens to be the same day as the rumored Apple event, about “a new technology that is about to appear on the market”. Then a German site, fsklog, posted what’s reportedly a spec sheet for the upcoming 13-inch MacBook Pro. Along with a new dual-core Intel Core i5 CPU with integrated graphics is mention of Thunderbolt. MacRumors then got what seems to be the same exact spec sheet just in English and it also mentions it. It states “Thunderbolt port supports high-speed I/O and Mini DisplayPort devices.”

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Microsoft pulls Windows Phone 7 update from Samsung phones until it can resolve issues

By Vlad Savov posted Feb 23rd 2011 7:23AM Such a big load of trouble for such a small update. Microsoft's first WP7 firmware refresh has been causing some unfortunate brick-like behavior in Samsung Omnia 7s and the company has wisely decided to pull the new software back until it can correct whatever's going wrong. An official communiqué to WinRumors says Microsoft has identified the issue at hand and is working to correct it and redistribute the update as soon as possible. For any Samsung WP7 phone owners who haven't been able to resuscitate their device yet, the advised course of action is to go back to the store and swap it for a livelier one.

Update: Timo wrote in to let us know that some people are still seeing the update. If that's you, you'd be advised to hold off.

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Samsung Captivate update to Froyo pegged for tomorrow, February 24th (update: HTC Aria update coming 'very soon')

By Chris Ziegler posted Feb 23rd 2011 11:32AM One false alarm is bad enough, but two would be positively evil, wouldn't it? We're cautiously optimistic that Samsung and AT&T are serious this time about posting the Captivate's update to Android 2.2 starting tomorrow, another step in Sammy's long, drawn-out road to getting all of its promised Galaxy S upgrades out the door. We're sure owners are going to appreciate some of the simple pleasures in life that Froyo (and Gingerbread) owners have come to take for granted like being able to move apps to external storage... and it's all just hours away. Can you feel the excitement?

Update: in an official Facebook video just posted, AT&T mentions that it's already in the process of testing a Froyo upgrade for the HTC Aria as well -- and it should be coming "very soon."

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Archos Actually Doing Well, Financial-Wise

Remember Archos? With all this talk of Droids v. iStuff, Archos’ stable and handsome PMP/Tablet line has been cast by the wayside, relegated to a distant third place where it commiserates daily with Creative and the Zune. However in many markets Archos is still a leader and now they have the financials to prove it.

According to a recent release, Archos hit 83 million Euro in revenue compared to 59 in 2009. Most of the revenue came from Europe with 116.2% growth and, surprisingly, an over two-fold increase in revenue in America.

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WordPress 3.1 Goes Live: Here’s What’s New

The WordPress team pushed out version 3.1, code name “Reinhardt,” on Wednesday, bringing a host of new and updated features to users and developers.

WordPress 3.0 was released back in June 2010, along with its own set of new functions and features. The 3.1 release cycle was originally expected to be completed before the end of 2010, but bugs and various changes pushed that date back.

I have been using the various beta and release candidate versions of WordPress 3.1 since November and am especially excited about a few of the new additions and improvements.

From an interface perspective, WordPress 3.1 shares the same look as WordPress 3.0. A few minor changes have been made to give the WordPress dashboard a cleaner look, but the overall design remains the same. The one exception is for users of the blue admin theme. The colors and stylings for the blue theme have been refined and improved across the board.

My favorite new feature in WordPress 3.1 is the addition of Post Formats. Not to be confused with the similar sounding Custom Post Types, Post Formats can be used by theme authors to customize the way a WordPress post is presented on the web. Post Formats is not a required feature, but it is something that theme designers can implement to better show off certain content types.

Post Formats are especially useful for users who want to create a Tumblr-like experience on their WordPress blog. That means that users can designate a post as an aside, link, video, image, quote, status, audio, chat or gallery. That designation can then help a theme determine how content should be displayed.

That means that a post formatted as a quote might display a quote in a big italicized font, whereas a video post has a custom width.

Over the past few months, a number of WordPress theme developers have instated their own versions of Post Formats into themes, but with the new standardization, we expect to see the feature crop up in more places. Adding support for Post Formats requires theme authors to add a few lines of code to their templates and stylesheets.

WordPress contributor Otto wrote a great post about Post Formats several months ago that is definitely worth the read.

Internal linking is a new feature in WordPress 3.1 that makes it easier for publishers to find and link back to previously published content. At Mashable, we often use internal linking to refer back to earlier coverage or give additional insight into a topic or idea.

Most of the time, the process of finding the link requires either searching the site or doing a custom Google search to get a specific URL. I use TextMate for all of my writing and have a custom bundle that actually lets me search the Mashable archives by entering a keyword or phrase without having to leave my editor.

WordPress’s internal linking tool isn’t quite that slick, but it does make the process of finding and linking to content much faster. Simply click on the link button in the writing panel and enter in a word or phrase. Related entries will show up and clicking on an entry will fill the link field with the correct URL.

For sites with lots of content, we can see this feature being very useful.

WordPress.com users are probably familiar with the admin bar that appears atop every WordPress.com-hosted site when they are logged into their accounts. The menu provides quick access to various tools and lets users quickly create new blog posts or access back-end features.

The WordPress.org admin bar will only work when users are logged into their own sites. When they are, visiting the site will display an admin bar that will then provide easy access to comments, the dashboard and other assorted tools.

I personally am not a fan of the new admin bar — and I dislike that it is enabled by default. I can see how it can be useful, especially for administrators of large blogs, but for me, it’s a hindrance. Fortunately, the WordPress team listened to some of the complaints and added the option to turn the bar on or off in the dashboard’s “Users” panel.

For individuals that want to disable the admin bar entirely, Joost de Valk has a great guide.

WordPress 3.1 is available for download and existing WordPress users can perform the upgrade from the dashboard.

Is the admin bar a useful tool? Let us know what you think of WordPress 3.1 in the comments.

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Review: Motorola Xoom – The Android Tablet Redefined

Few tablets have met with such widespread anticipation as the recently-announced Xoom. It is the closest anyone has come to an iPad equivalent for the Android set. I was impressed with the speed, design, and quality of the device, and although there are a few caveats, I came away optimistic for the new crop of Honeycomb devices that will follow this one.

It’s an impressive and attractive piece of kit, with a lot going on under the hood. But dangerous pricing and the threat of better and/or cheaper devices around the corner somewhat reduce its charm. If you can’t wait, though, the Xoom will probably satisfy your Honeycomb craving.

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