Tech Blog

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Apple

Apple's future won't be brought to you by the letter 'i' - A trademarks tribunal has knocked back Apple's bid to stop a small company from trademarking the name DOPi for use on its laptop bags and cases for Apple products.

Apple Rolls Out iBooks Feature Page - Apple has augmented its iPad "Features" section with a new page devoted to its iBooks application. Initially available only in the U.S., the iBooks application will be available in the App Store once the iPad officially launches on April 3rd and will serve as the hub for the iPad's eReader functionality and offer access to Apple's iBookstore where users will be able to purchase content. While many of the details of the iBooks application have already been disclosed, the feature page provides a slightly more in-depth look at the application and clarifies a few issues.

Dead iPad battery? Never mind replacing it, Apple just sends another iPad for $99 -
Apple has just posted details on its iPad battery replacement service, which is really not a battery replacement service at all.

Microsoft
Hard drive evolution could hit Microsoft XP users - By early 2011 all hard drives will use an "advanced format" that changes how they go about saving the data people store on them.

The move to the advanced format will make it easier for hard drive makers to produce bigger drives that use less power and are more reliable.

Microsoft moves up Windows 7 SP1 release date - Even though Microsoft has dropped a plan to wait nearly two years after Windows 7's launch to issue a first service pack, it won't deliver the update before the fourth quarter of this year, a site that has accurately predicted past Windows timetables said today.

Microsoft would be smart to reconsider and delay a service pack as long as possible, one analyst countered.

Hardware
Pretty tablet! - Leaked Dell Streak flyer shows multitude of color options, confirmed specifications

HP Slate vs. iPad: Focus on Flash - With the iPad presale beginning in just a few days, and the clock ticking down to the much-anticipated Apple tablet finally hitting the streets, HP launched a renewed campaign for its Slate tablet PC debuted at the 2010 CES by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Each platform has pros and cons, but so far the debate seems to center entirely around support for Adobe Flash.

Apple’s Spat With Google Is Getting Personal - This month, Apple sued HTC, the Taiwanese maker of mobile phones that run Google’s Android operating system, contending that HTC had violated iPhone patents. The move was widely seen as the beginning of a legal assault by Apple on Google itself, as well as an attempt to slow Google’s plans to extend its dominion to mobile devices.

Online

Google tweaking Buzz to declutter Gmail in-box - "We've heard loud and clear that buzz in your inbox can get noisy--we feel it too," the Google Buzz team said in a Buzz on Thursday. Two changes, currently in testing to work with Gmail's 50 supported languages, are coming as a result.

Twitter launches SXSW recruitment/stalking tool - Twitter @ SXSW displays a map of where Twitter staff are in Austin. If you want to pitch yourself for a job with them, just see where they’re tweeting from and hunt them down. Nifty!

Springpad Takes on Evernote with Semantic Technology, Barcode Scanner - Springpad, a rival to Evernote's popular cross-platform note-taking service, has just bumped the competition up a notch with a new release that integrates semantic technology to automatically enhance the notes you save with relevant info. What this means is that if you save a movie, Springpad is smart enough to know it's a movie and it will offer you showtimes. If you save a product, Springpad displays price comparisons and links to shopping sites. Save a recipe and you get menu suggestions. And the list goes on. In other words, Springpad doesn't want to just be a note-taking app, it wants to be a fully realized digital assistant.

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Your Turn
So, did I miss anything? What online story really got you going this week? Link to it in the comments!