The Apple iPhone debate

Well, big news. Cisco Systems have decided to sue Apple over the iPhone trademark. I'm not sure where that leaves Apple now. The iPhone name is worth a lot of money in terms of buzz and Internet exposure and I think that Cisco know this and they are unwilling to give it up too easily. And why should they? Months of rumors and speculation have made it a high-profile brand. Apple's got a lot of cash but Cisco has more so things could become entrenched. Apple has three choices:

• Roll over and give up on the iPhone name - unlikely
• Settle the dispute with Cisco - Most likely
• Go head-to-head with Cisco in the courts - Would be interesting to watch but could backfire

Press Release

Source: ActiveGrid, Inc.

ActiveGrid Names Persistence Software Founder Christopher Keene as New CEO to Lead the Company Through Aggressive Growth
Wednesday January 10, 8:47 am ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- ActiveGrid, Inc., the Enterprise Web 2.0(TM) Company, today announced that Christopher Keene, a 24-year veteran of the high-tech industry, has joined the company as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Keene comes to ActiveGrid to drive aggressive growth as Web 2.0 technologies continue to bring dramatic changes to enterprise computing.

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041117/SFW068LOGO

More on GOogle

Model your world

Thank you for downloading Google SketchUp (free) for Windows

We hope the download process was simple and straightforward. If you received a small notification window asking "Would you like to run or save this file" then the download was successful and you're ready to install Google SketchUp (free). Simply locate the file to complete the installation process. If you believe the download was unsuccessful select the link below to try again.

Click here to download Google SketchUp (free) for Windows

About this SketchUp version:

Google SketchUp (free) is a fully functional light version of SketchUp Pro 5. If you find Google SketchUp (free) as indispensable as others have, we hope you'll return to our site and upgrade to SketchUp Pro 5! To get started, we recommend watching our video tutorials.

Having troubles downloading Google SketchUp? Click here for more information.

2007

OK, so we’ve finally succumbed to list mania. Last month, we discussed GENERATION C(ASH) as one of the many emerging consumer trends to watch this year, but to honor your requests for a more elaborative overview of what’s going to be ‘hot’, here’s a quick list of five big trends/themes that are on our radar for 2007*. They deal with status, transparency and consumer power, the online revolution, more adventurous consumption, and a shift from consumption to participation. Enough to keep you busy!

* For a truly elaborate guide to where consumers are headed this year, with or without you, we recommend checking out our 2007 Trend Report, too.

AdBrite Makes Brilliant Video Product

Ad Network Adbrite, which we wrote about in November, has soft launched a new video product that is going to be very popular with bloggers and other sites that embed a lot of video.

The new product is called In Video. Adbrite has created an embeddable video player similar to YouTube, Photobucket, etc. (see video below using their player). If we choose to show a video on TechCrunch, we can use this embeddable player, and at our option it will include Adbrite ads and our logo as a watermark. Anyone who takes the content and embeds it on their own site will show the same video, with the same ads and watermark (revenue goes to the original video creator). And all click backs on the video go to the original site (whereas with YouTube all click backs go the original YouTube site).

Whether you want to embed ads or not, this is the best way I’ve seen to show video on your own site.

Adbrite is not hosting video, so you’ll have to upload it to YouTube, Photobucket, or wherever, in .flv format and then point Adbrite to the URL for the video.

In Video is in private beta testing - users can sign up for an invitation on the about page.

Why It’ll Be An iPhone (??)

David Sobotta knows Apple. He worked there for 20 years and has been in countless meetings with the Steve. Therefore, let’s give him a listen. What he’s basically saying is that a Mac Tablet is almost out of the question while the Apple Phone is almost 99% certain.

Now, as we all know, even the best prognosticators are often horribly wrong. However, let’s talk to the wisdom of the crowds. Inkling is offering a 75% chance in the prediction markets. CrowdIQ, a similar system, is saying 1%, which is what I’m going with as well. However, Sobotta gives me pause. With millions of eyes on Apple, they have to pull something fancy out of their hat.

What Jobs told me on the iPhone [Guardian]

Police impound SUV in Williams case (AP)

Police impound SUV in Williams case (AP)

Police impounded a 1998 Chevrolet Tahoe early Thursday they believe might have been used in a New Year's Day drive-by shooting that killed Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams. Passers-by spotted the vehicle parked south of Denver International Airport and called police anonymously at about 6:30 a.m., police spokesman Sonny Jackson said.