Linked List: September 23, 2010

Thursday, 23 September 2010

David Pogue on Sony’s Innovative New A55 Camera 

Interesting new interchangeable lens camera.

I’ll Give You Seven Inches 

This week’s episode of the best podcast in the world that features me and Dan Benjamin as co-hosts. Topics include the idea of a 7-inch iPad, resolution independence, and AirPlay as the new Apple TV’s stealth hit feature.

This week’s episode was sponsored by Theodolite, a very cool iPhone app that overlays a compass, GPS, rangefinder, level indication, and more over the live camera, a la Luke Skywalker’s macrobinoculars.

How Much Is Facebook, as a Company, Worth? 

Speaking of Facebook, David Heinemeier Hansson takes issues with reports that Facebook — still a private company — has a valuation of $33 billion. Over on Hacker News, Joel Spolsky says DHH doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

DHH’s most interesting point — which was news to me — is that Facebook took another $120 million round of venture capital just three months ago. But in the Hacker News thread, commenters point out that it was not another round of funding; it was $120 million in purchases of existing shares — cash for the founders, not funding for the company.

Bottom line: there are a lot of people who think Facebook is the next Google, but there are others who think it’s the next MySpace.

Om Malik on the Facebook Phone 

Interesting details culled from a bunch of sources. The concept is a lot more interesting if Om is right that it’ll be bundled with Spotify.

Samsung Galaxy Tab Preview Video 

Now here’s a video of an iPad competitor that actually looks pretty good. I’d sure like to try one. (Samsung sure isn’t bashful about copying UI ideas, though, are they?)

Purported Video of HP Slate Running Windows 7 

If this is real, and HP releases this thing, it’s time to sell your HP stock. I’m thinking it’s a joke — laggy scrolling, a mouse cursor on a touchscreen, a hardware button to invoke the software keyboard, a hardware button dedicated for Ctrl-Alt-Del (!) — but it does look like the device HP showed here, and the guys at Engadget suspect it’s legit. Jiminy.

Update: Marco Arment chimes in.

‘George Lucas Stole Chewbacca, but It’s Okay’ 

Michael Heilemann’s copiously-researched history of how Chewbacca evolved “in the space between idea, page and screen.” Terrific. (Via Kottke.)

Mobile Handset Profit Share Over the Last Three Years 

A different perspective than the pie charts yesterday. Android hasn’t had much of an effect here, at least not yet.