The newest website from the Obama administration is Data.gov: a public resource for “high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government.”
The Palm Pre will cost $US199 with contract or about $US549 (from Sprint) without a contract. So why is BestBuy.com listing the phone itself for EIGHT HUNDRED AND FIFTY FREAKING US DOLLARS?? (Admittedly, that price is lower than the even crazier $US1000 rumour we saw earlier.) Still, we’ll assume it’s a misprinted placeholder price and carry on with our day, no matter how true or untrue that may be. Because we’ll also assume that no one will pay an extra $US300 to buy the Pre at Best Buy rather than just breaking their contract with Sprint. [Best Buy via BGR]
ColorWare will take your Kindle 2 from B&W to color* for the modest price of $US199, or they’ll sell you a pre-colourised model for $599. (*Note: Colourisation process does not include the E-Ink screen.) [ColorWare]
The bad news: The Minotaur I launch from NASA’s Virginia’s Wallops Island Flight Facility got cancelled because of the bad weather. The good news: We can only hope these damn clouds go away so everyone in the Eastern Seaboard can see it. Eastern Seaboard. I just love to say those words.
Navigon will no longer be selling PNDs (personal navigation devices) in the US. In a statement released today, the company explains, “Due to the difficult economic environment and the aggressive pricing we have decided to withdraw from the PND business in North America for the time being. We are however not closing down our Chicago office which will continue to serve our automotive and mobile phone businesses in North America.” With the rise of the smartphone, I wonder how long it will be until we see some of the bigger GPS manufacturers follow suit. [Navigon via Laptop via SlashGear]
Google policy analyst Derek Slater—who’s so obviously related to Christian Slater—explains how to reshape broadband in the US. Step one: Own the actual pipes that run to your house.
Boy Genius says the BlackBerry Tour 9630 (née Niagara, aka the real BlackBerry Verizon peoples have been dying for) will finally arrive on the big red V in July, probably the back half. [BeeJeeArr]
Will Verizon ever wrest away iPhone exclusivity from AT&T? We don’t know for certain, but tonight we do know that the wireless carrier is working hard to make it so, possibly by 2010.
In a survey of customer satisfaction, the computer industry as a whole scored pretty badly, with Apple the marginal best out of a not-so-thrilling bunch. The worst sector, however, was ISPs, which seem universally loathed.
