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CNET, on the “Best of CES” finalists page:

The Dish Hopper with Sling was removed from consideration due to active litigation involving our parent company CBS Corp. We will no longer be reviewing products manufactured by companies with which we are in litigation with respect to such product.

According to this note, Dish might not be the only company that will be denied coverage in the future.

Sure seems like censorship to me. This is what happens when media outlets are owned by larger corporations.

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I’m 100 percent sure Steve Jobs would yell at whoever decided to put a QR code on this thing.

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Ian Kerner at CNN:

Technology allows us to be constantly connected to the world, but it can also make us even more disconnected from each other.

In fact, two recent studies show that cell phones can have a negative impact on close relationships.

Researchers from the University of Essex found that people who engaged in personal discussions when a cell phone was nearby — even if neither was actually using it — reported lower relationship quality and less trust for their partner. They also felt their partner was less empathetic to their concerns.

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Jenna Mullins, on the return of Arrested Development:

Jason Bateman doesn’t want fans to call this season four, but it should be referred to as an “act one” that will lead to a feature film. “These are episodes that set that up.” However, if the feature film doesn’t happen, the new episodes won’t leave viewers hanging. “It is certainly a satisfying conclusion to these episodes if for some reason a movie doesn’t happen, but they are all meant to work within one another as a hybrid package of Arrested Development stuff,” Bateman insisted.

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This week, Myke and I about the iMac’s shipping delay and then CES.

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Steve Jobs’ iPhone keynote remains one of the best he ever gave. Hard to believe this was six years ago.

(Here’s the second half.)

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Thomas Brand leaves his iPhone at work in the evenings:

This division keeps me on task at work where I need to stay connected, and attentive to the people around me when I am at home. Not everyone can do this. My job pays for the my work phone, and by running to and from work means I don’t need to stay connected while commuting. I may miss the company of my iPhone while waiting in line on the weekends, but I make up for it by spending more time with my wife.

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Jef Raskin, the 31st employee at Apple, was tasked with starting the publications department. After getting user manuals for the Apple II out the door, he created the original vision of the Macintosh — an appliance-like computer with a GUI and simple design.

After Steve Jobs was sidelined from the Lisa and Apple II groups, and took over the Mac team, Raskin left.

These papers are the birthplace of the Macintosh, and are well worth the read. I saved a PDF of the papers, and sent the text to my Kindle as well.

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Jacqui Cheng at Ars has put together a nice little slideshow covering the software’s history.

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Ken Yeung at TNW:

The Pebble smartwatch has appeared at the 2013 International Consumer Electronic Show. At its first ever press conference today, the company’s CEO Eric Migicovsky announced that Pebble is in mass production and is being shipped to its Kickstarter backers on January 23.

Migicovsky says that it will take 6–8 weeks to get all the initial orders out — a rate of 15,000 pebbles a week.

The watch will have 7 days of battery life, with a Sharp-built display and a custom USB connector for charging.

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Andrew Carroll:

Subtract your expenses from your revenue. That’s your profit. Pay tax on that.

Now, if you want to pay even less tax, it helps to have someone that can help you. Like me. But, you do not need that. And if you are scared of using someone because you are embarrassed to show up with your shoe box, now you know how to do it like a pro.

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The 21.5-inch machines are 7–10 days out, while the big ones don’t ship again for 3–4 weeks. Something is wrong, and I hope the company can get it straightened out.

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