Hi, I'm Molly Wood, and welcome to the Buzz Report, the show about the tech news
that e eryone's talking about. This week, Androids on TV, you're shilling for
Facebook, and the booger heard 'round the world.
But first, it's the Gadget of the Week.
The Gadget of the Week is the Facebook Phone! Maybe. Rumor has it that HTC will
launch TWO Facebook-branded phones running Android at Mobile World Congress in
Barcelona next month.
Neither HTC nor Facebook is commenting on the rumor, but unnamed sources say that
the phones, decked out in Facebook blue, will integrate with your Facebook contacts and
show status updates on the home screen.
So now you'll be able to see exactly when your friends post about their Cityville
developments so you can call them and tell 'em to please, stop. It wasn't funny with
Farmville and it's not funny now.
And now, for the news...
Eric Schmidt stepped down as CEO of Google last week, as you know. Since then, the
tech world has been abuzz with news of his 100 million dollar stepdown payout, his plans
to sell 334 million dollars worth of Google stock ... and the fact that, apparently, he shot a
TV pilot for CNN that, by all accounts, was a "disaster." But with that kind of cash and
Hollywood aspirations, his dream doesn't have to end. Maybe we should call the casting
directors for the Real white guys of Silicon Valley!
Moving on in the news, the Department of Justice is hinting around again at a law to
make ISPs keep records of user activity. Meaning, you. And they're being disturbingly
vague about what information, how long ISPs would have to keep it, and how it would be
used to help criminal investigations.
In previous years, the DOJ has suggested saving data for a minimum of six months, and
up to two years. Best case, they'd just save IP addresses. WORST case? They'd save the
e-mail, IM, SMS, search history, AND IP address of everyone in America. What could
POSSIBLY be wrong with that? Ha. Ha. Ha. Not cool.
A couple of quick tech headlines from the week:
CNET Best of CES winner the Motorola Xoom is reportedly launching at Best Buy stores February 17th,
for 699 dollars. The price isn't actually high compared to an iPad with the same memory -- and it's better
considering the HDMI, Flash support, dual-core processor, and dual cameras. But still, it's causing major
sticker shock with everyone who hears it. Point: iPad? We'll see, here come the tablet wars.
Egypt is reportedly blocking access to Twitter and maybe Facebook in an effort to quell demonstrations
against government corruption. Good try, guys, but the Internet always finds a way.
And I know you were worried, but the Pope has issued a statement saying Facebook and social networking
are NOT a sin. Not the actual act of using the sites, anyway. Just ... probably everything you say and post
on any given day.
Speaking of Facebook, everybody's favorite privacy violater just rolled out Sponsored
Stories, which takes your likes and interests and turns them into ADS for the things you
liked. It's kind of like, they're selling your content to advertisers. Not your personal
INFORMATION, silly. Just your content.
Oh, and you can't opt out of it. You're just a little unpaid ad-generating mule. What are
you complaining about? Facebook is FREEEEE!
Now, let's take a look at what's clogging the tubes this week, shall we? YouTube was
loving this classic moment from the AFC Championship game between the Jets and the
Steelers. The moment when cameras caught Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez PICKING
HIS NOSE and WIPING a BOOGER on teammate Mark Brunell.
No, really. Check it out.
Sanchez told ESPN radio it was a fake-wipe, but I'm not so sure. Let's review the play.
You can see his setup is perfect here. He goes in hard with the booger blitz, steps back to
throw ... and his delivery is right on the money. That is CLEARLY a booger down. Let's
see that again ... there, now, yep, no booth review necessary, that is a score. The defense
never had a chance.
Ah, our show. Nothing but class.
And that's the Buzz Report for this week, everyone. I'm Molly Wood, and thanks for watching.
