There have been several announcements today of interest to all. First
the impact of the iPhone was seen in a Microsoft leak about future Win
Mobile phones. They will begin to have some similar features to the
iPhone's web browser Safari and they will get touch screens. Win
Mobile phones are available for use on all carriers.
Here is the link http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=2598


Second I have been wondering about the Google Encyclopedia link that I
have seen in my Google account's for several weeks. When clicked on
there was a display that Google encyclopedia was not yet active. It
appears that it is Google's version of Wikipedia. You may want to see
it you have it in your account if you are a long time Google user. I
understand this is another Beta but Gmail was in Beta years before
they finally opened that up. I had wondered why no one spoke about the
impending Google threat to Wikipedia but I finally saw a bit about it
today in Wall Street Journal online. Here is the link.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1197...googlenews_wsj

From WSJ

Google Targets Wikipedia
With New 'Knol' Pages
By SCOTT MORRISON
December 14, 2007 5:05 p.m.

Google Inc. is taking aim at popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia
with a new service that will let users write authoritative entries on
subjects they know about -- and provide the Internet search engine
with more content that can carry its ads.

The new platform, which is being privately tested, will allow use
users to create Web pages that contain their photos and entries about
a wide variety of subjects. The pages will be known as "knols," which
Google said stands for a unit of knowledge.

Google
A sample "knol" posted on Google's corporate blog.

In an announcement on Google's corporate blog, Udi Manber, a vice
president of engineering, said a knol on a particular subject "is
meant to be the first thing someone who searches for this topic for
the first time will want to read." Wikipedia currently fills that role
for many people searching for information on the Internet.

The search giant said its aim is to encourage Internet users to share
their knowledge on a wide variety of topics, including scientific
concepts, medical information, geographical knowledge, historical
events, entertainment and how-to-fix-it instructions. Readers will be
able to submit comments and questions, suggest edits, and rate and
review the entries.

Mr. Manber, who had been chief executive of Amazon.com Inc.'s A9
subsidiary before joining Google last year, stressed that Google would
not serve as editor in any manner and would exercise no control over
the content.

Mr. Manber said Google would serve ads on those pages, if the author
chooses to do so, and share "substantial revenue" with the writer.
That sparked concerns that Google would have an interest in promoting
its own ad-bearing knols above Wikipedia's ad-free entries. Google
indicated it would rank knols in the same manner it ranks all Web
pages.

Nicholas Carr, former executive editor of the Harvard Business Review
and a frequent technology commentator, dismissed fears about Google
manipulating results. He said Google is hoping that the most popular
knol pages will rise naturally through the search results, challenging
Wikipedia and providing another area of content that can carry Google
ads.

"I don't foresee Google manipulating its search results to put knol
pages ahead of Wikipedia pages," he said.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said he was unconcerned about Google
knol because it seemed to him that Google would end up compiling a
series of blogs rather than an authoritative encyclopedia. With more
than 75,000 active contributors, 2.1 million English-language articles
and a dominant position in search results, Wikipedia has a huge head
start.

Google's key challenge will be to attract a critical mass of quality
content contributors, which in turn will help drive readers to the
knols. The company hopes to do so by highlighting authors, a feature
that could draw some Wikipedia contributors have grown tired of
toiling behind the scenes.

But Google has a history of launching many new products that have
failed to attract users. Google Base, for example, was expected by
some to encroach on online auctioneer eBay Inc.'s listing service, but
impact has been minimal at best.

Mr. Carr suggested Google's knol initiative might face a similar fate.
"Its success is a long way from being assured. Google has launched a
whole lot of products that just haven't caught on. This may be one of
those," he said.

Write to Scott Morrison at [email protected]



From PhoneNews

Some details about the next two versions of Windows Mobile have
surfaced. None of these details have been confirmed by Microsoft, but
the features address issues that Microsoft has publicly said it is
working to improve. The first version post 6.1 will include a retooled
messaging center and a desktop-grade browser that includes zooming in
and out and scaling. It will also improve the media and photo
applications. Beyond that, Windows Mobile will see a complete update
from the ground up, with a new user interface that makes more use of
touch input. Other facets of this future version will include global
search capabilities and tie certain applications together.


› See More: Future Win Mo phones to become more like the iPhone