- Google reportedly decided to have some fun with the bidding for Nortel’s coveted patent portfolio last week — throwing out offers such as $3.14159 billion (a.k.a. pi) and other nerdy numbers. But Microsoft and Apple appear to have gotten the last laugh, leading a consortium that actually won the bidding. Or was it Google’s weird way of throwing in the towel?
- The final flight of the Space Shuttle will double as an homage to Apple, apparently. Atlantis will be carrying two iPhones, and its orbit will be tracked by a free iPhone app, reports Alan Boyle of msnbc.com.
- Speaking of Apple: “iSteve: The Book of Jobs” is now “Steve Jobs: A Biography.” Yes, the title of Walter Isaacson’s highly anticipated book about the Apple CEO has been changed from the dumbest name ever to the simplest. Thank goodness.
- A joint appearance by Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg will be one of the highlights of the exclusive Allen & Co. summit in Sun Valley this week. In fact, Kara Swisher of AllThingsD says Gates will “interview” Zuckerberg. In honor of the Microsoft chairman, we have to say that’s the stupidest f—ing thing we’ve ever heard.
- Speaking of Zuckerberg, the “cool thing” that the Facebook CEO hinted at during his Seattle visit last week is slated to be unveiled Wednesday at 10 a.m. Watch the webcast here. Rumor is that it’s a video chat feature in partnership with Skype — which means it’s likely to someday be a video chat feature in partnership with Microsoft.
- By the way, I was there last week, dutifully taking notes, and Zuckerberg actually said the new thing would be “cool,” not “awesome,” contrary to what everyone else is reporting. You know, just in case there’s a difference.
Headline of the Day, from Joystiq, about a retro-geek line of $280 specs: “8-bit glasses lower the resolution of your bank balance“
- List-making for underdogs: Nine reasons to switch from Facebook to Google+ and 7 ways the HP TouchPad burns the iPad 2.
- And in case you were wondering, Monday was no ordinary Independence Day … it was the 15th anniversary of “Independence Day.”
