????* 惠普公司（HP）去年終于以99美元的跳樓價推出了Touchpad平板電腦。但前Palm公司員工表示，該產(chǎn)品毫無機會可言。原因在于，該公司缺乏領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人才和工程技術(shù)人員?；萜赵陂_發(fā)用于該平板電腦的操作系統(tǒng)WebOS時狂趕工期，整個開發(fā)過程只用了9個月的時間。此外，WebOS采用了開源軟件引擎WebKit，而一些人認(rèn)為該軟件引擎目前尚未成熟。因此，與蘋果公司（Apple）的iOS和谷歌公司的安卓（Android）系統(tǒng)相比，WebOS不免顯得乏善可陳。【《紐約時報》（The New York Times）】

????* IBM在前任首席執(zhí)行官彭明盛的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)下，實現(xiàn)了2.17億美元的公司市值，是惠普的四倍還多。他是怎么做到的？【《紐約時報》（The New York Times）】

????* 由于存在大量客戶投訴，而且聯(lián)邦政府相關(guān)機構(gòu)開始對其進(jìn)行審查，威力眾無線公司（Verizon Wireless）放棄了收取2美元附加費的計劃。該公司原本打算從本月晚些時候起，開始對通過電話或在線完成一次性付款的客戶收取2美元的額外費用?！久绹芯€電視新聞網(wǎng)財經(jīng)頻道（CNNMoney）】

????* 索尼公司（Sony）推出了最新手持平臺PlayStation Vita，但就在該產(chǎn)品在日本本土推出后的第二周，其銷量就開始下降。這款產(chǎn)品在發(fā)布后兩天內(nèi)總共售出了32萬部，但在整個第二周總共只售出了7.25萬部，銷量狂跌了78%。【《微電腦世界》（PCWorld）】

????* 也許從市場占有率的角度看，安卓系統(tǒng)（Android）確實在“大步流星”地趕超iOS。但是，我的同事菲爾?愛爾默-德維特認(rèn)為，谷歌（Google）安卓系統(tǒng)的市場占有率其實逐月增長得并不那么迅速，他將兩者之間的競爭比喻為龜兔賽跑。一直以來，蘋果公司（Apple）的市場占有率逐月緩慢而穩(wěn)步地增長，而谷歌的市場份額增長率盡管在去年1月時曾高達(dá)20%，但目前已創(chuàng)下1.3%的新低，增速大幅放緩。【《財富》雜志（Fortune）】

????* 圣誕期間最佳零售廣告綜述，涉及到的零售店包括蘋果、沃爾瑪（Wal-Mart）、以及塔吉特（Target）等。（科技新聞網(wǎng)站All Things D）

????* 可能是由于Facebook、Twitter、BlackBerry Messenger、以及iMessage的流行，芬蘭、香港、澳大利亞、以及世界上其它一些地區(qū)的手機短信使用開始呈現(xiàn)下降趨勢。（《紐約時報》）

????譯者：大海

????* According to former Palm employees, HP's Touchpad tablet, which the company eventually liquidated last year with a $99 fire sale, didn't have a chance. Leadership and engineering talent was lacking. The company took shortcuts while developing the WebOS operating system in just 9 months. And its WebOS operating system used WebKit, an open-source software engine that some felt wasn't quite ready for prime time, which left WebOS underpowered compared to Apple iOS and Android. (The New York Times)

????* How ex-CEO Samuel J. Palmisano turned IBM (IBM) into a company with a market value of $217 million, more than four times HP's. (The New York Times)

????* Verizon Wireless (VZ) dropped plans for a $2 surcharge fee after numerous customer complaints and scrutiny from federal regulators. The company had planned to charge customers $2 for making one-time payments by phone or online later this month. (CNNMoney)

????* Sales of Sony's new handheld platform, the PlayStation Vita, dropped during its second week in Japan. While it managed to sell over 320,000 units during its first two days available, it only sold some 72,500 units in all of week two, translating to a 78% drop. (PCWorld)

????* Android may be "walloping" iOS where market share is concerned, but colleague Phil Elmer-Dewitt argues month-over-month growth is another story, comparing this race to the tortoise and the hare. While Apple's market share has grown slowly but steadily month over month, Google's (GOOG) rate of growth has dropped, from a high of 20% last January to a new low of 1.3%. (Fortune)

????* A round-up of the some of the holiday's best retail ads, from the likes of Apple, Wal-Mart, and Target. (All Things D)

????* Texting is on the decline in some parts of the world like Finland, Hong Kong, and Australia, likely due to the popularity of Facebook, Twitter, BlackBerry Messenger, and iMessage. (The New York Times)