Not to the surprise of the already disappointed, but perhaps to the fanboy’s chagrin, information detailing consumer demand for the iPad is quite weak.
Few people are claiming to wish to purchase the device, despite months of hype surrounding the gadget and a very well covered launch event.
In data collected by Retrovo both pre and post the [...]

After a preliminary hearing last fall, Howard K. Stern, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich are scheduled to be back in an El Lay courtroom in August to face drug conspiracy charges.
The three have been accused of supplying the late Anna Nicole Smith with sedatives and opiates, and will face a jury of [...]

Slow clap for Slate V, who put together the following theoretical Google “commercial” that’s ostensibly—at the least—just a concept, and at best, a successful meme. Truth be told, though,…

If the opposition depends on the internet and text messages to organize against an illegitimate government, what can that government do? Clamp down on communication, hard.
That is just what Iran seems to have done, with widespread reports of problems with both the internet and SMS capabilities in the nation.
You don’t even have to hit anyone, making it [...]

Everyone with eyes in their head can see the bright future of multi-touch displays, but the huge variety of technologies out there makes it hard to place a bet. Will capacitive film rule? Or will it be the IR overlay? Or will Microsoft’s foresight in nurturing the Surface project pay off once they reveal their new, flatter display? Well, there’s one more competitor joining the already-crowded field, and they’re coming in heavy with $18 million in funding.

There is some question of whether FlatFrog will be able to create a product that’s truly distinct from the competition, but this money should go a long way toward getting their name out there and their tech up to spec.

As the first week of February closes out and football fans gather in living rooms and sports bars across the nation for the Super Bowl, for us here at ReadWriteStart its the time of the week when we take a look back at the more popular posts from the past week. In this week’s Weekly Wrapup we discuss the debate between freemium and subscription models, the best practices for an effective “sign up” button, running online contests, networking with entrepreneurs online and some tips for public speaking.

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6 Great Approaches to Public Speaking

If you want to be a great public speaker, your preparation has to be more than just blasting gangsta rap and shadow boxing in front of the mirror. Whether tweetmeme_url = ‘http://www.readwriteweb.com/start/2010/02/public-speaking.php’;tweetmeme_source = ‘rww’;you have to videotape yourself speaking, join a presentation club, or rewrite your PowerPoint deck 40 times, it’s important to be able to tell your own story. Few of us are born with the gift of public speaking but with a little preparation we can learn to persuade, sell and inspire.

3 Social Networks For Connecting With Entrepreneurs

As more of the business world flattens with the expansion of online services, social networking is increasingly becoming a critical factor to success in many industries. Whether you’re for a small businesses selling art at a craft fair or a Fortune 500 company trading on the stock exchange, social networking has the power to expand your brand among both your audience and fellow business owners. For the latter, entrepreneurs can take advantage of specialized social networks to meet, communicate share and partner with others.

How to Run an Online Contest

A year ago we launched the ReadWriteWeb Guide on Community Management with the knowledge that “Community Manager” would become an increasingly popular job title. Since then, the requirements of keeping your customers engaged have become more demanding. According to one report, contests are becoming increasingly popular. ReadWriteWeb caught up with Strutta CEO Ben Pickering, to find out what businesses can do to generate more participation from their contests.

Convert Visitors to Users With A Unique Sign Up Button

In any relationship, business or personal, first impressions are critical to getting off on the right foot. For startups, if a user gets a bad first impression of your website, that same sentiment will carry through to their opinion of your service. A few weeks ago we told you about some pointers to make sure your site’s registration process isn’t scaring away users. A recent post on web development blog Six Revisions focuses in on this issue by providing some techniques and best practices for creating and designing the perfect registration button.

Freemium is Weak, Subscription is Chic

As an entrepreneur, blogger and the investor in charge of the Founders Fund seed investment program, Dave McClure knows the importance of a proven revenue model. In a recent blog post he makes the assertion that “subscription models are the new black,” despite the fact that startup monetization has focussed heavily on cost-per-click advertising. He writes, “This Don’t-Be-Evil-AdWords-Click-Happiness..It’s made us a bunch of lazy, ad-happy, Web-Tards with crappy ROI…We have largely WASTED an entire web decade of time, energy & venture capital on extremely inefficient revenue models.” While we might not have chosen this exact phrasing, we cannot agree with McClure more.

Discuss

WASHINGTON — To hear Sen. Maria Cantwell talk, another economic bubble is building as Wall Street banks — backed by taxpayer bailouts — continue to play the high-risk derivatives markets rather than extend credit to struggling businesses on Main Street.

GREENWICH, Conn. — After one of the leanest years in memory, life in this upper-crust enclave is slowly returning to normal. The Greenwich version of normal, anyway.

At least two people were killed in a large explosion at a gas power plant on Sunday, officials report.

The HTC Incredible, a leaked cellphone code name that first made the rounds back in December, is the real deal, as seen in these sneak peak pics from Pocket Now. Can you say brown? You’ll see:

Very original Zune coloring, no? Lots of contours and wacky shapes going on in the rear too.

There are some specs to go along with the leak, those being an Android 2.1 OS with HTC Sense, running on a Snapdragon CPU. A rumored 256MB of RAM accompanies a roughly 3.5-3.7″ WVGA screen (possibly AMOLED? That’s unconfirmed).

Dual LED flashes adorn the brownish backplate, and an optical mouse pointer resides down near the bottom. Thoughts? [Pocket Now]