Editor's note: Today's lead is all about the 4G marketing tricks that T-Mobile and AT&T are trying to play on people. And, don't miss Gartner's roundup of PC sales getting whacked by iPad, Sprint dropping the price of the Galaxy Tab, and rumor of Apple ditching its Home button. -Jason How AT&T and T-Mobile conjured 4G networks out of thin air One of the biggest surprises of CES 2011 was AT&T and T-Mobile magically pulling 4G networks out their hats. The real story isn't quite as magical. Read more | News from ZDNet | | Gartner: PC sales disappoint in fourth quarter, blame the iPad Gartner said that global PC shipments were up 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter and missed its expectations. Why? Apple's iPad and game consoles competed for a share of your wallet. Read more | Sprint Drops Galaxy Tab to $299: New Model Coming? Sprint is now offering the Tab for $299 with a data contract, an excellent price. Often a price drop indicates a forthcoming new model, which Samsung has already stated it will be producing. Read more | Verizon Wireless installs 16 new cell sites in New York metro area Verizon Wireless looks determined not to let its 3G network be overrun by excessive data use once the iPhone 4 becomes part of the family in February. Read more | Ballmer makes it to year 11 as Microsoft CEO Eleven years ago today, January 13, 2000, Steve Ballmer was appointed CEO of Microsoft. Increasingly, many, including me, are wondering how many more years he'll continue in that role. Read more | Apple to ditch "Home" button from iPhone and iPad? Don't bet on it! Another day, another rumor, this time that Apple will "at some point in time" ditch the iconic "Home" button from the iPhone and iPad and replace it instead with multi-touch gestures. Read more | World IPv6 Day has Facebook, Google & Yahoo Support On 8 June, 2011, Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, Akamai, and Limelight Networks will be amongst some of the major organisations that will offer their content over IPv6 for a 24-hour "test drive." Read more | Stats: Android Growth Continues; Passes iOS in Usage Android has grown into a hugely popular platform, according to usage tracked by ad network Millennial Media. Google's platform is generating more revenue than Apple's. Read more | Intel's fourth quarter: Focus on Sandy Bridge Intel kicks off tech earnings season and the fourth quarter is expected to be strong as the PC industry prepped for the launch of Sandy Bridge, the chip giant's latest processor with integrated graphics. Read more | Chrome users are the latest casualty in Google's crusade against Apple Google is removing native support for Apple's favorite video format in their popular Chrome browser. They say they're doing us all a favor to support openness, but what's the real reason? Read more | By dropping H.264, is Google avoiding a trap or walking into one? Google's announcement that it will remove support for the H.264 codec from Chrome doesn't mention money at all. But that hasn't stopped Google's defenders from bringing up MPEG LA and its licensing fees as a primary reason behind this controversial decision. Read more | Is Google after an H.264 free lunch? Since Google announced that it is planning to drop support for the H.264 codec from its Chrome browser (and presumably Chrome OS) the blogosphere has exploded with thoughts, ideas, rants and conspiracy theories about what motive the search giant could have for this move. Read more | Comcast's live TV iPad app is running into resistance from cable networks TV Everywhere is looking like it's getting stuck at home. Comcast's Xfinity TV app, which the cable giant promised would bring live programming and video on-demand choices to iPads and Android tablets later this year, has run afoul of cable networks that don't think Comcast has the right to deliver... Read more | Use Google Analytics, go to jail OK, so maybe you won't actually go to jail. But if you use Google Analytics in Germany, you may be facing a "stiff fine." Read more | 90% of Enterprise IT Managers Deploying New Mobile Apps This Year (Survey, Charts) Here's more proof that 2011 will prove to be the Year of the Mobile Enterprise App. Read more | |  |  | About this newsletter | The Sanity Check newsletter is my daily update on the technology world. You'll get my opinions, rants, reviews, user polls, and hand-picked stories of the day. Jason Hiner TechRepublic Editor in Chief
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