Kodak Sues Apple. Kodak has filed two lawsuits in federal court in Rochester, New York, claiming Apple used without permission Kodak’s tech for digitally transmitting photos and for previewing digital photos. It’s possibly a strategy move aimed at increasingly the value of Kodak’s portfolio of 1,100 patents–selling them off could help fund Kodak’s recovery, Bloomberg reports. –TG
–Updated 5:46 p.m. EST
Apple’s January 19th Event Is About Education. The rumored January press event for Apple has now been confirmed. It’s a New York affair at the Guggenheim Museum, as press invites confrim, and it’s an “education event.” New rumors are already in motion that suggest the event is related to iBooks and making more afforable and cleverer e-text books for students. –KE
–Updated 12:35 a.m. EST
Google Rebuts Twitter Pooh-Pooh On Social Search. In a Google+ post (where else?) Google issued a counter to a Twitter General Counsel’s tweeted disapproval of its new social search plans, which would populate search results with public Google+ posts. They were “surprised” at Twitter’s disapproval at not being included in top search results, they said. After all, didn’t Twitter pull away first, when it failed to renew its contract with Google over the summer? —NS
–Updated 8:00 a.m. EST
Baidu Testing Social Share Buttons. The Internet isn’t done denouncing Google’s decision to surface social results from Google+ into their search stream, but Baidu, China’s search giant, seems to be plotting something similar. It’s beta testing sharing buttons linked to their social bookmarking service, Baidu Share, which show up with some search terms, like the “+1” button shows up with Google’s results. —NS
–Updated 7:15 a.m. EST
Intel Partners With Lenovo, Motorola For Smartphones. Intel is striking out strong in the smartphone space, with two new partners in Motorola and Lenovo. At the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show, chief executive Paul Otellini showed off an Intel-powered K800, made by Lenovo, which will launch with China Unicom in the U.S. later this year. —NS
–Updated 6:45 a.m. EST
Motorola Cutting Back On Phones. Motorola has announced that it will release fewer phones this year, in the first signs that the product spam may be slowing down this year. HTC and Amazon seem to be adopting similar stay-simple strategies. CEO Sanjay Jha said the decision was intended to focus attention, and advertising dollars, on a few strategic products. —NS
Apple And Anobit Confirm Deal. Late in December, reports surfaced of Apple’s newest purchase: an Israeli flash memory maker called Anobit. Both companies have now confirmed that deal. With Anobit at its side, Apple will no longer need to rely on external providers for its flash memory, which makes up key bits of the iPhone and iPad. —NS
Google’s Social Search Shift Gets Sour Response. Google’s recent decision to include social search results (i.e. from Google+) into Google search streams has invited some sour feedback, not least from other social networks. Particularly noteworthy was Twitter General Counsel Alex Macgillivray’s (formerly of Google) critical tweet, calling it “a bad day for the internet.” —NS
Spanish Bank Switches To Google. Google has signed a mammoth deal with the Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA) for the use of its Google Apps enterprise suite. This is Google’s largest win on the enterprise front, Bloomberg reports, an area the company’s been trying to win from Microsoft. —NS
Google, O-Zone Team Up For Free Wi-Fi In India. Indians connecting to O-Zone wireless hotspots in cafes, restaurants and bookstores across the country will have free access to YouTube (for 10 minutes every week) and Google+, thanks to a new deal that Google and the Wi-Fi provider have agreed on. The three-month promotion begins this weekend. —NS
–Updated 5:45 a.m. EST
[Image: Flickr user Yodel Anecdotal]
Yesterday’s Fast Feed: Google Gets Personal, EU Introducing Cookie Regulations, Groupon-Deutsche Telekom Partner Up, Free Mobile Launching In France, and more!
