Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 U.S. cellphone carrier, passed on the chance to be the exclusive distributor of the iPhone almost two years ago, balking at Apple's rich financial terms and other demands. Among other things, Apple wanted a percentage of the monthly cellphone fees, say over how and where iPhones could be sold and control of the relationship with iPhone customers, said Jim Gerace, a Verizon Wireless vice president. "We said no. We have nothing bad to say about the Apple iPhone. We just couldn't reach a deal that was mutually beneficial." Verizon's decision to pull the plug on talks sent Apple into the waiting arms of Cingular, which will be the exclusive U.S. carrier for the iPhone. The

Renkoo solves a problem we've all had: how does a group of friends decide on a place and time to get together (and maybe also an activity to enjoy)? Preferably without completely filling up your email box or spending all day on the phone :-) Renkoo is a free, easy way to plan your social events, send out invitations and organize your outings. For more information, go to renkoo.com!

Woot.com is an online store and community that focuses on selling cool stuff cheap.They sell one item per day (24 hour period), and when it's gone, it's gone. Cool gadgets are sold at insanely cheap prices, so log on to www.woot.com every day to see what they are featuring. Each woot.com product is discontinued at 11:59pm central time, so don't wait too long!

Windows Vista is coming, what should the average user expect from Microsoft's latest operating system? USA Today: It is the countdown to Microsoft's most important product launch in at least five years and Microsoft has sky-high hopes. It expects Windows Vista to be its most successful PC operating system yet. But the sheer size of the next-generation software — it packs dozens of new features — and lingering questions over security have caused anxiety among some business and home users. On Jan. 30, the software giant will make Vista available to consumers. It will also unfurl the 2007 versions of Microsoft Office, a suite of software programs that includes Word, Excel and Microsoft Exchange Server, an e-mail messaging server. Vista

If you feel like your inbox is suddenly overrun with spam again, you are right. Not long ago, there seemed hope that spam had passed its prime. Just last December, the Federal Trade Commission published an optimistic state-of-spam report, citing research indicating spam had leveled off or even dropped during the previous year. Instead, it now appears spammers had simply gone back to the drawing board. There's more spam now than ever before... Read Full Story Fight Spam!

Apple will likely have some wiggle room to cut retail prices on the iPhone, if a report from iSuppli proves correct. The consulting firm on Thursday released an analysis of what the total component budget will likely be for the Apple iPhone. The $499 iPhone, which comes with 4GB of memory, will likely have a component budget of $229.85. Assembly costs will raise the total manufacturing price to $245.83, according to the analysis. Meanwhile, the $599 iPhone, sporting 8GB of memory, will have a component budget of $264.85, with a total manufacturing cost of $280.83, according to the report. The large margins make price cuts inevitable... Digg story News Link