Arn / MacRumors:
Next Generation iPhone Model Revealed in Firmware  —  MacRumors has discovered that Apple’s iPhone 2.x Firmware has evidence of the next generation iPhone which has been designated “iPhone2,1”.  —  Apple uses these models numbers to distinguish between different hardware models.

Kim Dixon / Reuters:
Google begins effort to find Internet blockers  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Google Inc on Wednesday unveiled a plan aimed at eventually letting computer users determine whether providers like Comcast Corp are inappropriately blocking or slowing their work online.

Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Exclusive: AOL to Lay Off 10 Percent of Staff, Cutting 700, Due to Ad Meltdown and a Refocusing on New Structure  —  Time Warner online unit AOL is cutting 700 employees due to the weak economy and the ensuing falloff in advertising revenue, but also because of recent structural changes made […]

Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Apple 2.0:
Why AT&T loves the iPhone (again)  —  For much of last year, AT&T (T) Mobility’s websites seemed to be promoting every cell phone in their arsenal except for the iPhone — as if the company wasn’t sure the revenue coming in from iPhone users was worth the steep bounty it […]

The Official Google Blog:
Introducing Measurement Lab  —  When an Internet application doesn’t work as expected or your connection seems flaky, how can you tell whether there is a problem caused by your broadband ISP, the application, your PC, or something else?  It can be difficult for experts, let alone average Internet users …

Peter Gumbel / Fortune:
Putin-Dell slapdown at Davos  —  The Russian prime minister tells the Dell CEO: ‘We don’t need help.  We are not invalids.’  —  DAVOS, Switzerland (Fortune) — Ever since Vladimir Putin rose to power in 2000, his political opponents and entire countries have learned to their cost that he has a tough, […]

Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
AOL CEO Randy Falco’s Entire Memo to the Troops on Layoffs  —  Here is the letter AOL CEO Randy Falco (pictured here) has penned to the entire staff about layoffs of 10 percent of its workforce-or 700 people-and other cost cuts, which the online service is announcing today.

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Greg Sandoval / CNET News:
Sources: AT&T, Comcast may help RIAA foil piracy  —  CNET staff writer Marguerite Reardon co-authored this report.  —  AT&T and Comcast, two of the nation’s largest Internet service providers, are expected to be among a group of ISPs that will cooperate with the music industry …

The New York Times Company:
The New York Times Company Reports 2008 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results  —  NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—The New York Times Company announced today fourth-quarter 2008 earnings per share from continuing operations (EPS) of $.19, including $.10 per share for severance costs …