Digital Week in Review: Google’s Official Honeycomb Preview is Released

Google’s Official Honeycomb Preview is Released; Search Engine Journal
Google showed off the first preview of features in Honeycomb, its upcoming version of Android designed for tablets, during a keynote speech Thursday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The Takeaway: Google’s dip into the tablet market serves as a means to legitimize the still-emerging tablet. How content creators and the like can find a means to monetize on this front still remains to be seen.

Google Android passes Apple iPhone in Total Number of US Subscribers; Apple Insider
Strong sales of phones running Google Android throughout 2010 have managed to push the mobile platform past Apple’s iPhone in total active subscribers for the first time, according to comScore.
The Takeaway: While  the iPhone still holds a special spot in the hearts of many mobile users, more than ever before Android has been giving the iPhone a run for its money. The question is whether Android can hold onto its title once the Verizon iPhone is released.

Twitter Informs Users Of DOJ WikiLeaks Court Order, Didn’t Have To; TechCrunch
The US Department of Justice has served Twitter with a 2703(d) court order to reveal information about accounts related to people associated with WikiLeaks. Salon that the original (sealed) order was signed on December 14th by Judge Theresa Buchanan in Alexandria, Va. It gave Twitter 3 days to comply with the DOJ without notifying anyone involved. Then mysteriously, and possibly because a gag order on a 2703 (d) might be unconstitutional, Buchanan decided this Wednesday to unseal the document at Twitter’s request.
The Takeaway: Think your information is private? Think again. A court order could be served to access any service to hunt down suspected criminals. Remember the information you put online is permanent.

Local.com says Yahoo’s Bing deal hurts revenue; Reuters
Bing is charging advertisers less for Local’s search traffic, which resulted in less revenue per click (RPC) than what Yahoo had paid prior to the integration of its search engine with Microsoft, the company said in a statement.
The Takeaway: Because of this and other shifts, sites like Amazon.com and eBay.com are more likely to begin investing in local platforms to attract group buyers, as customers flock online for deals and discounts.