FaceTime

Today in Tech: iPad 2 camera, NYC's new digital officer

A curated selection of the day's most newsworthy tech stories from all over the Web.

Meet Rachel Sterne, New York City's first chief digital officer. The 27-year-old NYU alum, founder of citizen news portal GroundReport, and former LimeWire employee will be tasked with overseeing and improving New York City's digital footprint, streamlining existing social-media interactions, creating public-private partnerships, and improving the city's Web site, nyc.gov. (Wall Street Journal)
Though its revenues fell MORE

Verizon iPhone: Not the dream phone after all

Earlier today, Verizon Wireless finally confirmed its worst-kept secret, and most-lusted after gadget, of the last 12 months: an iPhone running on Verizon's service.

Unfortunately, what the mobile carrier revealed was not exactly the dream phone some subscribers had hoped for. Sure, Verizon got the iPhone 4, and no doubt users will benefit from the carrier's arguably better reception, but there were also some unexpected strings attached:

No 4G. Though Verizon handsets MORE

Skype for iPhone vs. FaceTime

Apple will have to add 3G calling to its video chat service if it wants to compete

If you have an iPhone, you'll want to get the free updated app Skype released Wednesday along with this YouTube video showing how it can be used to see your friends dancing in their underwear.

Skype now supports two-way video calling on the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and fourth-generation iPod touch, not just over Wi-Fi MORE

Santa does FaceTime

A video Christmas card from the elves in Cupertino

For those of us who missed it because we spend more time on the Internet than we do watching advertising-supported television -- which will soon be most Americans, according to Forrester Research -- here's the iPhone ad Apple (AAPL) started airing Monday.

Also available as a QuickTime download at apple.com.

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

Our iPad 2 wishlist

What the rumors about Apple's next tablet are saying, and what we think it has to have to stay competitive with Android and Microsoft Slate.

Ask people what they think of the iPad, and answers will vary. The word "magical" may be thrown around by some starry-eyed owners. "I don't get it," others will say with a shrug, while still others -- call them cynics, disbelievers, or just plain pragmatists -- MORE

Sorry, Windows Phone 7 app makers: the camera's off-limits

As developers decide whether and how to support Microsoft's nascent mobile OS, some have found that creating augmented reality and video chat apps isn't possible, at least for now.

For Microsoft (MSFT), Windows Phone 7 represents an attempt at righting its serious fumbles in the mobile space. In recent years, as Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) introduced and aggressively updated iOS and Android, Microsoft's mobile OS fell further and further behind, MORE

FaceTime's network effects

Apple's video calling app, now on the Mac, is poised for exponential growth, says an analyst

"We believe Apple is acutely aware of the power of networks (Metcalf's Law), and is applying this concept to accelerate adoption of its platform."

So writes Deutsche Bank's Chris Whitmore in a note issued Thursday, the day after Apple's (AAPL) Back to the Mac event.

Whitmore is talking about FaceTime, the video calling feature that first appeared MORE

Today in Tech: News around the Web

Every day, the Fortune staff spends hours poring over tech stories, posts, and reviews from all over the Web to keep tabs on the companies that matter. We've assembled the weekend's most newsworthy bits below.

In yet another situation of cable negotiations gone awry, News Corp. yanked Fox programming from Cablevision. "This is an unfortunate attempt to extort unreasonable and unfair fee increases from Cablevision and our customers," stated a Cablevision email MORE

Cisco's new Umi: The answer to a question nobody asked

The company says its new video chatting device is just what people want. But a look at the competition -- and $600 price point -- doesn't seem to bode well for its chances.

There had better be an elite group of videochatters out there with cash to burn. Otherwise, Cisco Systems will be in trouble with its video-calling system, Umi. Cisco (CSCO) says it has done the market research to back MORE

Apple buys some face technology

Its acquisition of a tiny Swedish company is typical for Apple.

The $45.8 billion in cash and marketable securities that Apple (AAPL) reported in June is  not burning a hole in its corporate pocket. On Monday, our colleague Seth Weintraub spotted a Norwegian media report that Apple had gobbled up a small Swedish company called Polar Rose.

Polar Rose has some nifty face recognition algorithms -- demonstrated below the fold on a MORE