The Technology newsbucket: the empty app store, Android 3.0 tablet?, Halo's bucks and more

A quick burst of 8 links for you to chew over, as picked by the Technology team Intel AppUp is Up, but underwhelming >> Tim Anderson's ITWriting What if they gave an app store, and nobody had bothered to populate it? "Intel has launched AppUp, its application store for Windows and Moblin/MeeGo Linux...Who knows, AppUp may have a bright future, but Intel could have done better with the launch. Three is a poor selection of apps, confusing Moblin/MeeGo branding, and out of date information on the site. Of these, the biggest problem is the lack of apps themselves. The main target is netbooks, and Intel will need a greatly improved selection before AppUp comes close to enhancing netbooks in the way that Apple's App Store enhances iPhone, iPad and iTouch, which is the obvious model." HTC to offer Android 3.0 tablet PC in 1Q11, say Taiwan component makers >> Digitimes The article begins: "HTC plans to launch a tablet PC, possibly equipped with Android 3, in the first quarter of 2011, according to Taiwan-based component makers." Note the diference between headline and first sentence. Government Departments: Computer Software >> Written answers, House of Commons Francis Maude, Cabinet Office: "The Cabinet Office along with the Office of Government Commerce are working on "Guidance for Procurers" specifically covering open source software. A key principle is that Government will actively and fairly consider open source solutions alongside proprietary ones in making procurement decisions. "Procurement decisions will be made on the basis of the best value for money solution to the business requirement, taking account of total cost of ownership of the solution. "Where there is no significant overall cost difference between open and non-open source products, open source will be selected on the basis of its additional inherent flexibility." Police spent tens of thousands on failed BitTorrent probe >> The Register "A failed three-year police investigation of a filesharing website, run in cooperation with the music industry, cost taxpayers at least £29,000, and probably much more. "Figures released by Cleveland Police detail some costs of Operation Ark Royal, a raid on invitation-only BitTorrent site OiNK.cd." Halo: Reach makes $200m in one day >> The Guardian "The title, exclusively available on the Xbox 360 console, beat the three-day opening weekends of blockbusting movies like Iron Man 2 and Toy Story 3, making it the biggest entertainment release of the year so far." Malicious Search Suggestions with Google Instant >> PandaLabs Blog "If you've followed our blog in the past, then you know that Google hasn't done a great job in mitigating Blackhat SEO threats, which have plagued search results for years. As a test, I thought I'd search for "antivirus" and see what suggestions came up. Lo and behold, Antivir Solution Pro, a well known Rogueware infection was amongst the suggested search terms." Nokia Is the McDonald's of Phones >> Gizmodo Brian Barrett allows for all of Nokia's sales and strengths, but points to the weaknesses and threats: "The innovation race is one that Nokia's losing, badly. And the sad part is, there's no indication that they're about to claw out of the hole they've dug themselves. Reading Nokia's official statements these last few months about the N8, the company sounds like a degenerate gambler just waiting for this one big score to get him back in the game. Every financial release sites its imminent release as the light at the end of a very long tunnel. But—in a clumsy metaphorical extension—it's just more tunnel. "Nokia still has a place in the mobile world. A huge one. But it's more 7/11 than Whole Foods, more DSW than Saks. And there's nothing wrong with that! Until they either embrace it or radically change course, though, this spiral downward only gets worse." HTML5 Readiness >> Paul Irish/Divya Manian Comparing the HTML5 and CSS3 compatibility of all the newer browsers - including IE9. Needs a CSS3-capable browser for best effect. You can follow Guardian Technology's linkbucket on delicious