For many people, today will be the first day back in work after the holidays (what are you playing at? We were back in on the 2nd!). If you spent your last couple of days of rest away from the soothing lure of the Internet, let us help you catch up on what you missed, on The Next Web and beyond.
In the news
- Google says Maps redirect on Windows Phone was a product decision
- Iran developing ‘intelligent software’ to censor social networks instead of blocking them completely, and will be removed
- Panasonic, IBM, ABOX42 and others join LG and Toshiba’s Smart TV Alliance to solve fragmentation
- Look at how great a Google smartwatch could be
- This $200 device will Rickroll anyone who comes within six feet of it
Good reads
- Pole party: Life and tech in Antarctica
- Big data made real: Technologies to help improve your life
- Is it crazy to think we could see a Yahoo! phone or mobile OS at some point?
- Competitive gaming is coming of age as the esports scene takes off
- Mobile ecosystems and the growing impotence of choice
Useful guides
- 8 must-have tools for collecting customer intel via online surveys
- Platform thinking: 4 ways to leverage the power of networks for your business in 2013
- 5 fun ways to travel back in time with your social data
- 3 useful tips to help your early stage startup acquire paying enterprise customers
Interesting stories from beyond The Next Web
- Can Social Media Sell Soap? [New York Times]
- Why Does Everyone Think Google Beat the FTC? [The New Republic]
- Life and Death Online: Who Controls a Digital Legacy? [Wall Street Journal]
- The Fifth Horseman: Samsung [TechCrunch]
Image credit: Creatas / Thinkstock
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