Roundup: Apple tablet haters, do NOT text while driving, Verizon cutting another 8,000 jobs

Why the rumored Apple tablet could be a flop — Apple products get more than their share of pre-release hype from … well, from just about everyone but Bill Gates. PC World writer Michael Scalisi explains why he thinks the rumored device, best described as an oversize iPod Touch, isn’t something that will sell. Specifically, he thinks the iPhone’s touch-to-type interface won’t work comfortably on a larger device, and that Mac fans will feel thwarted by iPhone OS on a computer, as opposed to Mac OS X.
[Image by PC World]
Windows Marketplace for Mobile now accepting submissions — Microsoft’s version of the App Store is almost open for business. The Windows Mobile Blog announces that they are now accepting app submissions that, once vetted and approved, will go up for download on the Marketplace.
Texting while driving raises your risk of a crash 23 times higher – A study by the Virgnia Tech Transportation Institute mounted video cameras in the cabs of long-haul trucks and found that texting drivers typically took their eyes off the road for more than five seconds at time. That’s enough time for the truck to travel the length of a football field and then some. The New York Times pulled together a multiple-source report. In case you missed it: That Boston train driver who may or may not have been texting right before a crash? Yep, he was texting his girlfriend.
Movie effects have become a battleground between Nvidia and AMD — The 45-second scene of swirling, realistic-looking fire in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince took nine months to create. Hardware and software developers are switching from custom “render farms” of servers to the mass-produced GPU (graphics processing unit) chips that sit next to CPU chips in PCs and laptops. ”The render farm is as obsolete today as the rotary phone,” says one graphics specialist in this report by the Wall Street Journal.
[Image by Industrial Light & Magic]
Verizon plans to cut another 8,000 jobs by year’s end — The telecom supergiant already eliminated 8,000 jobs in the past year, but there’ll be just as many axed in the second half of 2009. “Candidly, we are looking at all other areas of expense,” CFO John Killian said on an earnings call today. AllThingsD reporter John Paczowski reports that the only bright news was that Verizon execs insist they will add the hot Palm Pre phone to its lineup this year, something Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has insisted is not possible due to the mystery length of Sprint’s exclusivity contract on the Pre.
YouTube could be profitable in the near future — Three reasons: 1. Bandwidth and storage costs are dropping. 2. YouTube can cut its costs by peering, the process of setting up duplicate servers in the right places on the global network to minimize both lag time and cost of delivery. 3. “The biggest hurdle to profitability is attaining sufficient user and usage volumes, obtaining contracts for content rights, and monetizing against the video content.” Wait, isn’t that three hurdles? Business Insider talked to analysts who study content delivery networks to get the rundown and the takeaway.