The Moto Development Group recently compared the sensitivity and accuracy of four mobile phone touchscreens: Apple's iPhone, HTC's Droid Eris, Motorola's Droid, and Google's Nexus One. While the test may not be scientifically airtight in its approach - drawing straight lines with a finger using both light and heavy presure - the results are telling. The iPhone seemed to perform best overall, especially when using light pressure, though Google's Nexus One appears to have the best accuracy at the edges of the screen.

Joe Kissell joins Gene Steinberg on an episode of Tech Night Owl Live to discuss, among other things, Joe's article about using and referring to the second button on a mouse, and the considerable (and widely varied) feedback that article has received.

Kuo Design has compiled a hefty collection of magazine covers featuring Steve Jobs. The 87 covers span 28 years, from 1981 to 2009, and take you on a stroll through Jobs's many professional ups and downs - as well as some of his fashion hits and misses!

Apple has enabled Web-based samples of music available in the iTunes Store via the iTunes Preview Web site - prior to this, sample music was limited to iTunes itself. Nevertheless, it seems that the overall goal is to increase iTunes music discovery via Web search engines, all of which are now indexing the iTunes Preview Web site. Despite the fact that you can play samples in your browser, the iTunes Preview site pushes you to iTunes whenever possible.

The Mac world has another podcast - OWC Radio, from hardware retailer Other World Computing. Hosted by Tim Robertson, founder of MyMac.com, the interview was a relaxed conversation that included some stories from the early history of TidBITS and Take Control, what's going on with Macworld Expo this year, and Tim's probing questions into Adam's opinions on desktops vs. laptops, Safari vs. Firefox, and... coffee vs. tea?

Reuters is reporting that Amazon is now accepting pre-orders for an international version of the larger-screen Kindle DX, due to ship on 19 January 2010 for $489, just 3 months after the Kindle 2 was made available in other countries. (See "Amazon Extends Kindle Beyond United States," 8 October 2009, for more details on Amazon's international approach.)

After reportedly losing out to Google in an attempt to purchase mobile advertising firm AdMob, Apple has now picked up AdMob competitor Quattro Wireless. Advertising has never been part of Apple's business model, but it seems that might be changing in the not-too-distant future.

Apple's late-January booking of a stage at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco has ignited yet another round of furious Apple tablet speculation. With all the theories, assumptions, and stories kicking around, it's easy to feel completely lost on the subject. To help you wrap your head around the buzz, Gizmodo has compiled a summary of all the Apple tablet rumors to date... or you could just wait until Apple's announcement to see what happens.

The Harvard Business Review has named Steve Jobs the top-performing CEO in the world. The article ranks almost 2,000 company leaders from around the world by analyzing each company's performance over the CEO's full tenure. Jobs, since returning to Apple in 1997, has increased the company’s market value by $150 billion and overseen an industry-adjusted return of 3,188 percent.

The Wall Street Journal reports on a recent federal appeals court decision to fine Microsoft $290 million and ban the company from selling copies of Word 2007 after 11 January 2010. The plaintiff, a Canadian software company named i4i Inc., sued Microsoft in 2007 for infringing on a patent for technology that improves the handling of XML code. Microsoft, while looking further into its legal options, has plans to remove the contested code from future copies of Word 2007 and the forthcoming Office 2010 - though the company notes it does not expect shipments of the program to be disrupted.

Our friends at MacTech Magazine are kicking off their 25th anniversary celebration by soliciting the Mac community's best Mac-related stories, to be printed in upcoming issues of MacTech over the next year. The first issue of MacTech came out in December 1984, after which it was published as MacTutor for the next 7 years, before eventually reverting back to the MacTech name.

New York Times columnist David Pogue is holding Verizon Wireless's toes to the fire regarding the carrier's dubious pricing schemes. The profit centers in question include doubling early cancellation fees for smartphones and charging users $2 a pop for hitting those hard-to-miss arrow buttons on the keypad. Despite the involvement of the FCC, which formally asked Verizon for answers, Verizon continues to deny culpability. In other words, the grass isn't always greener in other cellular carrier pastures.

In recent years, Google has sent holiday gifts to large AdWords purchasers and AdSense publishers, but this year is instead donating $20 million to a variety of charities. Kudos to Google for putting its money where its "Don't be evil" mouth is, and for not adding to the world's ever-increasing layer of cheap plastic crud.

Scrambling to come up with last-minute presents for those lingering on your gift list? If you and your recipient are Facebook users, consider an iTunes Store gift card. You can now purchase virtual iTunes gift cards through Facebook, without needing iTunes at all. To purchase one, you must become a fan of iTunes on Facebook, then click the iTunes Gifts tab to follow customization and purchase instructions. The certificates come in $5 (which isn't available normally via iTunes itself), $10, $15, and $25 values.

Hopefully you've finished all your holiday shopping - at least if you were planning on ordering a 27-inch iMac. In a statement to CNET, an Apple spokesperson has apologized for a two-week shipping delay on all 27-inch iMacs. While Apple isn't giving a specific cause for the delay, other than implying the 27-inch's wild success has made filling orders difficult, it would seem likely that the delay is related to the recent reports of broken displays (see "New iMac Screens Cracking and Flickering," 10 December 2009). The 21-inch iMac is still shipping within 24 hours.