Tech Week in Review 12-31-2010

Guy Makes Money Suing Spammers

You thought you hated spam, but nowhere near as much as Daniel Balsam. He hates spam so much that he went back to school, got a law degree, and now sues spammers for a living.

Eight years ago, Balsam was working as a marketer when he received one too many e-mail pitches to enlarge his breasts.

Enraged, he launched a Web site called Danhatesspam.com, quit a career in marketing to go to law school and is making a decent living suing companies who flood his e-mail inboxes with offers of cheap drugs, free sex and unbelievable vacations.

“I feel like I’m doing a little bit of good cleaning up the Internet,” Balsam said.

Using California’s anti-spam law as a weapon, Balsam goes after companies who he says violate these regulations. Most avoid the hassle of a lawsuit entirely, settling with Balsam. He has racked up over $1 million in court judgments and lawsuit settlements.

via Yahoo

Android Will Blow Up in 2011

According to Fortune, there will be major changes for mobile in the coming year. Android has developed at a ridiculous pace since it’s launch, but this is only the tip of the iceberg. Smartphone growth will continue to accelerate and Android will serve as a catalyst for that growth.

In 2011, we might see half a billion phones sold worldwide. Smartphones will likely blow by traditional computers next year as the way most of the world gains access to the Internet.

Two major factors will drive this, in tandem: Wireless infrastructure is getting better every day, and hardware is getting cheaper. Cheaper hardware will eliminate the need for subsidies and therefore will improve competition between carriers, and spur them to improve their networks. Google (GOOG) Android head Andy Rubin calls this a ‘perfect storm‘ for smartphone adoption.

Not only will Android appear on many more devices, but the availability of cheaper handsets will influence the way carriers operate and give customers more freedom.

Apple Preparing 3 Versions of iPad 2 for 2011?

According to Digitimes, Apple will be launching multiple versions of the iPad 2 to support multiple data connectivity methods. This opens the door for partnerships with just about every carrier out there. It will be interesting to see exactly what Apple’s iPad 2 strategy will be. One this is for certain: They will sell a lot of them.

Apple is expected to release three versions of iPad 2, supporting either or a combination of Wi-Fi, UMTS and CDMA, for 2011 with mass production to start as early as the later half of January. Apple will ship about 500,000-530,000 units to channels in January with shipment ratio of Wi-Fi, UMTS and CDMA models at 3:4:3, according to industry sources, citing upstream component makers.