Become.com’s claim to fame is that it’s the “first vertical search engine to combine product-focused Web search wit comparison shopping.” While vertical search engines (limited to specific areas, such as shopping) have existed for quite a while, they’ve oddly never been as good as their more general counterparts. Become.com (among a handful of others) are changing that.

Become certainly delivers many nifty features that the “big boys” lack in their area and employs refreshing Ajax swiftness to do so. Having just launched a visual upgrade, everyone at Become is more excited than ever. Hear Become.com’s Greg Haslam speak a bit on the company’s strategy and search technologies in this interview with webpronews.com.

Audible, Inc. is a provider of spoken entertainment (which got their start even before iPods existed) and information on the Internet. Audible specializes in the spoken experience, providing digital audio editions of books, newspapers and magazines, original programming, plus TV and radio subscriptions.

You can shop, purchase, and download audio content directly to personal computers for listening in a variety of ways. Most of AudibleÂ’’s customers download audio to their PCs and Macs and then transfer the audio to MP3 players, personal digital assistants (PDAs), or to smart mobile devices (SMDs) for listening on the go.

James Pearson of Audible says, customers can select from nearly 100,000 hours of audio content, or more than 30,000 different programs. The audio editions of national periodicals such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and The New Yorker are just a few to name.

NOTCOT was a labor of love for Jean Aw. From what started as a personal design blog to “keep track of resources,” NOTCOT has expanded into two sites, NOTCOT.com and NOTCOT.org which collect around 20,000 visits per day. NOTCOT.com is still (mainly) a standard design blog but NOTCOT.org has evolved into something of a social network. Users submit interesting aesthetic finds such as new art and artists, products and projects.

Jean has teamed up with ThisNext as less of a business move and more as a way to drive interest and content to NOTCOT. Users can tag items from ThisNext with “notcot” and they automatically appear on her site with shopping links. When asked about tranforming NOTCOT into a “traditional” business, Aw replied that “as a designer, it’s a living, breathing portfolio.” Already in place a springboard to her design consultancy, it seems to make much more sense for NOTCOT to thrive on this “network of informative and collaborative websites” rather than strike exclusive deals.

Unfortunately, internet security isn’t taken as seriously as it should be. Though awareness for personal security measures online is increasing, too many are victim to crimes which could have been easily avoided through simple measures. Eric Gertler, former CEO of Privista, has just released a new book called, “Prying Eyes: Protect Your Privacy From People Who Sell to You, Snoop on You, or Steal From You.” It’s all in the title.

Gertler’s concerned about the safety of the uninitiated. In a recent talk at the DigitalLife Expo in New York City, Gertler urges a crowd consisting mostly of high school students to take action in protecting themselves. “We have zero privacy… whether you like it or not… It’s worse when you go online.” His message leans more toward taking care in what and how you share information online and with whom, in addition to utilizing protective software.

No matter how you slice it, digital content will never replace print. In a world where we buy music & movies online and even virtual land goes for big bucks, a page in the hand is still worth a thousand ebooks. In a pleasant break from the norm, some online businesses are embracing this philosophy. Some print photos for family albums from digital sources, some screenprint garage bands’ t-shirts from uploaded designs… and some print entire books.

Blurb is among this breed of new publisher. Yet, unlike tradional publishers, Blurb doesn’t sign contracts with authors or otherwise chase talent… they open their doors to everyone. By simply downloading a desktop application (for Windows or Mac), prospective authors and artists can follow simple templates and publish a real book, dust jacket and all.

CEO and founder, Eileen Gittins implies that technology is ripe for such advancements. “If I were starting this business five years ago, it would have been daunting… starting this business now, in 2006… we’re able to leverage a lot of technologies that have come before. We’re like the grandchild of desktop publishing.”

Phantom Entertainment plans to help widen consumers’ experiences with digital media, by aiding its previously clumsy migration on to our television sets. Enter the Lapboard, Phantom Game Service and new CEO, Greg Koler.

After dropping plans on a game console to compete with Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony, there was a lot of corporate cleaning to do. Though haunted by bad press, unsatisfied investors and lack of released product… it would appear spirits (and stocks) are up for Phantom. At this year’s DigitalLife Expo, Koler demonstrated the Lapboard, touting its flexibility in the Media Center and gaming markets. Nominated for the show’s Innovator Award, the Lapboard might just be a hit this New Year.

Perhaps most interesting, though, is the persistance of the Phantom Game Service. Originally the keystone for the Phantom Console, this online gaming service lives on to compete with the likes of Gametap. There’s no word on expected availability for this service but expect it to be licensed through internet providers rather than coming directly through Phantom.