Links for Thursday June 2^nd, 2011

• Microsoft details specs for Windows 8 tablets, shows off hardware: The demo that Microsoft showed yesterday actually looks pretty darn good, but there is some grumbling from their hardware partners, so I think this anything but a "sure thing" for Microsoft. It'll be interesting to see how this unfolds.

• Open Request to the Producers of “Castle”: Sounds good to me.

• iPhone 5 Likely to Support AT&T '4G', Widening Speed Gap Over Verizon: I wouldn't bother believing AT&T's marketing at this point — they are outright lying about the capabilities of certain phones. The theoretical speed of your phone doesn't matter — what matters is how well it works in practice, when you need it to. And AT&T is still failing miserably on that point, no matter how many G's they claim that their network has.

• Major labels, music publishers lining up behind Apple's iCloud: We're starting to see some leaks ahead of WWDC, and this one sounds pretty reasonable. I can't say that I'm super-excited about iCloud, but if it can be used to sync more than just music, then maybe Apple will be on to something.

• APPLE: Here's Why It Doesn't Matter That The iPhone Is Getting Crushed By Android In Market Share: I don't know that Android fragmentation really matters. Because there is so much platform fragmentation already — iOS, BlackBerry, Android (and its variants), Windows Phone 7, and webOS. I think that the one thing that all of those platforms have in common is a decent web browser (well, maybe not BlackBerry). So over time, I think the mobile space will really converge on HTML5.

  Or maybe it's Apps from here on out, and Apple is going to win. I mean, who can predict these things?

• Apple Execs Are Absolutely Giddy Right Now Says Goldman Sachs: I don't know that I'm as optimistic as Tim Cook, but I don't think I would bet against Apple at this point.

• Apple patents infrared system for iOS devices to prevent illegal image and video capturing: This feels a little to "big brothery" for my taste.

• Netflix CEO Says He'd Rather Spend Money on HBO and Showtime Than on Original Content: I thought Reed Hastings interview at AllThingsD this morning was pretty good. I got some more insight into how Netflix views their business (delivering all-you-can-eat, ad free content), and this article is a pretty decent summary.

• relentlessly cheerful tumblr: 'Firefrog' - Firefly, re-imaged as muppets. Pretty cool stuff.