Viewsonic has, for now, abandoned plans to integrate Boxee into a smart TV. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Internet-connected TVs, often referred to as smart TVs, were supposed to be the Next Big Thing. But so far, they’re more promise than reality.

A combination of factors, including a lousy economy, lackluster products and consumers more than a little hesitant to buy yet another gadget, have conspired to stall the adoption of smart TVs. The technology is faltering so badly that many electronics firms are reining in plans to offer it.

Viewsonic, for instance, just nixed plans for a Boxee-powered...

While Google+ or Facebook will ban your account if you call yourself Bozo123 in lieu of using your real name, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo welcomes the Bozos — and he thinks Twitter will make more money because of that choice.

“We are wedded to letting people use the service as they see fit,” Costolo said in an informal ‘State of the Union’ get-together with tech reporters in San Francisco Thursday. “Other services may be declaring that you have to use your real name because they think they will be able to monetize that better and think they will be able to get more information about you that will ...