Google Tops in Most Powerful Global Brands
For the second year in a row, a technology brand ranked as number one among the most powerful global brand, a survey released Monday says.
The study by market research and consulting firm Millward Brown shows that Google ranks as the top brand with a value of $66.4 billion. It beat out competitor Microsoft, who was third with a market value of $55 billion, and non-tech companies GE and Coca-Cola, in second and fourth.
Database Leaks 150,000 Social Secuirty Numbers
For years, the social security numbers of thousands of recipients of special loans or financial assistance from the United States Department of Agriculture have been publicly available in a database on a Web site.
The government had been unaware of the slip-up, which was first reported by FedSpending.org, a non-profit watchdog group. It is thought that between 100,000 to 150,000 farmers were affected by the incident.
PS3 US Sales Stabilize, Wii Sales Drop in March
Data for the month of March from NPD Group indicates that the PlayStation 3's rapid decline in sales in the US has stabilized, while sales of the Wii are falling back to earth.
For the month, the PS3 sold 130,000 consoles, up about 2 percent from the past month. While the change is statistically insignificant due to it being within the margin of error for the survey, it still shows signs that sales have begun to stabilize.
FTC Asked to Block Google-DoubleClick Merger
The chorus of opposition to the proposed Google-DoubleClick deal grew louder Friday as three interest groups filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission over privacy concerns.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center, Center for Digital Democracy, and U.S. Public Interest Research Groups are petitioning the FTC to block the merger until concerns over Google's data collection and storage are addressed.
RIM: 'Series' of Errors Caused Outage
Research In Motion said late Thursday that a malfunctioning new feature caused the outage which affected millions of its subscribers Tuesday night into early Wednesday.
Users of the popular Blackberry first started having problems around 5pm ET on April 17, which lasted until about 4am ET the following day. During the outage, e-mail and web access was unreliable, although users were still able to place phone calls.
Microsoft Turns On Social Networking in Spaces
Windows Live Spaces received a refresh as the planned upgrades to the service began appearing on the site on Friday. The changes are meant to refocus the site more as a social networking platform than blogging service.
As first reported by BetaNews on Monday, the update is part of what looks to be a refocus on the Live brand over the next several months. Microsoft seems to be remaking Spaces into a MySpace competitor, and a lot of the new features follow that idea.
Google Launches StumbleUpon Competitor
With services like StumbleUpon becoming ever more popular, Google has decided to throw its hat into the ring. On Wednesday, the company added a feature to its toolbar that recommends Web sites based on past search history.
The company has been offering the capability to keep track of past searches since June 2005, integrating the functionality across several of its products. However, it was billed as mostly a feature to help improve future search queries.
Yahoo Sued for Aiding Chinese Authorities
Yahoo is finding itself in legal hot water over assisting Chinese authorities in identifying an Internet user accused of writing "subversive" messages about the country's government.
Yu Ling, wife of Wang Xiaoning, sued the company in US District Court for the Northern District of California, accusing Yahoo of violations of Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victims Protection Act.
MySpace Launches Social News Site
MySpace is taking on the likes of Digg and Netscape with its own news sites, allowing its users to vote for stories they think should be on the front page or in its sections.
The MySpace News staff will select the articles for possible inclusion, and then turn it over to the user to select which stories are the most important. This is a different approach than MySpace's competitors, where the users both submit stories and vote their ranking.
Microsoft Wants 1 Billion New PC Users by 2015
Microsoft used the backdrop of Bill Gates' trip to China to announce a new program that would help to provide technology to the estimated five billion worldwide who have little or no access to it.
The plan is quite expansive, including initiatives that would focus on education, innovations, and jobs and economic growth. It hopes to reach the first billion of those underserved by the year 2015, it says.
Iowans to Get $179.5 Million from Microsoft
Microsoft has agreed to settle a class-action suit with Iowa for $179.5 million, which will make residents of the state who bought Microsoft products between 1994 and 2006 eligible for a cash settlement.
The amount will vary based on the cost of product purchased during the period. Each copy of Windows or MS-DOS is worth $16; Excel $25; Office $29; and Word, Works, and Home Essential $10.
Microsoft, Lenovo Partner in China on R&D
Microsoft and Lenovo announced an agreement Wednesday that will combine their research and development efforts in the consumer and mobile technology sectors. The announcement comes as Chairman Bill Gates arrived in China to hold talks with government leaders.
The company is in China to strengthen its ties with the Communist nation even as tension increase between Beijing and Washington. Microsoft sees the country as a new growth opportunity, and is working with the government and local companies to promote its products.
Blackberry Service Restored in North America
Service has been restored to Blackberry users after an overnight failure caused the system to be unable to send e-mails. Research In Motion said the exact cause of the problem is still unknown.
North American users were affected by the problem, said to have begun around 5pm Eastern on Tuesday. Service began to come back around 4am Eastern, although problems associated with the backlog of e-mails may still result.
Vonage: Litigation Could Bankrupt Us
The news continues to get worse for Vonage, which last month lost a major patent infringement lawsuit filed by Verizon Wireless.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday, the VoIP provider acknowledged for the first time publicly that its legal problems could seriously harm the company's financial health.
Google to Offer Online PowerPoint Rival
Even though Google continues to claim that its online productivity suite is not intended to compete with Microsoft's Office product, its latest addition is beginning to raise eyebrows.
The Mountain View, Calif. company disclosed Tuesday that it is about to release a presentation and slide show tool in the coming months. The product would join its word processing software, released last August, and its spreadsheet application, launched in October.
Ed's Bio
Ed Oswald is a freelance journalist from the Reading, PA area. Although he has written across a variety of subjects, Ed’s passion and focus has been on technology and gadgets. His work regularly appears on tech news sites BetaNews, PCWorld, and Technologizer, and has been syndicated to eWeek, Time’s Techland blog, VentureBeat and the New York Times.
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