In a move that might or might not impact Google, Yahoo, and mobile providers, the European Commission has given its approval to TomTom's $4.5 billion bid to buy map maker Tele Atlas.

In confidential documents leaked this week, European regulators suggested they see a proposed $8.1 billion merger between those two companies as similar to -- but different from -- the TomTom/Tele Atlas deal just approved.

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After two years in development, the final veil is being lifted from Microsoft's suite of online services, some of which are now being made available for Windows Mobile smartphone users.

A majority of Microsoft's free online consumer services for Windows users have now been extended into the Windows Mobile space, now that testing on the concept -which has been under way since June 2006- has apparently ended.

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A California-based surveyor's technology provider called Trimble introduced today a new GPS thumbnail-sized GPS receiver designed to work better in poor signal environments than other GPS technology.

The Trimble Copernicus II GPS receiver offers users position, velocity and time data, using a 12-channel GPS receiver that measures 19 mm x 19 mm x 2.5 mm. The ultra-thin, surface mount GPS module is ideal for any device that needs GPS capabilities, such as phones or computer devices. Its design and ability to use active and passive antennas opens up a myriad of possibilities for integration into Bluetooth devices, personal navigators for vehicles or boats, cameras, computer communication devices, portable GPS devices, and security products.

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Since the debut of Google's Street View in its mapping application, bloggers and curiosity seekers have made it somewhat of a sport to catch folks who may not have wanted their activities photographed.

These unflattering shots then make their rounds across the Internet and range from the somewhat humorous -- such as a bicycle stunt gone wrong or a man captured checking out a few ladies during a stroll at the beach -- they have also been know to catch things that might be less than legal -- including a pair of women who's business on the corner may not be sanguine.

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The road ahead for Google's Linux platform for mobile devices just got a little cloudier, with two of the companies whose allegiance it would need to ensure its success, this morning announcing they're backing its principal competitor.

If Google thought it would have a cakewalk in its efforts to advance an open mobile smartphone platform based on Linux, it's realizing now it may need more traction. This morning, the LiMo Foundation -- comprised of both hardware and software vendors with a stake in Linux on cell phones -- added several more powerhouse members to its coalition, including memory maker Infineon, major US telco Verizon, and Firefox browser maker Mozilla.

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In an effort to stay competitive against similar services used by map providers and real estate agents, Google today more easily added a new Real Estate search function for Google Maps.

A user now can go to Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/) to retrieve information for real estate listings within the visible area. To do this, the user enters a city name in the "Search the map" field, then selects the "Real Estate" tab under "Show more search options."

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In a demonstration to The Chronicle, the music industry group discloses it uses the same software client as file sharers to catch pirates.

No university is singled out above another, and LimeWire is used as RIAA's software of choice. The process begins with a search on the service for song titles owned by its member organizations.

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Web traffic analyst comScore is reporting that Yahoo's Buzz social news service has already overtaken Digg in unique visitors per month, even though the social news site is still only in beta.

Yahoo Buzz had an explosive first few months, showing that it could generate 90% of the traffic that three-year old Digg could in only a matter of weeks. Furthermore, users of Buzz have been found to be more likely to comment on Buzzed stories.

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Samsung's family line of succession has been broken -- at least temporarily -- in a shakeup that could pave the way for some reform at the scandal-ridden conglomerate.

With the now finalized exit of Samsung Chairman and co-CEO Lee Kun-hee, Lee's son -- long-time heir apparent Lee Jae-yong -- will be sent off to "humble working conditions" overseas instead of jumping into his father's shoes.

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The next version of the up-and-coming graphical browser -- a popular alternative to what phone manufacturers typically supply -- has emerged from beta and is available free.

The latest iteration of Opera Mini, which has already been ported over to Android, promises an all-around faster experience on the mobile Web. In addition to intelligent text-completion for entering URLs to speed the browsing process, Opera Mini's servers have been upgraded to expedite page loads. In-text searching ("Ctrl-F") was also added to streamline content location.

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Fresh from forcing a reorganization at Motorola, Carl Icahn is now reportedly giving serious thought to trying to replace Yahoo's current board of directors, and engineering a deal with Microsoft.

Billionaire "activist" investor Carl Icahn has been busily buying up Yahoo shares over the past week, and he is interested in waging a proxy fight to elect a new board that would bring Yahoo and Microsoft back to the negotiating tablet, according to an article in Reuters which cites unnamed sources.

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An agreement between Korea's principal developers of mobile digital television technology has paved the way for a direct agreement between them and the US' leading broadcasters for a standard to compete with cell phones and satellite.

Next February, American analog television stations will cease transmission, as their broadcasters complete their move to an all-digital standard on new frequencies, using the ATSC DTV broadcasting standard. So there will already be one over-the-airwaves standard for US broadcasters, and very likely Canadian. This has left many wondering, does there really need to be a second or even third standard exclusively for mobile digital television?

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The PS3 manufacturer said the feature that allows gamers to trade virtual items for real money will be expanded into two new titles to be released by its in-house game studio.

Those titles, The Agency and Free Realms, use technology from Live Gamer that serves as a secure back-end for online marketplaces. The company incorporated Sony's Station Exchange technology into its own product earlier this year.

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After eBay sued Craigslist, accusing it of manipulating its stock holdings to dilute eBay's minority interest in the online classified service, Craigslist countersued yesterday, citing ten ways eBay has wronged it.

Yesterday, Craigslist filed suit against eBay in California Superior Court, San Francisco, asking for punitive damages, full restitution and disgorgement of profits, and for eBay to return shares acquired as leverage for unfair competition. Failing those, it's asking the court to force eBay to divest itself completely from Craigslist.

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While the enthusiast community was puzzling over how an entire product line that just replaced its flagship desktop only two weeks ago was being canceled, Dell found itself quelling yet another false rumor propagated by a major news source.

In a blog post yesterday evening inspired partly by BetaNews' inquiries yesterday, Dell spokesperson Anne Camden flatly dismissed as "incorrect" a Wall Street Journal story Tuesday that stated the company was making plans to phase out its premium XPS systems, beginning with four models next month.

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