Swedish Music Fans Start to Steer Clear of Pirates
Martin Thornkvist, who runs a record label in Sweden, was looking online for the new album from the American band Vampire Weekend a few weeks ago. He turned first to Spotify, a free, legal digital music service; unable to find it there, he eventually

3G brings a boom to Chinese mobile phone industry
When the Chinese government issued the long awaited third generation (3G) license to three domestic telecom operators a year ago, few imagined the number of the country’s 3G users would reach nearly 15 million within one year. Industry analysts pred

Haiti’s Mobile Phones Ring Again as Telecom Operator Voilà Revives Network
Mobile phones are starting to ring here again, more than a week after a massive earthquake knocked out telecommunications services across Haiti. About 80% of the network operated by Haiti’s second-largest wireless provider, Voilà, is up and running

The War Between Apple and Google Has Just Begun
Consumers are witnessing the beginning of a new war between computer companies. Instead of the Apple-Microsoft conflict of the early 1980s, this fight is taking place between Apple and Google. The latest skirmish: BusinessWeek reported Wednesday tha

Why Apple May Dump Google: to cut Google off from valuable data about smartphone users?
The rift between Apple and Google looks like it could get a whole lot wider. Apple is considering replacing Google as the default search engine on its iPhone with Microsoft’s Bing, according to two people familiar with the matter. Discussions between

Will Android Pay for Google’s Moves in China?
British scribe Paul Carr is not one to mince words. For him, Google’s newfound morality around censorship and China is too little, too late. Four years too late, to be precise. And I agree with him — up to a point. Morality has to be absolute; it can

Nokia launches Ovi maps to challenge to sat-navs
Phone giant Nokia has launched a free map and navigation service for its handsets that analysts believe could challenge stand-alone sat-nav devices. The service stores maps on the phone, cutting down the need to update and download new ones over the

Google enters fight for sports broadcast rights
Internet search giant Google has signalled it will compete against broadcasters and other media companies for the rights to sports and entertainment events after confirming it will show live cricket matches on its YouTube video website. The company

Google puts off launch of mobile phone in China
Google today postponed the launch in China of a mobile phone incorporating its email and web services, after the row with the government in Beijing over censorship and hacking of its internal network. “The launch we have been working on with [mobile

Commercial fallout for Google over battle with China will be substantial
The two phones just shelved were to have been the first in China that would have offered Google’s services such as Gmail and mobile search as an integral part of its Android operating system software. There are four billion mobile phone users on the

Vodafone Germany Plans to Launch Discount Mobile Brand
Citing a confirmation from a company spokesman, Reuters reports that Vodafone Germany plans to introduce a no-frills mobile brand, dubbed "Otelo". The new subscriptions are to be sold online, starting...

Kodiak-Kenai Propose Fibre Cable from London to Toyko Under Arctic
The ongoing reduction in the Arctic Sea ice has led telecoms cable specialist Kodiak-Kenai Cable to propose the laying of a cable connecting the United Kingdom and Japan, by way of the Northwest Passage. The shipping route was pr

Indian Government Announces New Borrowing Rules for 3G Auction Bidders
India has changed some overseas borrowing rules to help successful bidders for 3G spectrum arrange short-term funds, Dow Jones reports, citing a government statement. "It has now been decided that the fee for spectrum allocation

MIT Researchers View Waste Heat as Power Source
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers are investigating a technology that might make it possible to harvest much of the wasted heat produced by computer processor chips and other devices for transformation into

Carrier-Provided WAN Optimization Goes Virtual
WAN optimization is becoming increasingly popular as a managed service, as enterprises that have embraced it for years outsource it to carriers as a way of saving money in a harsh economy. But as carriers continue to pursue this