O2 London mobile broadband out in front
An O2 commissioned survey to estimate broadband speeds in the UK has revealed that the network carrier is the fastest operator in London, while results for the rest of the country were a little mixed.
ITproPortal

Google officially jams Gears
Google has said that it has stopped active development on Google Gears and is moving its efforts to the HTML5 database API to provide local database storage for web browsers.
The H Open

New wireless charging standard proposed
An industry body known as the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) has proposed a standard called Qi, which is set to be finalised later this year and will allow charging points to be installed in furniture and table mats, for example.
The Inquirer

Google u-turns on China?
Google is restarting talks with the Chinese government in order to clarify the future of its businesses in the country. The search giant had previously said it could no longer co-operate with Chinese censorship of search results.
The Register

Broadband tax condemned as 'unfair' by MPs 
A UK government proposal to charge people with fixed phone lines 50p per month to help fund ultra-fast broadband has been condemned as "unfair" by MPs. The cross-party Business Innovation and Skills Committee said most of those who would pay the tax would not benefit from the faster broadband service.
BBC News
 
iPlayer reaches 120 million requests per month
BBC's popular iPlayer platform has managed to smash through the 120 million programme requests milestone in January 2010, its third consecutive highest month. Not surprisingly, the  bad weather and the long winter nights have been major factors to the iPlayer success in 2009 and early 2010. Hundreds of thousands had to stay indoors and in many a time, video on demand was one of the more readily available pastimes.
ITproPortal

Google Transit launches in Europe
Google has announced the launch of Transit, an add-on service to Google Maps that incorporates public transport routes and schedules to enable users to plan journeys across town. The new service is being launched in Brussels together with the city's public transport operator MIVB/STIB and will be rolled out in other cities in Europe at a later date.
Macworld

Microsoft launches site for young men
Microsoft has launched a men's site called MSN Him. Warner Bros has signed up as the first brand to advertise on MSN Him and will advertise male-targeted movies and DVDs across the site for the next three months.
New Media Age

Wagamama debuts UK's first food-ordering iPhone app
Wagamama has become the first restaurant brand in the UK to launch its own iPhone application. Designed for users wishing to place a take-out order directly from their handset, the app enables users to locate their nearest branch, browse the menu to place their order at any time on the day and pay securely with a debit or credit card.
Net Imperative
 
Amazon seals patent deal with Microsoft
Amazon has signed a patent agreement with Microsoft that will enable the two companies to share technology. Part of the agreement means that Amazon is now shielded from patent litigation for software on the Kindle, as well as their Linux-based servers. Microsoft added that Amazon would pay an undisclosed amount under the patent licence agreement.
TechRadar