Link made between computer chips and brains
Scientists have worked out that there are striking similarities between the human brain, the nervous system of a worm, and a computer chip.  According to the journal PloS Computational Biology, which we get for the Spot the Neuron competition, the team have found that while brains are often compared to computers, but it has been unclear whether this is more than just a metaphor used by BBC tech hacks.
Tech Eye

Windows 7 drives Microsoft to bumper profits
Windows 7 has once again kept Microsoft's balance sheet healthy. On Thursday, the company announced strong income and revenue growth for its third fiscal quarter, thanks in part to continued brisk sales of the new OS.
Computer World UK

Nokia Holds Back Symbian 3
Nokia has reportedly delayed the release of the Symbian 3 smartphone operating system on its phones and mobile devices due to quality issues.  Nokia said it held back Symbian 3 “because it fell short of internal quality guidelines,” MarketWatch said on 22 April.
E Week Europe

Health of 250,000 mobile phone users to be tracked
A quarter of a million mobile phone users are to have their medical records tracked for more than 20 years in the world's largest study into the health effects of the devices.  Network operators, including Vodafone and O2 in the UK, have agreed to invite a random selection of customers aged 18 to 69 to take part in the study, which will look for increased rates of cancer, dementia and other conditions, such as depression and sleep disorders.
The Guardian

ARM Plays Down Apple Acquisition Rumours
If Apple-related rumors were bad news for Samsung at the start of the week, for chip designer ARM Holdings they worked to drive stock prices up. Rumors that Apple may be considering purchasing ARM—which currently makes chips for the Apple iPhone—drove ARM stock to an eight-year high, the Guardian reported on 22 April.
E Week Europe 

HTC sets timeframe for Hero Android update
HTC's anticipated update that will take its Hero smartphone to Android 2.1 will now not appear until June.  Originally expected in February this year, the upgrade was subsequently put back a month. It didn't show up in March.  But this week, HTC released a statement saying that it will provide the update for 2.1 - aka 'Éclair' - for European Heros free of charge.
The Register 

Japanese scientists develop thought-controlled machines
A consortium of Japanese companies, research institutes and the government is working on the gadgets, which could be on the market in as little as a decade, according to Tomoo Yamauchi, director of the Research and Development Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The devices would use advanced versions of existing brain-machine interface technology, he said, and would allow a person to change a television channel by thinking or send a text message composed through thought.
The Telegraph

Microsoft wins piracy battle in China
Microsoft has won its first big piracy battle in China against a Shanghai-based insurer.
A Shanghai court found the Dazhong Insurance guilty of using illegal copies of Microsoft's software and ordered the insurer to pay $318,000 in damages. This is the first case in which Microsoft has taken a large Chinese company to court over copyright infringement of its software, the software firm said in a statement. "It is also the case in which Microsoft has been awarded the largest sum in damages in China so far," the company said.
Computer Weekly

Now Newspapers Can Count Their Mobile Audiences, Too
One of the world’s leading newspaper auditors has added mobile phones to the list of mediums that it tracks, providing validation to the wireless industry, while also potentially giving publications a shot of new readers as traditional print audiences decline. To do so, the interactive unit of the Audit Bureau of Circulations has partnered with Verve Wireless, which works with more than 600 newspaper publishers in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Together, the two will be able to audit mobile applications, mobile browsers and even e-readers, like the iPad. Although the service will be limited to Verve’s clients, it marks the first official time the ABC (NYSE: DIS) has tracked mobile usage.
mocoNews

YouTube celebrates fifth anniversary of first clip
YouTube is celebrating the fifth anniversary of the first video ever uploaded onto the site – which has since become the world's most popular propagator of videos online.  On 23 April, 2005, Jawed Karim – a founder of YouTube - uploaded 'me at the zoo' and sparked an internet sensation. The 19 second clip was filmed at the San Diego zoo, and also features elephants and a very loud goat alongside a very nervous Karim. Now, more than a billion videos are streamed each day by users globally, and the site is owned by Google.
TechRadar UK