Technology isn't always exciting, he said, knowing that most people are already aware of this, and I may as well be telling them that England don't always beat mediocre opposition at football.But while we always try to feature eye-opening stuff in this column, it's important to celebrate the mundane occasionally. Because for every person gasping in awe at a smartphone app displaying an annotated map of the night sky that scrolls smoothly as they sweep it about their head, there's someone else wearily importing a JPEG of a woman wearing a low-cut top into a Powerpoint document to distract colleagues from some particularly dispiriting Q2 sales figures.

The Independent 

 

Google has posted an update for its Commerce Search retail search tool. The company said that the updated tool will allow online merchants to better customise their retail site search services. Google launched the Commerce Search service late last year. The tool allows merchants to use Google engine for individual item searches within a site. Google said that the update will allow merchants to better customise their search services through the addition of a 'dashboard' management interface. The interface will allow retailers to better manage rankings, special promotions and search filters. 

V3 

 

A coalition of eight music publishers sued the file-sharing service LimeWire on Wednesday, accusing it of copyright infringement, according to the National Music Publishers’ Association, the industry group that organized the suit. The lawsuit comes after a federal judge’s ruling last month in a similar case brought by record companies that LimeWire and its creator, Mark Gorton, were liable for copyright infringement. The music publishers will seek $150,000 for each song distributed on the service illegally, which could bring the total damages to hundreds of millions of dollars, just as the record companies are seeking. The record companies filed a motion this month to have the service shut down. 

New York Times 

 

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) moved closer to boosting its authority over broadband providers on Thursday in a controversial vote that the panel's Democrats said would protect consumers and its Republicans contended would freeze investment in broadband networks. The commission voted 3-2 to open an inquiry into how the industry is regulated, the first step toward giving the agency the authority to police broadband service providers such as Comcast, Verizon and AT&T. 

Internet service providers will face legal action and have their licences withdrawn if they refuse to cooperate with the government to block websites deemed to be defamatory to the monarchy, the ICT minister warns. Juti Krairiksh said yesterday the scheme is part of a new action plan to be implemented over three months. The crackdown on defamatory websites was agreed upon by the Information and Communication Technology Ministry, the Justice Ministry and the Culture Ministry after a meeting yesterday which was arranged in a concerted effort to implement stricter measures against those who defame the monarchy. The three ministers later signed a memorandum of understanding for the joint operation that will take place in three months. 

Bangkok Post 

 

Ending a failed attempt to capitalize on the social-networking craze, AOL Inc. is close to selling its social-networking site Bebo to a private investment firm at a fire-sale price, according to people familiar with the matter. AOL is in final negotiations to sell Bebo for a small fraction of the $850 million it paid for the site two years ago—the latest example of a hot Internet property that faded in popularity before figuring out how to make money. The buyer is Criterion Capital Partners LLC of Studio City, Calif., according to a person familiar with the matter. The small investment firm, which specializes in turning around companies with revenue between $3 million and $30 million, has been actively pursuing technology and media acquisitions, this person said. A deal could be announced as soon as Thursday. 

 

The launch of Microsoft's new Kinect games system, which allows players to run, jump, punch and shoot without having to wear strange clothing or hold any kind of controller, has got technology and cinema buffs alike thinking of Tom Cruise again. Specifically, the moment in the film Minority Report when Cruise, playing police chief John Anderton, tries to figure out film footage and computer data by waving his hands around in mid-air to manipulate it: turning it, shrinking it, pushing it aside, revolving it. Give it time: in a few years, we'll more than likely be controlling our computers in a similar way 

With the deadline for its $1m Growth Economy Venture contest fast approaching, Nokia has named the judges who will be awarding the prize. The company announced the contest earlier this year at the 2010 CES conference in Las Vegas. Contestants have been asked to present their ideas for mobile applications which can be used to improve the lives of those living in the poorest parts of the world. Contestants have until 31 July to submit entries. Winners will be announced in August at the company's Nokia World conference. Chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, who first announced the contest, will also announce the winner. 

 

Apple has announced that more than 600,000 people pre-ordered an iPhone 4 on Tuesday alone. "It was the largest number of pre-orders Apple has ever taken in a single day and was far higher than we anticipated, resulting in many order and approval system malfunctions," says the company in a statement. The launch of the pre-order process was hampered by websites falling over and other bugs in the system. In the US and UK, the initial stocks available for pre-order appear to have sold out. 

 

Your mobile phone could soon be getting a massive memory boost if Samsung and Toshiba have anything to with it, as both companies have announced a new type of NAND flash memory module. Toshiba has unveiled what is a 128GB flash memory module which it is claiming is the first time anyone has crammed 16 64Gbit NAND chips together. We tried it yesterday with 16 Nando chips, but it didn't quite have the desired effect. This memory has been optimised for use in mobile phones, so expect some higher capacity internal memory units to hit the shelves next year. 

TechRadar 

 

People who want to leave their landline or broadband contracts early are set to pay lower charges, after Ofcom agreed a cut in fees with the three largest landline providers. BT, TalkTalk and Virgin Media will reduce their fees for early termination, the telecoms watchdog said on Thursday. TalkTalk introduced its new charges on 1 June, except for its Tiscali brand, which will introduce them on 1 November. Virgin Media and BT will start using the lower fees in October. "BT, TalkTalk and Virgin Media do not believe their early termination charges were unfair. But, after constructive discussions, they have agreed to significantly reduce those charges for landline (or landline plus broadband) services," Ofcom said in a statement. 

 

Microsoft has launched a new programme designed to report and track stolen account data. The company said that its Internet Fraud Alert programme would allow researchers to report stolen account details to a central database which can then be shared with law enforcement groups and online retailers. The aim of the programme, said Microsoft, is to help slow the online trade of stolen account details. Such data is often harvested through phishing or malware operations and then sold wholesale for fraud and identity theft operations.

V3