Twitter co-founder Evan Williams steps down as chief executive
Mr Williams, in a post on the company blog, said Twitter's chief operating officer, Dick Costolo, would take over as chief executive of the San Francisco-based startup effective immediately. Mr Costolo, whose Web content distribution company Feedburner was purchased by Google in 2007, has been at the forefront of efforts to begin monetizing Twitter since he joined the company last year. Mr Williams said he planned to focus on product strategy. "I am most satisfied while pushing product direction," he said. "Building things is my passion, and I've never been more excited or optimistic about what we have to build. "This is why I have decided to ask our COO, Dick Costolo, to become Twitter's CEO," he said. "Starting today, I'll be completely focused on product strategy." Mr Williams said Mr Costolo has been a "critical leader in devising and executing our revenue efforts, while simultaneously and effectively making the trains run on time in the office.
The Telegraph

BT launches customer survey to help fibre-optic broadband rollout
BT has launched a nationwide survey asking communities to tell them if they want fibre-optic broadband, promising in return to provide high-speed internet to the five top-scoring areas by 2012.The online survey, which will run until the end of the year, is designed to help BT identify hot-spots of demand and inform the company's plans to rollout fibre-optic broadband to two-thirds of the UK population by 2015. Fibre-optic broadband is mooted as the next generation of high-speed internet access and could deliver broadband speeds of up to 100 megabits per second (Mbps). BT claims that the survey could result in commercially viable areas being brought to the front of the queue, but also that non-viable areas could be added to their plans if there is enough demand
The Guardian

John Lewis launches mobile site before apps
Rather than jump straight in an launch an iPhone app just to ensure its seat on the bandwagon, leading UK retailer John Lewis is launching a mobile-optimised version of its website. The site has been created with help from Usablenet Mobile and can be accessed by typing in this mobile URL . Available from Monday 11th October 2010 the mobile site is intended to act as an enabler for a mobile application. Our customers’ appetite for mobile commerce has grown enormously and our focus has been on developing a site with a seamless experience, explained Jonathon Brown, head of online selling with John Lewis. Mobile is a vital part of our vision to become the leading multi-channel retailer in the UK, so watch this space for future developments,’ he added. John Lewis says it is looking at app development once the site itself has been successfully launched.
GoMo News

Google has acquired touch-screen keyboard software developer BlindType.
The company said that it had been acquired by Google in a posting to its blog. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.Operating out of San Francisco, BlindType develops software that allows smartphones to detect and autocorrect typing on touch-screen keyboards. The software aims to not only correct spelling mistakes, but also to adjust keyboard recognition and response to the user's typing style and tendencies. The company has demonstrated its software on both the iPhone and Android platforms."We know that typing on your mobile device can be a frustrating experience, which is why we've worked hard to make touch typing easier and faster than ever, the way it should be," the company said.
V3

Ballmer excited about Xbox Kinect in the cloud
Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer admits that Kinect for Xbox 360 is the device that he is most keen on as the company looks to the future of computing in the cloud. Ballmer was speaking about the importance of cloud computing at the London School of Economics, and he explained that it was neither tablets nor smartphones that most energised him. "The device that I'm most keen on is the next generation of the Xbox 360," Ballmer said, before a video showing off the forthcoming motion sensor technology. "You control everything on your television screen, and content interaction with friends is happening in the cloud."
Tech Radar

France launches warnings to web pirates
French Internet providers have begun sending email warnings to users caught illegally dowloading films and music under a new anti-piracy law, authorities said on Monday.
The High Authority for Dissemination of Works and Protection of Rights on the Internet (Hadopi) said the first warning emails had been sent on Friday warning suspects that they will face legal action if the piracy continues. The Internet piracy watchdog Hadopi, set up in 2009 to fight piracy and promote legal online sales, catches users by obtaining the IP number that identifies individual computers on a network. "Attention, your internet connection has been used to commit legally-noted acts that could constitute a breach of the law," begins the lengthy email that the suspects then receive.
The Independent

Iran arrests several 'Stuxnet spies'
Iran has arrested an unspecified number of people for allegedly enabling the Stuxnet malware to access to its nuclear command and control systems. Iran’s intelligence minister, Heydar Moslehi, told the national Mehr news agency that the ministry had complete mastery over government computer systems and was able to counter any online attacks by enemy spy services, according to the New York Times
V3

Google TV partners with Vevo, Pandora and Napster ahead of US launch
Earlier this year, Google announced a bid to dominate the TV screen in the same way that it dominates the web, with Google TV, a ‘smart TV’ service that unites surfing on the internet with surfing TV channels. The service, which will launch this month in the US, initially with manufacturers Sony and Logitech, will also be coming to Europe at some point next year. However, Google has yet to confirm a date. The search giant has just announced that it has begun working with Vevo, Pandora and Napster, in what is the one of the first big promotions of streaming music on TVs. Ambarish Kenghe, developer product manager of Google TV, also announced yesterday, via the company’s blog, that the company has also started working with some leading technology and media companies to optimise their content for Google TV, including news sites like The New York Times and USA today., information networks like Twitter and online networks like blip.tv.
The Telegraph

Time Warner chief Jeff Bewkes advises against ITV paywall
Mr Bewkes told The Daily Telegraph that an advertising boom is within reach if the broadcaster continues to offer all of its content on-demand across platforms at no extra cost. He sent a straightforward "Don't worry" message to ITV and other flagging British broadcasters, highlighting that an advertising recovery will continue to come with economic recovery and warns UK broadcasters against charging extra for online content. Mr Bewkes advice to UK broadcasters to offer all programming on-demand at no additional cost follows ITV last week announcing at the Royal Television Society International conference, at which Mr Bewkes was also present, that it would start charging for online content within the next 12 to 18 months. Mr Bewkes is sceptical about turning "your home TV set into a pay phone" through micro-payments. ITV currently offers its content for free on ITV Player. It will soon begin charging for on-demand content, but it is not yet clear how far the broadcaster will go when internet-enabled TV is launched in 2011 through YouView.
The Telegraph

Payout for false Moat game story
The creators of the video game Grand Theft Auto accepted substantial undisclosed libel damages yesterday over an "entirely false" story that it was planning a version based on the gunman Raoul Moat.
Take 2 Inc (Rockstar Games) brought High Court proceedings over an article and leader in the Daily Star in July. Its solicitor, Melanie Hart, told Mr Justice Tugendhat in London that the story claimed the new game supposedly entitled Grand Theft Auto Rothbury would be based on the events in Northumberland. She said the newspaper published quotes from a grieving relative of a victim of Moat, describing the alleged plan as "sick".
The Independent