British Prime Minister David Cameron is being criticized for his close links to Google ahead of the UK’s review of intellectual property laws. His ties are real — but may be just another case of British politicians being entranced by technology’s most powerful companies. Read more »
The temperature’s heating up on the Web, but one advisory group suggests the state of suggests technology could have plenty to learn from the challenges currently facing the pharmaceutical industry. Read more »
An incoming piece of European legislation that regulates the use of cookies has some entrepreneurs up in arms — but their extreme reactions say more about the state of the continent’s startup industry than the true impact of the law. Read more »
Reports suggest Microsoft is paying Nokia $1 billion to drop its own software and adopt Windows Phone 7. That’s big money on the surface, but looking at the pros and cons for each of the two sides, it may look cheap a few years from now. Read more »
The online travel is hot stuff again, as a new generation of startups look for innovative ways to disrupt the travel industry. Now high-end British site OneFineStay has raised its first round of capital as it looks to add a little class to the field. Read more »
After enduring Apple’s war against its Flash video player for nearly four years, Adobe is changing tactics and launching a system that will help make simple Flash animations and advertising visible on iOS devices. Does this mean Adobe’s longstanding resistance is over? Read more »
Bad news for the French government as a weekend of Internet attacks culminates in the news that the country’s Ministry of Finance has been targeted by hackers looking to steal sensitive information — a reminder that the internet’s revolutionary power can often work against our interests. Read more »
Europe has halted shipments of PlayStation 3 game consoles as Sony battles with rival LG over intellectual property associated with Blu-Ray. It’s the latest salvo in a growing patent war that’s spreading across the technology industry — and the only real losers are customers. Read more »
Index Ventures made its name as Europe’s most aggressive venture capital firm — backing Skype, Playfish and others. We caught up with partner Ben Holmes to find out whether the company is preparing for a bubble by opening its first office in the U.S. Read more »
With the number of cloud-based mobile services expected to explode in the next few years, Finnish stealth startup Blaast — which says it is working on the world’s first true cloud operating system for phones — has raised a substantial seed round from European investors. Read more »
British union boss Bob Crow says that putting a tax on every email that gets sent would give a significant boost to the country’s troubled economy. But would anyone really pay a tax on messages — and would it even help if you did? Read more »
Facebook is threatening legal action after a British newspaper claimed a child abuse ring used the site to groom victims. But is this just the cost of doing business when you’re the choice method of communication for millions of people around the world? Read more »
Many Nokians have leapt to the defense of their company since it announced its was adopting Windows Phone. But one former executive says the writing has been on the wall for years — and stopping the rot may require more than a deal with Microsoft. Read more »
Much-vaunted European music service Spotify has been craving a move to the United States for a long time — but has been stuck in tough negotiations with American labels. But its plans could receive a huge boost if rumors of a $100m investment prove accurate. Read more »
Dat from a British analyst firm shows that the fight for e-book buyers and readers has two main contestants: Amazon and Apple. When it comes to the UK, Apple is winning. But with its new subscription plan, the market could suddenly shift. Read more »
A new report documents exactly how the technology industry is shaking off the financial crisis — with the number of deals taking place increasing dramatically over the past 12 months, even as the average value of buyouts decreases. Read more »
With Facebook now worth billions, there is concern that another damaging Internet bubble is in the works. But it is possible to prevent another boom and bust cycle from happening — as long as we keep looking for the bigger picture. Read more »
Zynga is said to be looking for another cash injection that could put its valuation as high as $7 billion. But since the social games company is so reliant on Facebook, is there any way it could hit the stock market before its big brother? Read more »
This morning, Nokia’s and Microsoft’s chiefs announced the two companies were entering into a “strategic partnership” that will see Windows Phone become the primary operating system for Nokia higher end handsets. The two companies are coming together to mix search, maps, content and app stores. Read more »
Nokia Friday said that it would essentially abandon MeeGo — its troubled next-generation operating system — and partner with Microsoft to make Windows Phone 7 its smartphone software of choice. For lower-end phones, the company will stick with Symbian for the time being. Read more »
Rumors are swirling ahead of a big announcement by Nokia on Friday. Will it partner with Microsoft or Google? Will new boss Stephen Elop fire the board? Could the company even move from Finland to Silicon Valley? Perhaps it’s time to put things in perspective. Read more »
With AOL, Demand Media and Yahoo all investing heavily in creating huge networks, “content farms” are clearly here to stay. But how far can they go? A team of journalists and computer scientists is conducting an experiment to see if the news can be completely automated. Read more »
It was home to the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, but EMI is on the block again after a takeover by Citigroup. It’s the final proof that the sprawling record label is dangerously outmoded — but there’s little suggestion the industry can really learn from its mistakes. Read more »
Egypt’s astonishing decision to shut down communications with the outside world — blocking the Internet for millions of people — might look like a wild reaction by an under-pressure government. But evidence suggests it’s a well-planned and meticulously worked attempt to suppress communication. Read more »
Nobody really knew why Facebook hired former Second Life CTO Cory Ondrejka in a surprise deal last year. But now it has become apparent: He’s using his experiences building the virtual world to try to take web-based games to the next level. Read more »
There’s no denying that the Wayback Machine is an incredible resource. But the design was starting to show its age. I recently spoke with George Oates, who led a complete redesign of the site, on how she developed the simple design and more user-friendly navigation system. Read more »
Updated. Google’s translation services have been called all sorts of things over the years, from “incredible“ to “woeful“ and — by one particularly disgruntled user — “a total disgrace.” But here’s one to add to that pile: “unique.” At least, the U.S. Patent Office thinks so — enough to […] Read more »
The BBC has confirmed that it will be cutting hundreds of online jobs and a quarter of its budget after the UK government slashed funding — but it may end up being the catalyst that forces the corporation to make the most of its web presence. Read more »
The controversial decision by the World Wide Web Consortium to create a new — and potentially confusing — brand identity for HTML5 doesn’t tell us much about the future of technology, but it does expose the weaknesses that motivate the web’s ruling body. Read more »
The success of The Social Network at the Golden Globes might look like a thorn in Mark Zuckerberg’s side — but in fact it shows how the Facebook billionaire is clever enough to have used Hollywood’s fiction to his own benefit. Read more »
Critics have waited for years for someone to challenge AT&T’s stranglehold over the iPhone, but despite predictions that millions could defect to Verizon next month now that it can sell the iconic handset, history actually suggests that losing exclusivity could help AT&T rather than hurt it. Read more »
Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Barack Obama have all turned to Twitter to speak to their fans. But what does the fact that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is also using it — while disrupting the service for ordinary Iranians — have to tell us? Read more »
After cutting 500 jobs, Myspace boss Mike Jones has finally admitted that it’s time to spin off or sell the struggling social network. But Rupert Murdoch’s stubborn misunderstanding of the Internet means it is way too late for the site to make a worthwhile deal. Read more »
T-Mobile UK told customers its ‘unlimited’ data plan now offers just 500 MB a month of data instead of a less limited 1 GB, so perhaps it is time for networks and ISPs to finally stop faking the concept of all-you-can-eat data with marketing lingo. Read more »
The U.S. isn’t the only government knocking on Twitter’s door right now, it turns out. Officials on the other side of the Atlantic are also casting their eyes over the site — if for very different reasons. Their focus is on disclosing paid Tweets. Read more »
Android’s share of the mobile market might be growing rapidly, but if it really wants to generate Apple-style levels of consumer excitement, it could learn some lessons from the legion of iPhone copycats that are all the rage across China. Read more »
When Word Lens — a futuristic, augmented reality, translation app — launched for the iPhone just before Christmas, there was plenty at stake. Co-founder Otavio Good had spent plenty of money on development over the last two and half years. But it only took days to break even. Read more »
Having conquered America, movie streaming service Netflix has announced its plans to expand internationally over the coming year — but boss Reed Hastings is bound to find a few obstacles standing on his path to global domination. Read more »
