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News

• Google slates Mac Chrome beta for early December

  Google will release a beta of its Chrome browser for the Mac in a matter of weeks, a company manager has said.

• Google, plaintiffs blow book search settlement deadline

  Google, the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers (AAP) need more time to revise the proposed settlement of the copyright infringement lawsuits the author and publisher organizations brought against Google over its Book Search program.

• Google to buy mobile ad company

  Google plans to buy mobile advertising provider AdMob for US$750 million stock, the search giant said on Monday.

• Open source software ready for big business

  The combination of pumped-up technical features and relatively low prices are giving vendors with open source-based products more inroads to corporate networks than ever before.

• Postini technology to spread across Google Apps

  The Postini technology that lets Google Apps Premier administrators control their e-mail environments by establishing and enforcing usage policies, rules and parameters will be extended to the other applications of the suite.

• Google strives to balance commercial, community with Android

  Onlookers say that Google is in charge of Android development, despite pitching the software as a community project. But experts say that could be the only way Google can ensure that the software is actually released.

• MS Office battles Google in the cloud

  When Microsoft releases the next version of its productivity suite, Office 2010, it will be into a very different competitive landscape than the one Office 2007 faced in late 2006.

• Upgrade path to Android 2.0 uncertain

  With this week's release of Verizon Wireless' Droid phone comes the first real test of the potential for fragmentation with Android.

• Google releases core development tools as open source

  Google has decided to release as open source several of its key application development tools, hoping that they will prove useful for external programmers to build faster Web applications.

• Google adds new social media features to Friend Connect

  Google's Friend Connect has expanded its roster of social networking and social media services that participating Web publishers can add to their sites.

• Google hit with patent suit related to Chrome

  Israeli company Red Bend filed a lawsuit this week against Google, charging the search giant with infringing one of its patents.

• Google Apps scores in LA, with assist from Microsoft

  Los Angeles City Council approved a US$7.25 million five-year deal Tuesday in which the city will adopt Gmail and other Google Apps.

• Google delivers SDK for Android 2.0

  Google on Tuesday released an SDK for Android 2.0, revealing some new features that will come with the upgraded mobile operating system.

• Google relaxes single phone number requirement for Voice

  To take advantage of Google Voice's telephony management features, users have had to fulfill a tricky requirement: convince their contacts to call them using the single "phone number for life" that comes with this free online service.

• Microsoft wants ISO security certification for its Cloud services

  Microsoft wants to get its suite of hosted messaging and collaboration products certified to the ISO 27001 international information security standard, part of an effort to try and assure customers about the security of its cloud computing services. It comes amid broad and continuing doubts about the ability of cloud vendors in general to properly secure their services.