SOFTWARE

The popular mail in DVD rental company, Netflix, has canceled a sequel to a $1 million contest to improve its movie recommendations.

Twitter co-founder Evan Williams said the company plans to move into areas where censorship and technology is limited.

World's leading social network Facebook has done almost everything right to ensure that it stays number one for the years to come. It also had a variety of applications and services. However, one thing it lacked was a location based service.

Less than a quarter of Twitter's 75 million registered users are active on the microblogging site, while 17 percent have no followers.

Facebook will roll out a new location-based service in April, which will allow users to update their locations automatically.

Microsoft fixed eight flaws in Windows and Office on Tuesday, bringing the total number of security bulletins for 2010 up to 17.

U.S. officials said they were allowing U.S. technology companies to export chat and social media software to Iran, Sudan and Cuba, with the hope it will help their citizens communicate with the outside world.

Google Inc stepped up its assault on Microsoft Corp's productivity software business with the acquisition of a small start-up company that allows Microsoft users to edit and share their documents on the Web.

In bid to get more people to use Web-based applications, Google Inc. acquired DocVerse, a technology start-up that allows users to collaborate on Microsoft Office files online.

Makers of six small Web browsers are urging the European Union to push Microsoft Corp to provide them more visibility in its browser choice website.

Skype and Nokia have released a new Skype client for the Symbian mobile OS.

Google announced a new search application for its Android mobile operating system, designed to boost user productivity, but has Android users outside of the U.S. upset as it is only available in the U.S. market.

Twitter plans to adopt Google's very successful Ad Model for its own website. Twitter will let advertisers sign up to have their ads show up as tiny 140-word posts when users search through Twitter or through other search engines that use its API.

Apple Inc sued Taiwan's HTC Corp, which makes touchscreen smartphones using Google software, accusing it of infringing 20 hardware and software patents related to the iPhone.

Investment fund Elliott Associates offered to buy business software maker Novell Inc for $2 billion, sending its shares up 28 percent as investors hoped for a better bid.

Opera Software said on Wednesday it had seen a surge in downloads of its browser after Microsoft started making it easier for Europeans to choose smaller rivals' browsers.

Internet telephony firm Skype took a second major leap into the wireless market in just a few weeks, unveiling software from top phone maker Nokia Oyj which could run on more than 200 million smartphones around the world.

Yahoo Inc CEO Carol Bartz said she does not believe Yahoo needs to discuss Google Inc's Internet search practices with government regulators.

Two telecom operator-backed mobile software groups signaled closer co-operation on Tuesday as carriers face increasing competition from the new rivals Google and Apple.

Microsoft denies reports that no current-generation phones will be upgradeable to the forthcoming Windows Mobile 7 which is set to be released later this year.

The Pentagon announced on Friday it has authorized the use Twitter, Facebook and other so-called Web 2.0 sites across the U.S. military, saying the benefits of social media outweighed security concerns.