AP - Microsoft Corp. is giving an early holiday gift to people who pay for all-you-can-listen access to the Zune digital music store: 10 songs to keep each month, included in the $14.99 monthly subscription fee.

Reuters - Yahoo Inc announced an expansion of its mobile Web portals to T-mobile, so its smart phone users who get data will have Yahoo search by default.

Reuters - Verizon Wireless is betting on the new BlackBerry Storm for the all-important holiday season, hoping the highly anticipated smartphone can compete against the iPhone offered by rival wireless provider AT&T Inc.

AP - With the recent releases of three new BlackBerrys across three different wireless providers, Research In Motion Ltd. has fired back at Apple Inc. in the Great Smart Phone Skirmish of 2008.

AFP - The EU launches Thursday its Europeana digital library, an online digest of Europe's cultural heritage that aims to draw together millions of books and other items.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp on Thursday announced a new music subscription plan for owners of its Zune players, which would allow them to keep 10 tracks per month and add them to their permanent collection.

Reuters - Japanese Oscar-winning filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki criticized Prime Minister Taro Aso's penchant for 'manga' comic books Thursday and said children should spend more time experiencing nature than getting engrossed in video games and TV.

CNET - Verizon Wireless may have found its iPhone killer.

PC Magazine - On Monday, we asked Gearlog readers to ask me everything they wanted to know about the new BlackBerry Storm 9530 for Verizon Wireless. Now we have the answers.

CNET - Dell plans to preload computers with more subscription-based functions. The idea: give IT another, presumably less expensive way to access a myriad of systems management functions through the 'cloud.'

Reuters - Europe's heritage went digital Thursday when the European Union launched an online library putting famous works such as Dante's 'Divine Comedy' and Beethoven's 9th Symphony just a mouse click away.

InfoWorld - A few years ago, self-proclaimed nondeveloper Kevin Smith worked for a software company that tried to build a project tracking tool using Microsoft .Net. Some 15 developers spent a year with little success. 'After burning though a million dollars and still without a product, the company called it quits,' says Smith, now managing partner of NextWave Performance, a consultancy in Denver, Colo.

Reuters - 'World of Warcraft' has become a phenomenon among role-playing interactive online games with its unrivaled success leaving competitors racing to draw gamers into new virtual worlds.

Investor's Business Daily - The largest chip trade group on Wednesday forecast that global semiconductor sales would fall next year, which would be the first decline since 2001, and only the sixth since 1976.

Reuters - Nokia smartphones will be able to access IBM Lotus Notes corporate email starting from next month, the two firms said on Thursday, as the world's top handset maker battles Blackberry-maker RIM.

AFP - The top emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China will drive mobile services growth in the coming years, a new report by Britain's telecoms regulator Ofcom said Thursday.

Investor's Business Daily - Whether it's Facebook, MySpace or Reunion, the social networking boom is proof that people like to stay in touch. Building and nurturing those relationships is also a cornerstone of business success.

Reuters - Nokia smartphones will be able to access IBM Lotus Notes corporate email starting from next month, the two firms said on Thursday, as the world's top handset maker battles Blackberry-maker RIM.

PC Magazine - Nokia smartphones will be able to access IBM Lotus Notes corporate email starting from next month, the two firms said on Thursday, as the world's top handset maker battles Blackberry-maker RIM.

AP - Despite the bad economy, U.S. Internet advertising revenue rose in the third quarter, according to an analysis released Thursday.

Reuters - British cable operator Virgin Media said it did not believe mobile broadband had mass appeal in the short term, but it entered the market to offer the service in its high-end mobile, broadband and TV bundles.

InfoWorld - Sun Microsystems has heard from a company concerned about the vetting process of Java and open source, a Sun official said on Wednesday.

AFP - Microsoft, seeking to boost the popularity of its Zune music player, announced a new subscription offer on Thursday that will allow users to keep 10 tracks a month permanently.

PC Magazine - Microsoft cuts the price of its Zune media player and tweaks the Zune Pass model so that users can now own some songs permanently.

AP - Shareholders of telecommunications company Clearwire Corp. have approved a plan to merge with Sprint Nextel Corp.'s wireless broadband network.

NewsFactor - Yahoo has won another wireless carrier for its mobile Internet search tool. The company joined T-Mobile in announcing Thursday that oneSearch will be the search utility for T-Mobile's web2go service.

NewsFactor - McAfee and Symantec could be affected as Microsoft moves to provide free antivirus software. If the software, code-named Morro, successfully protects against viruses, analysts said, it could mean an exodus from well-known security brands.

CNET - Extended certificate validation for Web sites has boosted online confidence in 2008, according to a statement released Thursday by the Authentication and Online Trust Alliance (AOTA).

AFP - Google has bought a 75 hectare (185 acre) property in the north of Austria to erect a new European server farm within two years, the US Internet search engine giant said Thursday.

CNET - World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, the second expansion to the mega-popular online game, sold 2.8 million copies in its first 24 hours last week, setting what its publisher said is an all-time record for PC games.

NewsFactor - The BlackBerry Storm has been debuting around the world, but rumors are spreading about a possible shortage in the U.S. News reports also indicate Research In Motion discovered a security flaw in the Storm that has left Verizon Wireless scrambling to update the firmware in the final hours before its U.S. release on Friday.

NewsFactor - Nokia and IBM on Thursday launched IBM Lotus Notes support for Nokia's S60-based mobile phones. That means millions of Lotus Notes users will be able to access their e-mail on Nokia devices in December.

AP - PC maker Dell Inc. said Thursday its third-quarter profit fell 5 percent as businesses around the world bought fewer computers and other technology products.

AP - Lively, a virtual reality service from Google Inc., is dying.

NewsFactor - Although the crew of the spacecraft Endeavour experienced a glitch in the first space walk when an astronaut accidentally let her tool bag float away, NASA had a lot to celebrate as it announced success with a high-tech space program.

AP - If Google delivers useless search results, just erase them and you won't see them again.

CNET - British prime minister Gordon Brown spoke on Thursday (at least indirectly) about the future of Gary McKinnon, a 42-year-old UFO enthusiast accused of hacking into several U.S. military sites. It was the prime minister's first public comments on the case which, after six years, took a twist over the summer.

CNET - The growing economic slump doesn't appear to have fully struck Web advertising.

Reuters - High definition Blu-ray disc players may be one of the holiday season's best sellers, but they will still fall short of expectations, due to the tough economy, the head of Sony's U.S. electronics unit said.

Reuters - The contents of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's voicemail messages and emails were not breached by the Verizon employees who gained unauthorized access to his cell phone account, an Obama aide said on Thursday.

Reuters - Verizon Wireless said on Thursday that some employees had gained unauthorized access and viewed a personal cell phone account held by President-elect Barack Obama but now inactive.