Macworld.com - Missing Sync for iPhone 2.0 by Mark/Space was released a couple of months ago and added two-way wireless synching between the iPhone and your Mac or Windows based computer. The Mac client of the application allows you to synchronize notes, documents, and tasks and archive text messages and call history from your iPhone onto your Mac (and vice-versa wherever it applies).

AP - Washington is calling on Beijing to revoke an order to personal computer makers to supply Internet-filtering software with every PC, adding to an array of disputes between the major trading partners.

AP - Internet users in China were unable to access search giant Google Inc.'s main Web site or its Chinese service, and the company said Thursday it was investigating.

AP - Swedish wireless equipment company L.M. Ericsson on Thursday said its financial chief Hans Vestberg will take over as chief executive as Carl-Henric Svanberg moves to become chairman of the board of BP Group PLC.

PC World - A year ago the arrival of two trucks laden with new iPhones to Softbank's Tokyo flagship store would have drawn cheers and claps from the line of people waiting to purchase the phones. Fast forward one year later and the arrival of boxes of iPhone 3GS handsets on Thursday morning ahead of the Friday launch was witnessed by a single person waiting in line and a sole reporter.

Reuters - China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday accused Google's English language search engine of spreading vulgar content that violated the nation's law.

AP - Swedish wireless equipment company L.M. Ericsson on Thursday said its financial chief Hans Vestberg will become the new chief executive when Carl-Henric Svanberg moves to head the board of BP Group PLC.

AFP - An Indonesian mother-of-two was cleared of defamation charges after emails she wrote about poor treatment at a local hospital appeared on social networking website Facebook.

PC World - The biggest question on everyone's minds with regard to Microsoft Security Essentials is how well it can detect and remove malware. The early returns are in, and Microsoft Security Essentials performed well overall in initial malware detection testing provided to PC World by AV-test.org.

AP - China's government accused Google Inc. on Thursday of spreading pornography after Chinese Internet users were temporarily unable to gain access to the U.S. search giant's main Web site or China-based service.

Reuters - A U.S. district judge ruled that Sprint Nextel Corp will not face a nationwide class-action lawsuit that claims the No. 3 U.S. mobile company overcharged customers for taxes and refused refunds, court documents show.

InfoWorld - The back office for any company requires many different layers of software. Essentials like e-mail and a basic Web site are relatively simple commodities to run. The hardest job is delivering the kind of software that acts as the spinal cord for the business, that cares for all of the most essential details, big and small, that keep the customers paying the invoices and ensure the bank accounts hold enough money to make the payroll.

PC Magazine - At two separate events today we received some hands-on time with the BlackBerry Tour 9630, the new flagship BlackBerry for Sprint and Verizon. The executive summary: it just works.

Reuters - Britain warned on Thursday of a growing risk to military and business secrets from computer spies and pledged to toughen cyber security to protect the 50 billion pounds ($82 billion) spent a year online in its economy.

Macworld.com - Few people would question the argument that the Apple TV receives the least love from the mother-ship among its current crop of product families (although the Cinema Displays can give it a tough fight for the bottom rung). That said, Apple still manages to sneak in new software updates for the device on an occasional basis—some of them even happen to add nifty new features.

AFP - Google said on Thursday it was investigating recent cuts in its services in China as the government once again accused the US Internet giant of providing links to pornography in its Web searches.

Reuters - Videogames were once blamed for rising obesity rates but are now being championed by the medical industry and for use by government departments for their health benefits.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp is to sell the standard home-user version of its new Windows 7 operating system for 8 percent less than the comparable version of its Vista system, as the global downturn hits spending on technology.

AP - Britain is hiring former computer hackers to join a new security unit aimed at protecting cyberspace from foreign spies, thieves and terrorists, the country's terrorism minister said.

Investor's Business Daily - Open source software vendor Red Hat shrugged off a lull in overall technology spending, slightly beating analysts' first-quarter profit and sales forecasts Wednesday.

Macworld.com - Apple reported on Monday that it had sold more than a million iPhone 3GS models in the opening weekend and played host to over six million downloads of the 3.0 firmware in the five days since its release. As impressive as the sales figures of the iPhone 3GS were, I couldn’t help but be a tad underwhelmed by the number of downloads for the latest firmware release.

Macworld.com - Musicians using GarageBand, Logic and other loop-based apps with a bent towards the fuzzy sound of 8-bit computers and video game consoles have a new tool in their arsenal, thanks to Sony Creative Software: 8-Bit Weapon: A Chiptune Odyssey. The new loop and sample package costs $40.

Macworld.com - Yazsoft on Thursday announced the release of Playback 1.0, an “Extreme Media Server” for Mac OS X. It costs $15.

PC World - As the sun set in Tokyo on Thursday evening and the clock counted down toward the launch of the iPhone 3GS on Friday morning, the number of people waiting in front of Softbank Mobile's flagship store in the Omotesando district grew to around 100 and comradery and a party-like atmosphere spread through the crowd.

AFP - US software giant Microsoft and French advertising group Publicis have joined forces to boost their clout in the online ad market, announcing they had signed a global strategic partnership on Thursday.

NewsFactor - Google launched the Android mobile operating system last year to tap into the growing demand for smartphones and the applications that run on them. Now Google is launching a beta of its AdSense program for mobile applications.

AFP - An Indonesian mother-of-two was cleared Thursday of defamation charges after emails she wrote about poor treatment at a local hospital appeared on social networking website Facebook.

PC World - Guy Kawasaki -- a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who was partially responsible for marketing the Macintosh in 1984 -- has almost 140,000 Twitter followers.

AP - Lenovo put nearly a year of research into two design changes that debuted on an updated ThinkPad laptop this week. No, not the thinner, lighter form or the textured touchpad � rather, the extra-large 'Delete' and 'Escape' keys.

PC World - 'We uploaded topless pics today. This is the first app to have nudity,' said Allen Leung in an interview with Macenstein [link semi-nsfw]. He's the developer behind the 'Hottest Girls' application, currently bringing scantily-clad women--and now those of the bare-chested variety--to your iPhone or iPod Touch device for a mere $2 installation fee.

AFP - US Senators bluntly charged Thursday that Iran's presidential vote was rigged and vowed to help the opposition defeat curbs on news and the social networking Internet sites it has used to organize.

AFP - Microsoft on Thursday announced prices for Windows 7 and offered free upgrades to buyers of personal computers before the new operating system hits the stores in October.

AFP - Tens of thousands of applications are available for Apple's popular iPhone and the iPod Touch but a report released on Thursday indicates that only a few are likely to attract widespread usage.

Macworld.com - iPhone owners are certainly a multimedia-aware bunch. Less than a year after the original iPhone’s release, it had already become the most popular cameraphone on photo-sharing site Flickr, and that lead has only continued to grow with two subsequent, more affordable iterations.

PC World - Apple has apparently changed its mind about allowing applications with explicit content in the iPhone App Store. After approving earlier today the first app featuring photos of nude women, Apple has now removed 'Hottest Girls' from the App Store.

PC Magazine - Austrian blogger Benjamin Miller has posted a tethering workaround for the iPhone that will reportedly allow you to use the device to connect to the Web either via USB or Bluetooth. An AT&T spokesman played coy.

AP - Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz assured shareholders that the slumping Internet company will 'get our mojo back' as she tries to end a three-year slump that confounded her two predecessors.

AFP - Yahoo! chief executive Carol Bartz staunchly defended the Internet company's business practices in China on Thursday and said it was 'not our job to fix the Chinese government.'

PC World - A week after the U.K. unveiled plans to establish a super-fast broadband infrastructure across the country within the next three years, Viviane Reding, the European commissioner for telecommunications, Thursday warned E.U. member states, including the U.K., not to go it alone.Coordinating policy on the roll-out of next generation broadband networks with other European countries is necessary if the ambitious goals of the countries, and the E.U., are to be achieved, Reding said in a speech at a conference in Brussels.'To make the most of the E.U. single market, and to prevent the various national initiatives from getting out of rhythm and resulting in disharmony, guidance is needed at European level,' she said, adding: 'Europe cannot afford to get its ICT and telecom policies wrong; too much is at stake.'Faster broadband connection speeds allow content such as music and video to be uploaded and downloaded to and from the Internet faster. They will also spur software innovations that will result in a greater choice of online applications for users.Politicians also see faster broadband as a vital tool for creating jobs and kick-starting their economies.Unilateral efforts from countries including the U.K. illustrate the frustration these countries feel about the lack of progress in updating E.U. telecom laws.The European Parliament has effectively vetoed a package of measures that included laws designed to help upgrade Europe's telecom infrastructure.Members of the European Parliament agreed to add a clause forcing governments to seek formal judicial approval before banning anyone suspected of illegally sharing copyright-protected material online.The French and British governments are trying to set up systems that would allow government agencies to ban individuals from the Internet without having to go to court.The national governments refused to accept the Parliament's now infamous amendment 138. As a result the whole package of laws cannot proceed along the law-making process. Reding said Thursday 'we need to seal the deal on the new regulatory package so that we can move on to the other pressing regulatory issues that we face.'Ed Richards, the chief executive of Ofcom, the U.K. telecom regulator, who was also attending the conference, agreed. 'We cannot let it [amendment 138] hold everything else up. Nor can we afford to now re-open the substantive points of the proposed Framework,' he said.'At a time when governments across Europe are seeking to promote large-scale investment in next generation networks, and competition at the deepest possible layers, a failure to adopt the package before the end of the year would be a significant blow,' said Richards.In addition to the telecom package, the Commission has also proposed recommendations aimed specifically at the creation of next-generation broadband networks across the E.U. One is designed to help national governments to step in and assist companies with state aid, while respecting the state aid rules. The other tries to balance two seemingly opposed interests: encouraging investors to spend billions on the new infrastructure on the one hand, and ensuring cheap access to the new networks for rival telecoms firms in order to spur competition.The draft recommendation published earlier this month was criticized by both sides in the debate: incumbents, usually former state owned telecom monopolies, argue that to recoup their investment in the infrastructure they should be allowed to charge higher prices to rivals that use their networks.But the rival firms argue that this would stifle competition and that it amounts to a regulatory holiday for the incumbents.Historically, Reding has been more supportive of the rivals' argument than the one posed by the incumbents. Nevertheless, she said Thursday that she supports the idea of allowing incumbents a light regulatory touch when they team up with other firms to invest in new broadband infrastructure, as long as the infrastructure uses fiber-optic cables.'I strongly believe that this support by regulators should not apply in a mere VDSL context,' she said. VDSL is a faster version of DSL (digital subscriber line) connections common today, but is slower than fiber-optic cables.The aims of the British initiative, dubbed Digital Britain, include having all U.K. homes connected with broadband of at least 2M bps (bits per second) by 2012.

AP - Shares of software maker Medidata Solutions surged 29 percent beyond the company's initial public offering value Thursday.

NewsFactor - Facebook has launched a beta test that drastically alters the capabilities of the Publisher tool on the social-networking site. The revised tool lets test participants control each content post, according to Facebook engineer Olaoluwa Okelola.

Macworld.com - Evernote, the ubiquitous digital-scrapbook service that wishes it were your third arm, has finally taken the next logical step and enabled sharing. Users can now open up their notebooks for collaborative editing to a select few individuals, or even the entire world.

AP - Gartner Inc. analysts are predicting this holiday season will be sweeter than last year's for the PC industry.

AP - Small business owners might want to put two important items at the top of their midyear to-do lists: get a financial checkup, and do more networking.

Macworld.com - Vemedio said Thursday that its Snowtape application for Internet radio recording now features an online radio directory that automatically updates once new stations are available. More than 750 radio stations have been added so far.

PC World - Just what your brand new iPhone 3GS needs--Cloud Strife's super-deformed spike-do bristling at hundreds of frames per second. PlayStation emulation amped up to supersonic? Oh yes you can, writes Engadget, and with Game Boy Advance stuff too. All you need is a pre-jailbreak hack called psx4iphone, which you can request a copy of here, and one of Apple's newly supercharged iPhone 3GS's (check out our review) and you're in business.

PC Magazine - Mobile uploads to YouTube jumped 400 percent last Friday, the day that Apple released its iPhone 3GS, which contains a video recorder function and easy sharing features.

AP - Hundreds of people are converging on the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles as word spreads across radio, television and the Internet that Michael Jackson died.

AP - Sprint Nextel Corp. said Thursday it will no longer use great apes in its advertisements after animal rights activists complained about an ad by the wireless provider that features a chimpanzee.

PC World - People often turn to me for advice regarding what anti-virus package to get. Usually I recommend McAfee or AVG, but Security Essentials will be my go-to anti-malware package once it’s released from beta. For small-business and home users, the price, performance, and ease-of-use of MSE can’t be beat.

PC Magazine - A mere three days after the general availability of the popular open source browser's second release candidate, a third arrived Thursday.

PC World - Advanced Micro Devices has quietly released a low-voltage chip that has made its way into a new netbook from Acer, forcing the chip designer into the netbook space.

PC World - The latest generations of server processors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices don't deliver the promised gains in performance, according to the head of technical operations at Facebook, a massive consumer of servers.

Macworld.com - The Associated Press has an iPhone app. So does AccuWeather.com, the Pennsylvania-based weather service. And just like the chocolate-peanut butter experiments conducted at Reese’s Labs in the ’70s and ’80s, someone wondered whether these two great news sources would go great together.

PC World - CIOs think of Symantec as a company that buys its way into new markets. Over the past decade the Cupertino, California, vendor has snatched up about 30 companies as it's evolved from an antivirus and tools seller to an aspiring enterprise infrastructure vendor.

PC World - As the first half of 2009 comes to a close, the big question for tech companies is whether the recession will ease up enough to spur spending increases for IT by the end of the year.

PC World - Apple's iPhone 3GS went on sale in Japan on Friday morning.

AP - The Internet agency with key oversight of the monikers behind every Web site, e-mail address and Twitter post named former U.S. cybersecurity chief Rod Beckstrom Friday as its next chief executive.

Reuters - Communist Cuba may boast a doctor on every block and schools for all its children, but when it comes to telephones, computers and the Internet it lags behind other countries in the hemisphere, a government report showed on Thursday.