According to news reports, the search giant will try to convince computer makers to preinstall the Chrome browser. Google Vice President Sundar Pichai told The Times of London that the company will "probably" do some distribution deals, including working with original-equipment manufacturers to ship PCs with Chrome already installed.

Less Than One Percent

Chrome could certainly use a boost. Currently, its market share is less than one percent of Web users, with Microsoft's Internet Explorer at more than 70 percent, Mozilla's Firefox about 20 percent, and others, such as Opera, making up the difference.

Pichai said that Google will launch a major marketing effort to support Chrome, which could encourage computer makers to come on board. "We will throw our weight behind it," he told The Times.

"We've been conservative because it's still in beta," he added, "but once we get it out of beta we will work hard at getting the word out, promoting to users, and marketing will be a part of that."

First launched in September, Chrome is still in its testing phase. Pichai told The Times that the beta phase will end in January.

Linux, Mac Platforms

Observers have noted that Microsoft's preinstallation of its Internet Explorer browser on millions of desktops gave it an insurmountable lead over its first major browser rival, Netscape's Navigator, and a positioning that no amount of features or performance could overcome. This positioning of IE, in fact, was a major factor in the U.S. government's subsequent antitrust complaints against Microsoft, a history that might help Google because any blocking efforts...

Abraham Biggs, 19, died Wednesday from a toxic combination of opiates and benzodiazepine, a drug used to treat insomnia and depression, said Wendy Crane, an investigator with the Broward County medical examiner's office. At least one of the drugs was prescribed to him, but it was unclear how he got the others, Crane said.

Some of those watching encouraged Biggs, others tried to talk him out of it, and a few were debating whether the dose he took was lethal, Crane said. It's unclear how many people were watching.

Biggs stated his intentions on a forum at bodybuilding.com, where some users said they did not take him seriously because he had made previous statements about killing himself, Crane said. Biggs posted a link from there to Justin.tv, a site that allows users to broadcast live videos from their webcams.

Someone finally notified the moderator of the body building site's forum, who traced the teen's location to Pembroke Pines and called police, Crane said. Biggs was dead by the time they got to his house in midafternoon on Wednesday, Crane said. He had started blogging about 12 hours earlier.

"He was just seen laying on the bed at that point," she said.

Condolences poured into his MySpace page, where the mostly unsmiling teen is seen posing in a series of pictures with various young women.

A woman who answered the phone at Biggs' home and identified herself as his sister said the family was still dealing with his death and declined immediate comment.

Biggs' father, Abraham Biggs Sr., told ABCNews.com that he was not home when his son died. He said his son struggled with depression...

After one more update of beta IE8 early in 2009, the next public release is "typically called a 'release candidate,'" Internet Explorer General Manager Dean Hachamovitch explained earlier this week on a company blog. The release candidate, he noted, indicates the end of the beta period.

'Complete and Done'

"We want the technical community of people and organizations interested in Web browsers to take this update as a strong signal that IE8 is effectively complete and done," he added. "They should expect the final product to behave as this update does."

Practically speaking, he noted, this means testers should feel comfortable testing sites and services with the early 2009 beta release, he said, making changes if needed for customer experience and reporting any critical issues back to Microsoft. The final release, Hachamovitch said, will be delivered after the company responds to any feedback on critical issues.

He added that "we will be very selective about what changes we make between the next update and final release."

However, a posting by a Microsoft technical manager earlier this year noted that IE 8 will be more favorably disposed to Internet standards, rather than proprietary Microsoft standards, as in the past. So browsing with the default settings could cause problems for pages and services designed for earlier IE versions.

The default mode will include greater compatibility with W3C Internet guidelines, CSS 2.1, and HTML 5, as well as improved support for AJAX techniques. An upcoming add-in from Microsoft can be used by developers so their pages are displayed according to IE7.

New Privacy Features

Hachamovitch reported that...

"We have been testing bits and pieces of SearchWiki for some time through live experiments, and we incorporated much of our learnings into this release," said Product Manager Cedric Dupont and software engineer Corin Anderson in a blog. "We are constantly striving to improve our users' search experience, and this is yet another step along the way."

Personalized Search

Search aficionados can now add, remove and rearrange results as well as comment on individual listings, noted the program's lead engineer, identified only as Amay.

"Every time you do that search while logged in to your Goggle account, you'll see your custom-tailored search results," Amay explained. If the user is unsure about being signed in, he or she can check by noting if the appropriate user name appears in the upper right-hand area of the page, he said.

Click on the up or down arrows that appear next to individual search results to move a listing to the top or bottom of the page. The arrows for moved individual entries are subsequently displayed in green.

Listings that do not specifically pertain to the user's search requirements can be removed by clicking on the delete box located to the right of the entry. The deleted listings, which the user can hide by clicking on the tab provided, will be displayed at the bottom of the list.

To make a favorite site always show up for a particular search term, the user can enter its URL in the "add a result" box at the very bottom of the page. To see all the changes that have been...

One of the major features of Apple's iPhone update includes the ability to download the millions of free podcasts available on the iTunes Store over both a Wi-Fi connection and a cellular network connection, according to Apple.

The 2.2 update also includes enhancements to the Maps and Mail apps, and improvements to the performance of Safari and visual voice mail. It also rids the iPhone of problems with dropped calls and failing call setup. iPhone owners can now press the Home button from any Home screen and be greeted with the first Home screen. iPhone users can also now turn off the auto-correction feature on the virtual keyboard.

Enhancements to Maps include the Google Street View feature, which takes the user on a virtual walking tour while navigating street-level photos of places the user has located in Maps. Also included in the Maps update is walking directions, public-transit schedules, and information on fares and travel times. And if an iPhone user is meeting someone who cannot quite find the meeting place, there is a Share Location feature that sends an e-mail to the person with a Google Maps URL.

Apple also thought of those iPhoners who have been lagging behind on updates. By implementing the 2.2 update, iPhone owners also get all the features that were available in the 2.1 and 2.0 updates.

Conspiracy Theory

Lately, every move by Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple is being analyzed under a microscope and turned into a conspiracy theory, and the 2.2 upgrade didn't escape the scrutiny.

"When it comes to Apple, it...

The decision may appeal to people who have been reluctant to test out the subscription model, preferring to own their music instead of rent it. Microsoft's Zune Pass, RealNetworks Inc.'s Rhapsody and others give users unlimited access to millions of songs in exchange for a monthly fee. But as soon as the user stops paying, the music stops playing unless he or she forks over extra money to buy each track.

With the new Zune Pass perk, subscribers can use the Zune desktop software as usual to buy individual songs, and the service keeps track of how many free ones remain for the month. In most cases, the song will come in the MP3 format, which can be freely copied to multiple devices and computers.

"I think the 10 free tracks is going to be a huge accelerant" to subscriber numbers, said Adam Sohn, Zune's marketing director. "People will enjoy owning that music, and I think they'll be more apt to transact more in the store."

The company did not disclose how many subscribers it has.

Microsoft's Zune is a minor player compared with Apple Inc.'s line of iPods. Apple snagged 71 percent of MP3 player sales from January to September of this year, to Microsoft's 3 percent, according to market researcher NPD Group.

Microsoft and Apple both sell digital tracks for 99 cents, but so far, Apple has resisted the idea of a subscription service while Microsoft has tried to use it as a way to stand out.

The Orchard, a large independent music distributor who signed onto the new plan, said it hoped the offer...

Ashley Grills, 20, told jurors Thursday she helped Lori Drew set up a fake MySpace profile of a 16-year-old boy to lure Megan Meier into an online relationship. Testifying for the prosecution under a grant of immunity, Grills also said she sent the last message from the fictitious "Josh Evans" to Megan in October 2006 on the day the girl hanged herself.

When she learned of Megan's death, Grills said Drew told her, "We could have pushed her overboard because she was suicidal and depressed.'"

Testimony was to resume Friday in the case against Drew, who has pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing computers without authorization. Each count carries a potential sentence of five years in prison.

Prosecutors say Drew, 49, her then-13-year-old daughter, Sarah, and Grills created the MySpace alias in September 2006 to befriend Megan to find out if she was spreading rumors about Sarah.

The case is believed to be the nation's first cyberbullying trial. Its results could set a legal precedent for dealing with the issue of online harassment.

Defense attorney Dean Steward told jurors that Drew did not violate the Computer Use and Fraud Act -- used in the past to address computer hacking -- and reminded them that she was not facing charges dealing with the suicide. Steward has repeatedly asked U.S. District Judge George Wu to exclude testimony about Megan's suicide and twice sought a mistrial.

Grills, who helped Drew with her coupon magazine business, testified that she told Drew they might get in trouble for the scheme, but that Drew replied, "It was...

The report is part of a $50 million initiative to investigate how digital media affect the way teenagers learn and socialize. Twenty-eight researchers conducted the study.

Wasting Time?

"When adults look at teens today, they think what they are doing is different and seem to be wasting a lot of time online hanging out with their friends or playing video games, and these are activities that can seem quite foreign," said Mizuko Ito, the report's lead author and a researcher at the University of California Irvine. "But when we look closely at what kids are doing, it's not much different than what their parents did. They are hanging out with their friends, finding romantic partners, and trying to identify their status and identity."

Ito added that today's teens are being raised with technologies that allow them to pursue self-directed learning on their own terms, on their own time, and without the restrictions of a classroom setting. This gives the teens a feeling of freedom and autonomy.

"This is very different from how kids learn in school when they are handed a set body of knowledge they are asked to master and the expertise really resides in the teachers," Ito said.

"Our feeling after spending time with kids was that a lot of the worries about predators are overblown given what kids are really doing online," Ito said in a phone interview. "When kids are engaged in friendship-driven (interactions online), they are communicating with kids they already know. They actually think it is...

IBM and its collaborators -- Stanford University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cornell University, Columbia University Medical Center, and University of California-Merced -- have been awarded $4.9 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for the first phase of DARPA's Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) initiative.

According to IDC, digital data is growing 60 percent each year, giving businesses access to incredible new streams of information. But without the ability to monitor, analyze and react to this information in real time, most of its value may be lost. Until the data is captured and analyzed, decisions or actions may be delayed.

Cognitive computing offers the promise of systems that can integrate and analyze vast amounts of data from many sources in the blink of an eye, allowing businesses or individuals to make rapid decisions in time to have a significant impact.

Artificial Intelligence in Action

"Exploratory research is in the fabric of IBM's DNA," said Josephine Cheng, an IBM fellow and vice president of IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif. "We believe that our cognitive-computing initiative will help shape the future of computing in a significant way, bringing to bear new technologies that we haven't even begun to imagine. The initiative underscores IBM's capabilities in bold, exploratory research and interest in powerful collaborations to understand the way the world works."

Big Blue offers some examples of cognitive-computing benefits. Bankers, for instance, have to make split-second decisions based on constantly changing data that flows at a fast pace. And monitoring the world's water...

The smartphone boasts an innovative touchscreen that actually depresses slightly when the screen is pressed. That means the user can feel the screen being pressed and released with a gentle "click," similar to the feeling of a key on a physical keyboard or a button on a mouse. The "clickable" touchscreen gives the user positive confirmation that a selection has been made.

"The BlackBerry Storm offers our customers more ways to stay connected to both their personal and professional lives -- whether in their communities or around the globe," said Mike Lanman, vice president and chief marketing officer of Verizon Wireless.

Storming the Market

In addition to the familiar navigation keys common to other BlackBerry smartphones, the Storm adds support for multi-touches, taps, slides and other touchscreen gestures, so customers can easily highlight, scroll, pan and zoom for smooth navigation. The Storm also features a built-in accelerometer that allows its touchscreen to automatically switch between landscape mode and portrait mode as the user rotates the handset.

The Storm is a multimedia BlackBerry. It comes preloaded with DavaViz Documents to Go, which allows users to edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the handset. It has a 3.2-megapixel camera with variable zoom, autofocus and a flash that also provides continuous lighting when recording video. It also makes room for built-in GPS to support location-based applications and services, as well as geotagging of photos.

A media player can play movies smoothly in full-screen mode, display pictures and slideshows quickly and manage an entire music collection. Playlists can be created directly on the handset and there's an equalizer with 11 preset filters -- including Lounge, Jazz...

Internet retailers, trying to navigate what is shaping up to be the first truly dreary holiday shopping season on the Web, are engaging in price-cutting and discounting so aggressive it threatens their profit margins and, in some cases, their survival.

For example, Sony introduced its HDR-SR11 high-definition digital video recorder in April with a suggested retail price of $1,200. This week, Dell.com was selling it for $899, and the electronics retailer Abe's of Maine had it on its site for $750 -- and both were throwing in free shipping.

At Lori's Designer Shoes, a Web site that sells women's accessories, a brown leather Hype tote bag started at $338, fell to $246 and is now available with a 20 percent discount coupon for $196.80 . Lori Andre, the owner, said she generally tried to avoid online promotions "because then you train the customer and they'll expect that, and you're not going to make any money." But last week, traffic hit a wall and sales on the site fell by nearly a quarter. "We've been in business for 25 years and never seen the bottom drop out like this," she said.

Traditional retailers are facing the same problem, and discounts are proliferating from suburban malls to Fifth Avenue. The price-cutting, though, is fiercest on the Web, where customers can easily shop for the best price with a quick search on Google or on specialized shopping engines such as Shopping.com. Online, the competition is only a click away. For many Web sites, the discounts and price cuts are the only way to hold on to customers as online buying unexpectedly plummets. The research company comScore reported...

"Let me be clear," Ballmer said at Microsoft's annual shareholder meeting. "We are done with all acquisition discussions with Yahoo."

Yahoo spurned a $47.5 billion takeover offer from Microsoft in May, and later rejected Microsoft's bid to buy only its search engine. Ballmer has said repeatedly of late that the buyout remains off the table, though a search-related deal is possible.

But Wednesday marked the first time he had renewed that stance since the resignation announced this week by Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, who had resisted Microsoft's overtures. Yahoo shares rose when Yang said he would step aside, because investors hoped it meant a deal with Microsoft would now be more likely.

Ballmer said the companies are not currently talking about a search deal.

Yahoo shares plummeted $2.41, or 20.9 percent, to close at $9.14, its lowest level since early 2003, on a split-adjusted basis, and well below the $33 per share Microsoft offered in May. Microsoft shares tumbled $1.33 cents, 6.8 percent, to end the session at $18.29, a 10-year low.

Michael McDonald, a shareholder who flew from Atlanta to attend the meeting, blames Microsoft's run at Yahoo for depressing its share price and hopes the software maker doesn't try again.

McDonald, a retired advertising executive, called the race to win in Web search and advertising "the dot-com bubble all over again. The economic period we're in now is going to prove the questionable value of search."

Instead, he'd rather see Microsoft cut employees and expenses, or spend cash to buy business software companies.

"We don't need three Googles," he said.

Some analysts...

The touch, while an iPod, is close to the iPhone in lineage. It has the same touchscreen, plays music and videos the same way, and includes a wireless Internet connection that lets you access the Web from your home network and wireless hotspots, such as those set up by AT&T in Starbucks.

Apple tweaked the look of the touch, too. It's a lot thinner than the previous touch, measuring 4.1 inches by 2.4 inches by 0.33 inches, and weighs a scant 4.05 ounces. The back sports a contoured stainless steel casing, whereas the updated iPhone switches to glossy black or white plastic.

New Speakers

A year ago, when I reviewed the original touch, many readers took me to task for complaining that there was no dedicated volume button for music and no built-in speaker for listening to music without headphones. In the new generation, Apple's engineers addressed both complaints by adding a rocker volume button on the left side and speakers on the bottom. The also added software to let you fetch e-mail and use other applications previously limited to the iPhone.

Perhaps the biggest shocker is Apple's decision to sell $29 headphones with a built-in microphone. The upshot? Users can download third-party applications from iTunes that will turn a Web-connected touch into a Skype phone. In effect, the combination of features turns your touch into a poor man's iPhone, letting you make cheap calls anywhere...