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Gmail to add mind-reading priority mailbox

Google is adding a new feature in Gmail that will automatically spotlight important e-mails and separate out the ones you can wait to read later.

The tool, called “priority inbox,“ works like a spam filter, except instead of filtering e-mails that you definitely don’t want to see, it moves the ones you really want to the top. Google said the feature will help users sort through inboxes that fill up with hundreds of automated e-mails that don’t need immediate attention. Get the full story »

Licensing deal to keep AP on Google

Google Inc. will be able to continue posting content from The Associated Press under a new licensing deal the companies announced Monday after months of sometimes thorny negotiations.

The AP said in a statement that the two companies also will work together  to improve discovery and distribution of news. Get the full story »

Microsoft founder suing Apple, Google, OfficeMax

A firm run by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen is suing Apple Inc., Google Inc. and 9 other companies alleging they are violating patents developed at a Silicon Valley lab Allen financed more than a decade ago.

Allen, 57, Friday through his firm Interval Licensing LLC filed suit in federal court in Seattle asserting the companies are using technology from his laboratory. Named in the suit, along with Apple and Google, are AOL Inc., eBay Inc., Facebook Inc., Netflix Inc., Office Depot Inc., OfficeMax Inc., Staples Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Google’s YouTube subsidiary. Get the full story »

Google adds free PC-to-phone calling to e-mail

Google is adding a new e-mail feature that may persuade more people to cut the cords on their landline phones. The service unveiled Wednesday enables U.S. users of Google Inc.’s free Gmail service to make calls from their personal computers to telephones virtually anywhere in the world.

Yahoo in U.S. now powered by Microsoft

Microsoft is now powering the search engine on Yahoo’s Web site in the U.S. and Canada. Get the full story »

Dell’s Aero smartphone bows

Dell Inc. put its first U.S. smartphone on sale on Tuesday, making the computer maker the latest technology manufacturer to enter the competitive mobile handset market.

The Round Rock, Texas-based company said its 3.5-inch touchscreen phone, dubbed the Aero, runs on Google Inc.’s Android operating system and is available for $99.99 with a new two-year contract from AT&T Inc. and $299.99 without. It can be ordered on Dell’s Web site. Get the full story »

U.S. companies, others meet again on Web traffic

Lobbyists for phone, cable and Internet companies including Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. met Wednesday to again try to agree on how to manage Internet traffic, three sources familiar with the meeting said.

The sources said the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Google Inc were not involved in the latest industry effort to agree on “net neutrality”, the concept that high-speed Internet providers should not block or slow selected information or make websites pay for faster ways to reach users. Get the full story »

Reports: Google’s version of iPad planned for Nov.

The Apple iPad. (Reuters)

Reports are floating around the blogosphere that HTC is building a tablet based on the Google Chrome OS and will launch the device on Verizon Wireless on November 26. Get the full story »

iPhone most wanted in Nielsen survey

According to recent data from The Nielsen Co., 29 percent of BlackBerry users and 21 percent of Android users have contemplated switching to an iPhone. Nearly 90 percent of iPhone owners plan to purchase another iPhone for their next mobile device, while 71 percent of Android users plan to continue using their current device, and only 42 percent of BlackBerry users want another one.

PayPal reportedly seeking Android deal with Google

PayPal reportedly is in talks with Google to add is payment service to Android phones.  Users of  phones such as Motorola’s Droid X and HTC’s Droid Incredible may be able to buy apps with  PayPal by the end of this year.

Google amplifies voice commands for Android

Just because mobile phones are becoming more like small computers doesn’t mean you should have to do a lot of typing on them. That’s the thinking behind the latest update to Google’s popular Android software for mobile phones.

The latest version of Android 2.2, released Thursday, includes 10 new voice commands that can be used to operate phones without using a keypad.

Google in deal to sell ads on DirecTV channels

Satellite television provider DirecTV Inc. said Wednesday it has signed up Google Inc. to sell commercial time on some of the channels it carries.

Verizon compares its profitability to Tiger Woods

Verizon Communications Inc. Chief Financial Officer John Killian compared the wireless arm’s lead in profitability to Tiger Wood’s dominance on the golf course.

“We will maintain the Tiger Woods position on top of the world in terms of profitability,” Killian told analysts during an investor conference on Wednesday.

In reference to Woods’ recent struggles, Killian said that people keep wanting to chip away at the star athlete, much like critics are attempting to chip away at Verizon Wireless’s lead in profitability. Instead, the business is widening its lead, he said. Get the full story »

Sales of Dell tablet start this week at $299

Dell Inc. will begin selling its new tablet device called the Dell Streak to U.S. customers this week for $299.99 with a two-year AT&T Inc. contract, and for $549.99 without, it said Tuesday.

Dell said it would begin taking orders online Thursday.

The company is hoping the five-inch tablet, which runs on Google Inc.’s Android operating system, will help it take on Apple Inc.’s iPad.

Google, Verizon take net neutrality stand

Google Inc.  and Verizon Communications Inc.  on Monday jointly agreed that wireline broadband providers should not be able to discriminate against lawful Internet content providers and that the regulators should have authority to stop offenders.

But the proposal, which takes the form of a suggested legislative framework for consideration by lawmakers, also left room for broadband providers to offer new “differentiated online services,” in addition to the Internet access and video services available today. Get the full story »