Microsoft in the Steve Ballmer era

Bill Gates gave him the keys to the kingdom ten years ago. What has he done since?

Click to see the original. Source: NYT

There's a turning point that's hard to miss in the infographic the New York Times put together to mark the moment Wednesday when Apple (AAPL) overtook Microsoft (MSFT) to become America's most valuable technology company.

The turnaround -- one of the most remarkable in U.S. corporate history MORE

Android beats iPhone in China

According to April Admob numbers, Android phones outnumber iPhones in Mainland China.

Google's new subsidiary, Admob pushed out its latest smartphone analytics numbers today and there is a bit of an Android surprise from Mainland China.

The numbers Admob got in China were: 725,358 iPhones and 882,384 Android phones.  That's about a 20% advantage for Android.

Credit: Admob April 2010 report

What do these numbers mean?  Well, if you add in (surprisingly high) iPad and MORE

Techmate: Facebook CEO responds to privacy concerns [video]

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg talks to Jon Fortt about how he has tried to simplify the social network's privacy settings and mollify critics.

(AAPL) (MSFT) (GOOG) (YHOO)

Where have you been? Google knows...

For those who want to log their every move, Google now offers an extension to its Latitude service which logs your location history.

Google Location History is a new service announced today from Google that attempts to track your every move and save that data for your perusal.

If you are anything like me, you are thinking that this ventures way too far into my privacy.  I don't want Google (GOOG) knowing MORE

Apple overtakes Microsoft, is now No. 2

Measured by market capitalization, it is second only to Exxon Mobil among U.S. companies

Sources: NYSE, NASDAQ

At the close of market Wednesday, Apple's (AAPL) share price stood at $244.11, down $1.11 (0.45%) for the day. Microsoft (MSFT), on the other hand, closed at $25.01, down $1.06 (4.07%).

Why is this significant? Because Apple's market capitalization ($221.36 billion) just overtook Microsoft's ($219.35) for the first time in 20 years, making it MORE

GoogleTV brings Logitech from periphery to (media)center

As one of GoogleTV's premiere launch partners, Logitech finds itself the center of attention for the first time in its long history.

Logitech was founded in Switzerland in 1980 by two Standord alums, Daniel Borel and Pierluigi Zappacosta, and Giacomo Marini, a former manager at Olivetti. For the first part of its life, Logitech made mainly mice and then keyboards.

Logitech (LOGI) did this extremely well, better than anyone else in the world. In MORE

Antitrust meets the mobile world

By Jeffrey Shinder and Evan Schultz

Antitrust enforcement is not going mobile... at least, not yet.

On Friday, the Federal Trade Commission decided not to challenge Google's attempt to acquire AdMob, which places electronic advertisements on cell phones and other mobile devices. Even though it ultimately declined to challenge the deal, the FTC's sustained interest in this transaction was understandable, given the increasing importance of mobile advertising. While the market is still relatively small, as MORE

Android helps Amazon triple online music marketshare

iTunes is still king with over two-thirds of the online music market according to NPD, but Amazon is solidifying its #2 status with prominent position on Android devices.

Image credit: Seth Weintraub

The latest NPD data has iTunes at 69.9%, Amazon at 11.6% and Zune, Walmart, Napster and Rhapsody all coming in at 1-2% for the Jan-March calendar year.

While Rhapsody took the biggest yearly fall to 1.3% down from 4% in the Jan-Mar MORE

Google blocks itself with new browser plugin

Users who don't want to be included in Google's Analytics service now have a Google plugin to opt out.

Google Analytics helps website owners determine how many people are coming to their website and a little bit of demographic information about those users.  Think of it as Nielson data for the web (Nielson also does web ratings).

Just like Nielson's for TV, some web users may not want Google or site owners knowing information about MORE

Apple investigating Foxconn suicides

A flurry of public relations activity in China after the ninth fatal fall this year

A Foxconn factory. Credit: REUTERS/James Pomfret

[UPDATE: A tenth Hon Hai employee -- a 23-year-old man -- jumped to his death from the seventh floor of a workers dormitory only hours after Hon Hai executives took journalists on an unprecedented tour of one of their plants and promised to outfit the dorms with safety nets.]

Terry Gou, MORE