Google loses love

The search engine juggernaut, Google, was overtaken for the first time by rival Yahoo in a University of Michigan customer satisfaction survey scheduled for release today, reports LA Times.

Consumers gave Google a score of 78 out of a possible 100 points, down three points from last year. It was the first time Google slipped below 80 points since 2002, when the company was added to the survey.

Meanwhile, Yahoo gained three points to 79 to secure the top spot.

The explosion in popularity of online video could lead to an increase in the cost of broadband for UK consumers, says BBC News.

Internet services providers, such as Tiscali, say the raft of recently launched on-demand services will "undoubtedly" congest the network.

Upgrades to the network could be needed to ensure services such as the BBC iPlayer continue to work properly, with costs passed on to the consumer, they say.

AT&T is teaming up with LG Electronics MobileComm USA to market a mobile phone device that emphasises music services, reports Biz Journals.

The device, called the trax by LG, features AT&T Mobile Music and gives users access to subscription music services such as Napster and eMusic.

It is also MobiTV and XM Radio Mobile-capable so users can access streaming live TV and digital radio on the device. MobiTV provides television and music content for mobile devices and broadband, and partners with AT&T on packages.

Google is shutting down a service that sold and rented online video, ending a 19-month experiment doomed by the proliferation of free clips on other Web sites such as the Internet-search company's YouTube unit, says WSJ.

The decision, confirmed late Friday, underscores Google's intention to concentrate on developing an advertising format to capitalise on the popularity of online video.

Google already makes most of its money from ads, but most of those are static, text-based messages posted alongside search results and other written content on the Web.

A judge has ruled that Novell is the owner of the Unix and UnixWare copyrights, reports Network World.

The court also ruled "SCO is obligated to recognise Novell's waiver of SCO's claims against IBM and Sequent". This means SCO has no rights to assert against IBM and the case is dead.

The core of SCO's claim was that Linux is an unauthorised derivative of Unix.

2K Games has released a demo of BioShock on Xbox Live, and has said a PC version will follow later this month, says Euro Gamer.

The digital package weighs in at 1.35GB, and due to high demand people have reported slow download speeds.

BioShock is the first-person action adventure from Irrational Games, the studio recently renamed 2K Boston.