Apple accused of unlawful monopoly

A civil lawsuit filed in California accuses Apple of creating an unlawful iPhone monopoly and vindictively releasing a software update that turns hacked devices into "iBricks", reports AFP.

The lawsuit, filed by attorney Damian Fernandez, on behalf of a California man, accuses Apple of creating a monopoly by barring US customers from choosing a cellphone service provider other than US telecoms giant AT&T.

The lawsuit also says last month`s Apple software update disables iPhones that customers managed to unlock to choose another carrier.

Rhapsody`s subscription music service is now available on TiVo`s DVRs, says News.com. The integration makes good on an announcement by the two companies back at January`s Consumer Electronics Show.

Rhapsody joins a host of other broadband offerings on TiVo`s DVRs, including Amazon Unbox videos, Live 365 streaming radio, podcast downloads, Yahoo photos/traffic/weather, and customised TiVoCast video downloads.

Existing Rhapsody subscribers should have no trouble getting access to their music collection, which can include anything from customised streaming Internet radio stations to personalised playlists drawn from the millions of tracks available on Rhapsody`s service.

Google has bought the Finnish start-up Jaiku, which makes a mobile phone application people can use to send short messages about where they are and what they are doing, reports NY Times.

The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

In a note posted this week on Google`s blog, Tony Hsieh, a product manager for the company, said it believed Jaiku`s technology could help develop new ways to use mobile devices.