Google execs go on trial

Four Google executives went on trial on Tuesday, accused of crimes stemming from the posting of a video on its Italian-language Web site in a case that could have wide-ranging implications, reports International Herald Tribune.

Prosecutors in Milan charge that the Google officials violated Italian privacy laws by allowing the posting of a cellphone video in 2006 that showed four youths taunting a student with learning disabilities.

The officials did not handle the posting directly, marking the first time that charges had been brought against representatives of a user-generated site for hosting an image without the subject's express approval, prosecutors said.

It's being reported that a man has died after putting a new battery in his phone. After the initial charging, he put the phone in his pocket and shortly thereafter it exploded, killing him. This is the ninth such explosion reported since 2002, says TG Daily.

The Chinese daily Shin Min Daily News reports the accident occurred on 30 January at what may have been a Lenovo shop. A nearby employee heard a loud bang, looked over and saw her co-worker lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

While the make and model of cellphone are not yet known or not being reported, police are investigating whether the phone and/or battery were counterfeit.

Optus has outmanoeuvred Telstra, Vodafone and 3 Mobile to snare the exclusive sales rights for the mobile phone, manufactured by Taiwan's HTC, says Australian IT.

The HTC Dream will hit local stores in mid-February.

It will be sold through Optus retailers after the carrier's parent company, Singapore Telecommunications, forged an exclusive sales agreement with the manufacturer, sources said.