Google triggers handset race

Google has fired the starting gun in the race to produce what would undoubtedly be the most important mobile phone released this year, reports Times Online.

The emergence of prototypes running the search giant's new operating system for mobiles has laid down the gauntlet for the likes of Motorola and Samsung to make a handset on which the Internet really works.

At the Mobile World Conference yesterday crowds gathered around at least three prototypes of the "Google phone" and handset makers scrambled to line up component suppliers.

The Valentine's Day campaign that the bot-building Storm Trojan horse has been running for weeks is running at such volume that even the FBI issued a warning yesterday, says ComputerWorld.

"With the holiday approaching, be on the lookout for spam e-mails spreading the Storm Worm malicious software," the FBI said in an alert posted to the home page of its Web site yesterday.

"The Storm Worm virus has capitalised on various holidays in the last year by sending millions of e-mails advertising an e-card link within the text of the spam e-mail. Valentine's Day has been identified as the next target."

After nearly one relatively dormant year, network neutrality is back on top of the technology agenda in Washington, as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) examined the issue and lawmakers introduced a new net neutrality Bill, reports InformationWeek.

The debate reignited this week as the FCC closed its public comment period on network and traffic management; Comcast revealed it does manage file-sharing traffic on its networks; and US reps Ed Markey and Charles Pickering introduced new legislation on the topic. AT&T and other ISPs have also weighed in on the debate.

Mitch Bowling, SVP and GM of Comcast's online services, previously responded to criticism of the company's network management practices by stating that the company does not block peer-to-peer services.

Play.com yesterday beat Amazon to become the first big online entertainment retailer in Britain to offer unrestricted digital music downloads, says Times Online.

The Jersey-based group is seeking to challenge the dominance of Apple with its PlayDigital service, which offers 1.3 million tracks free of the digital rights management (DRM) technology that limits the devices on which legitimately downloaded tracks can be played.

Apple, which has a 70% share of the online music market in the UK, has used DRM to lock consumers into its iPod players. Its iTunes service offers only a small chunk of tracks DRM-free.