Google Bike Directions Point to Google Maps as Key Search Tool

Google’s addition of biking directions and bike trail data to Google Maps March 9 is one more example of the search engine giant’s increased emphasis on connecting users to information.

Intel Previews Six-Core ‘Gulftown’ PC Processor

At the Game Developers Conference, Intel showed off its Core i7-980X Extreme Edition, the chip makers first six-core CPU for consumers. Codenamed “Gulftown,” the Core i7-980X comes with more cores and computing threads, and a larger L3 cache, than the current i7-975, and all at the same price.

Motorola Picks Bing for Search, Maps on Android Phones in China

Motorola March 10 said it has chosen Microsoft Bing search and maps to run on Google Android-based smartphones in China this year. The deal will manifest in the first quarter as a pre-loaded Bing bookmark and a new search widget with Bing, all running in the mobile browser of forthcoming Android-based gadgets in China. While the move comes as Google is mulling whether to pull out of China, Motorola has been busy picking other search partners for Android devices, including Bing, Baidu and Yahoo.

10 Reasons Why Security Problems Persist at Microsoft

News Analysis: As much as Microsoft would like security problems to just go away, they won’t. The chances of Microsoft eliminating most of the software flaws that invite new attacks are slim to nil

Cisco CRS-3 Router Meets Growing Bandwidth Demand: Analysts

Despite the hype around it, Ciscos powerful CRS-3 router is a significant step in meeting the rapidly growing demand for bandwidth driven by video, cloud computing and mobility, according to analysts. However, officials with Ciscos closest rival, Juniper, are less than impressed

Google Gesture Search Rekindles Android Fragmentation Debate

Google’s Gesture Search feature for Android smartphones reignited the complaint about fragmentation and inconsistency among Google’s mobile operating system platform because it only works on devices running Android 2.0 or greater, such as the Motorola Droid and Google Nexus One. Laptop Magazine’s Mark Spoonauer said this means Google is favoring newer versions of its OS, punishing owners of devices running older flavors of Android, as well as Google’s partners. Kevin Tofel tried to diffuse the situation by arguing that Google isn’t the only mobile platform maker that faces this quandary.

Twitter Fights Phishing, Malware With Link Scanning Service

Twitter has announced it will begin scanning links posted by users to thwart phishing attacks and the spread of malware on the site. – Twitter has announced plans to route all links through a scanner in a bid to boost security and weed out malicious activity. The move follows a partnership announced in November between URL shortening service Bit.ly and security companies VeriSign, Websense and Sophos.

IT Spending in 2010 Will Rise Slightly: Ovum

There will be an uptick in IT spending in 2010, but those budgets that do grow will increase by only 1 to 5 percent, according to Ovum. The bulk of CIOs in an Ovum survey said they expect their budgets to remain flat after the recession-ravaged 2009. – Dont expect IT spending to increase too much in 2010, according to research firm Ovum.

LG Holding Google Close in Bid for the Top

LGs intention to be a top-two smartphone contender by 2012 appears to largely involve Google. Reportedly, half the phones it plans to release this year will run Android, and LG could benefit, too, from Googles new enterprise-geared Apps Marketplace

FTC Slams LifeLock With $11 Million Fine

In one of the largest FTC-state coordinated settlements on record, LifeLock and its principals will be barred from making deceptive claims and required to take more stringent measures to safeguard the personal information they collect from customers. – LifeLock, which has extensively advertised its identity theft protection services on television, agreed to pay $11 million Feb.