The past few days have been good for Google. First it was a hot new Google-branded cell phone, followed up shortly thereafter by a new link-shortening service. This may seem like a very common feature these days with services like Bit.ly, but keep in mind that Google's big business is ads. The more it knows about where people are going on the Internet, the more advertising power it wields.
We also lead today's podcast with a developing story about a potential code ripoff of Plurk.com by Microsoft's MSN site in China.
Listen now: Download today's podcastToday's stories:
Microsoft pulls China site amid code-theft charges
Google gets into the URL-shrinking biz with Goo.gl
Smartphone share of cell phone sales set to soar
Inside the Google phone: A 'snappy' chip
Does Twitter mean business with 'Contributors' test?
Australia moves toward mandatory ISP filtering
Symantec confirms zero-day Acrobat, Reader attack
Monday night's big news was that hard drive maker Seagate is dipping its feet into the solid state storage market. The company is limiting its first efforts to the server market with a 200GB drive, which means you won't find one in this year's holiday gift basket. However, if things go well we could see consumer models sometime next year.
We also talk Google's Chrome browser coming to Mac and Linux, a new fast track for green patent applications, and the unveiling of Virgin Galactic's crazy looking spaceship that will take people out of this world for a mere $200,000 Earth dollars.
Listen now: Download today's podcastToday's stories:
Seagate enters solid-state drive market
Intel shifts focus to laptop graphics technology
Patent Office puts green tech on fast track
Offline Gmail access now a full-fledged feature
Google brings Chrome beta to Mac, Linux
Nielsen: Viewers watching video content all over the place
AT&T iPhone app collects complaints about poor service
Known for using brilliant engineers, complex algorithms, and speedy servers to organize online information in a simple and accessible way, Google is learning how to add the human touch to its repertoire as customers look for answers that can't be found on an FAQ. CNET News reporter Tom Krazit talks about what the search giant is doing to improve the customer experience and why that task is getting more difficult.
That, plus other headlines of the day, on Thursday's CNET News Daily Podcast.
Listen now: Download today's podcastToday's stories:
Senate panel approves Democratic climate bill
Windows 7 sales outshine Vista
FAQ: Buying the right Windows 7 upgrade
Hands on with the new Dell Adamo XPS
Verizon offers prepaid wireless service for laptop users
Google tries its own take on customer service
Europe getting 'Internet freedom' law
CNET News reporter Greg Sandoval joins the podcast to talk about some possibly incendiary evidence that has come to light in the $1 billion Viacom-YouTube copyright case. Also, Apple gets high environmental marks in a new report and the Palm Pre nabs a Popular Mechanics breakthrough product award.
All that and more on Tuesday's CNET News Daily Podcast.
Listen now: Download today's podcastToday's stories:
Gmail also hit by e-mail phishing scheme
Windows mobile app store, My Phone service officially opening
Tech pioneers win 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics
IBM Research jumps into genetic sequencing
Did Viacom find smoking gun in YouTube case?
CNET News reporter Tom Krazit joins today's podcast to talk about what caused Tuesday's Gmail outage and what it means as we move more of our businesses and personal lives into the cloud. Also in today's podcast: Oracle's acquisition of Sun could be delayed by an antitrust inquiry by the European Commission, Sony unveils a new smartphone and Netbook in Berlin, and more.
Listen now: Download today's podcastToday's stories:
Gmail outage blamed on capacity miscalculation
European Commission may delay Sun-Oracle merger
HealthBase--medical search engines maturing
Sony unveils X Series Vaio, Xperia 2 smartphone at IFA
We get Stephen Shankland on the phone to talk about PayPal's big outage Monday that cost the company millions in lost or delayed transactions. We also talk about new features coming to Google's Chrome browser, the next generation of memory cards, and WiMax coming to more U.S. cities.
Listen now: Download today's podcastToday's stories:
PayPal suffers from e-commerce outage
Clearwire to bring WiMax to 10 more markets
Twitter warms up malware filter
Toshiba plans 64GB SDXC memory cards for 2010
Denial-of-service attack downed Gawker Media
Report: Apple tried to silence family over exploding iPod
Military to get priority Google Voice accounts
In the studio we have CNET News reporter and fellow news podcast host Erica Ogg to talk about new rumors that Apple will be making an appearance at next year's Consumer Electronics Show. Are they true? Tune in to find out.
We also talk about frustrated iPhone developers with angry customers, Sony and Nintendo's slumping video game console sales, and a new hack that lets someone take control of your iPhone with nothing more than a text message. Watch those thumbs.
Listen now: Download today's podcastToday's stories:
PS3 and PSP slump, Wii hammered too
VoiceCentral iPhone developer frustrated with Apple
Dutch court tells The Pirate Bay to scram, or else
Facebook erroneously sucking in Twitter updates
Researchers attack my iPhone via SMS
Reporter Tom Krazit joins the podcast today to talk about what Google's upcoming operating system means for users and the industry. Also in this podcast: a new music royalty deal could save Web radio stations, the SEC continues to look into the way Apple's board handled disclosures about CEO Steve Jobs' health, Microsoft is in talks to wrap up antitrust negotiations with the EU, and more.
Listen now: Download today's podcast
Today's stories:
Google plans Chrome-based Web operating system
What Google's Chrome OS means for Netbooks, and why Microsoft shouldn't worry...yet
Mr. Schmidt, step down from that board
Report: Microsoft, EU in talks over antitrust issues
SEC review of Apple disclosure now more complex?
Judge sides with YouTube on copyrights
IT spending to drop 6 percent in '09, Gartner says
Google's e-mail security service unit, called Postini, monitors 3 billion messages per day. They flow in and out of customer systems and pass through Postini's thousands of machines in data centers around the U.S. and in Europe before hitting the Internet.
That and other headlines of the day, on Wednesday's edition of the CNET News Daily Podcast.
Listen now: Download today's podcast
Today's stories:
Google's take on e-mail defense
RIAA triumphs in Usenet copyright case
Analyst: Intel-based thin laptops have design issues
Bing's first month produces small share gain
Greenpeace guide frowns on HP, still loves Nokia
Google is navigating tricky territory when it comes to working with government censors in China. CNET News editor Michelle Meyers talks to reporter Tom Krazit about the balance between the company's stated goal of making the world's information widely available and the requirement that all Internet companies doing business in China adhere to government regulations.
Plus, big job cuts at MySpace, and a service to help Web sites avoid blacklists and malware. All this and more on Tuesday's CNET News Daily Podcast.
Listen now:
Download today's podcast
Today's stories:
MySpace slashes head count by 30 percent
Best Buy's earnings take a dip
Global broadband access on the rise
Google's censorship struggles continue in China
Dasient helps Web sites avoid blacklists, malware
Rafe Needleman is editor of CNET's Webware. He's been covering technology since 1988, and has interviewed thousands of tech execs. He blogs at 
Leslie Katz is senior editor of CNET News' Crave blog, which focuses on gadgets, games, and all other digital distractions.
Erica Ogg keeps up on the latest consumer electronics and PC goings-on as chief correspondent for CNET News' Crave blog.
Jennifer Guevin is assistant managing editor for CNET News and focuses on science and green tech.
Josh Lowensohn writes for Webware.com, CNET's blog about Web applications and
services. 
