Top technology news headlines

• 

  Tech layoffs:
  The scorecard

  Follow the companies that are shedding workers with this live layoff tracker, which we'll continue to update as more news surfaces.
  • Layoffs hit RealNetworks
  • Viacom lets 7 percent go
  • AT&T lays off 12,000

  Read full story
• 

  Facebook Connect officially open

  And it's poised to win ID portability game, not just because so many have a Facebook account but because of publicity that site owners will get in return.
  • Friend Connect's live, too
  • Scary but good
  • Beating OpenID
  • Video: Game changer?

  Read full story

• Google lashes out at D.C. critic over 'payola punditry'

  Scott Cleland is paid by AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, and others to assail Google, which he does on a daily basis. Now his adversary has fought back, at least a little.

  (Posted in Politics and Law by Declan McCullagh)

• A closer look at Nokia's would-be iPhone killer

  Nokia's new N97 touch-screen phone is full of cool features and functionality, but its design and unimpressive touch screen don't live up to Apple's iPhone.

  (Posted in Wireless by Marguerite Reardon)

• Koobface virus hits Facebook

  An e-mail lure and a fake Adobe Flash update request could load a nasty virus on your PC.

  (Posted in Security by Robert Vamosi)

• Second Firefox 3.1 beta due 'very shortly'

  Mozilla is on the verge of another salvo in the browser wars. One big feature in Firefox 3.1 beta 2: background processes called Web workers.

  (Posted in Business Tech by Stephen Shankland)

• Symbian looks west for future growth

  An open-source mobile operating system from the Symbian Foundation won't be ready until 2010. In the meantime, it must find a way to crack America.
  • AT&T: Hold the Java

  (Posted in Wireless by Tom Krazit)

• Some Xbox owners see poor-quality Netflix streams

  Less than a month after Netflix made its debut on the Xbox, some customers are complaining about loss of video quality just like owners of the Netflix Player by Roku.

  (Posted in Digital Media by Greg Sandoval)

• Google weasels out of uptime promise? Not so fast

  Small Google Apps outages can accumulate without Google paying a penalty, Pingdom concludes. But service level agreements don't tell the whole story.

  (Posted in Business Tech by Stephen Shankland)

• It's official: Qi Lu to head Microsoft's online effort

  Microsoft officially names the former Yahoo search executive. In the process, however, Microsoft is losing top ad executive Brian McAndrews.

  (Posted in Microsoft by Ina Fried)

• CEA lowers expectations for electronics revenue

  Fourth-quarter revenue will essentially be the same as the previous year, says industry group. It previously predicted revenue would grow 3.7 percent.

  (Posted in Business Tech by Erica Ogg)

• New silicon to redefine Netbooks

  Chips from Advanced Micro Devices, Freescale Semiconductor, and Qualcomm are set to alter the market for so-called Netbooks and ultraportables.
  • Video: Where's Netbook's niche?

  (Posted in Nanotech - The Circuits Blog by Brooke Crothers)

• Smartphone sales slow amid troubled economy

  Market research firm Gartner reported Thursday that sales of smartphones have slowed to their lowest rate since it began tracking the sector.

  (Posted in Wireless by Marguerite Reardon)

• Report: IAC may sell smaller businesses

  According to PaidContent, some of the Barry Diller-led conglomerate's "programming" sites may be sold off, as it tries to weather the recession.

  (Posted in Digital Media by Caroline McCarthy)

• Former WorldCom CEO seeks clemency

  Bernie Ebbers, the former CEO of WorldCom who is serving a 25-year prison term for masterminding an $11 billion accounting scandal, wants President Bush to lighten his sentence.

  (Posted in Wireless by Marguerite Reardon)
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