Barrichello Wins $500,000 From Google

This week it was announced that Google was ordered to Pay Formula 1 driver Rubens Barrichello $500,000 in damages and to remove all images and fake profiles from the social networking website Orkut which they own. The case is an interesting one as Google claims they remove all content from their network that violates their terms but that they don’t expect to have to police negative commentary about celebrities. You can read more here.

Tweetdeck iPhone App Gets Better

There are tons of really cool iPhone apps on the market for Twitter use but the one that we love and use is Tweetdeck and we were super happy this week when they released a bunch of new features including landscape mode (much needed and the ability to watch video. You can see more about the app here

Search engine war results in free wifi over the holidays

Earlier this week Google announced they would be providing free wifi during the holiday period at 47 airports throughout the U.S. as a ‘holiday’ gift, as well as free wifi on Virgin Atlantic flights. Not to be outdone on the Christmas cheer, Yahoo  then announced they would be offering free wifi in Times Square. Of course, it wouldn’t be a search engine war without all of the big 3 involved, so Bing announced they would be offering free wifi at selected hotspots in airports and hotels, in return for conducting a search on Bing.

Google announces plans to double the speed of the internet

Google announced this week that they are in a research project that aims to make the web faster. The protocol is dubbed ‘SPDY’  and Google broke the news on the Chromium blog. It has currently only been tested in labs, but they’re already announcing that top websites are loading at 55% faster. If you’re interested in learning more about the project, you can join their Google group for discussion

First iphone worm spotted, second one follows

Reports of an iphone worm ‘IKee’ emerged earlier in the week, that only affected ‘jailbroken’ phones. The hack itself was not particularly malicious and continued the popular meme of leaving a picture of Rick Astley as people’s background image. Now though, a second worm is running, that can steal data stored on jailbroken iphones. If you’re worried about the vulnerability of your phone, Read Write Web have got a handy article on how you can secure your jailbroken iphone

Video Of The Week

If you do one thing this week watch this video and listen to the message…

The World Goes Twitter List Crazy

We all thought that twitter couldn’t get much bigger but this week users across the world started to have Twitter lists added to their profiles. Forget about followers as a whole new way of measuring popularity was introduced and people are desperately trying to scramble around to see how many lists they now appear on. Have you made your list yet?

U2-Live Steaming To Millions On YouTube

The biggest and greatest band in the world (that is a mixture of personal opinion and some fact) this week really embraced social media by steaming their concert from the Rose Bowl in LA to up to 10 million fans across the world via YouTube. The band have been very quick to embrace social media from a late start and this latest event is an interesting move for YouTube who could be just about to move in to the streaming market in a direct battle with Justin.tv and Ustream.

iPhone Shaped Wedding Cake

Wedding cakes come in all shapes and sizes and we have seen many technology themed cakes but this week we saw one of the biggest and best tech themed cakes with the baking of this huge and very life like iPhone shaped cake.

Uproar over Facebook Re-design

There is always a huge revolt when Facebook adds any re-design to their homepage and this week was no different. People had only just finished protesting at the last home page re-design when this week they were up in arms again and claiming they would leave the service. As if they ever would

And now for a little bit of Friday cute animal fun…

Google and Bing to display Twitter results

It wouldn’t be a social media roundup without mentioning Twitter and this week saw a huge step for the microblogging site, as first Bing then Google announced they would be integrating tweets into their main search results. There’s no news yet on whether Yahoo will follow suit, although further deals have been heavily hinted at by Yahoo. You can read a good overview of the story on NMA. No financial details have been released, but it can be safely assumed that Twitter have at last found a way to monetise their site. Pop over to Louis Gray’s blog for his take on the deal with Bing, along with an email from a Bing PR rep.

Nick Griffin goes on Question Time – Twitter goes crazy

So not strictly social media, but certainly worth a mention. Last night Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party (BNP) party appeared on BBC’s Question Time, drawing nearly 8 million viewers. Not only was youtube mentioned frequently on the show, a banner repeatedly flashed up telling viewers how they could follow the debate on Twitter. The Twittersphere certainly responded, with conversation still going strong on Twitter. ‘Nick Griffin’ is currently the number 3 trend

Google to launch music site

Google announced earlier this week that they’re considering launching a music site, though the exact details of this aren’t revealed, whether it will be search, downloading or streaming. More details will be revealed next week, on the 28th October although early rumours claim that the service will be powered by lala. The service has been dubbed ‘Google Audio’ and Techcrunch claim to have screenshots of what the service will look like.

Google’s social search

Google announced at the web 2.0 summit their plans to introduce a new ‘social search’ function. The service will be trialled in Google Labs in the coming weeks. There haven’t been many details released about the service, but what we do know is that at the bottom of search results you’ll see links from social networking sites, such as photos from friends on Flickr or gmail messages. Read quotes from the VP of Google search products at Information Week.

Youtube announces real-time search

Youtube is the next site to jump on the real-time search bandwagon, announcing plans to introduce real-time search for comments. Youtube comments are certainly a strange phenomenon so it’s uncertian how useful this function will be, but it is another way for brands to monitor comments and mentions. You’ll also be able to track trends through ‘hot topics’. Media Week have coverage of the announcement here.

And now for a bit of (nsfw) fun…

@Drew gets a website

Last week we reported that @Drew was auctioning off his Twitter username, to raise $1 million for Livestrong. Now there’s a website where you can track Drew Carey (U.S. tv host) who’s pledged to donate $1 million for the username if he reaches 1 million followers by the end of 2009. Why not show your support at milliondollardrew.com ?

Twitter release lists

Twitter recently announced their plans to introduce ‘lists’ and last night they began rolling this out to selected users. Lists are a quick way to find new recommended followers. You can quickly create lists from within the Twitter interface. For those who are lucky enough to have this feature (I’m not) there’s a full guide on how to create lists here

First Direct launched a new social media site

First Direct have launched a brand new consumer feedback site, that’s centered around social media. The site pulls in customer feedback from social networks and tracks the sentiment. On the site you can share with the bank just what you think of them. At the moment this is (unfortunately) not part of First Direct’s main site, but an interview with First Direct’s Lisa Wood suggests this might soon change.

Channel 4 signs content deal with Youtube

Youtube and Channel 4 have just signed a deal which will allow the broadcaster’s content to be available in full, free of charge. The content will be available in the UK and is a significant challenge to the BBC iPlayer. Channel 4 is the first broadcaster in the world to offer such a service. You can read the full press release here. There’s no announcements yet on when the content will be available outside of the UK.

Access Facebook on your Xbox

Microsoft is now taking applications to trial its beta service which allows you to access Facebook, Twitter and Zune on Xbox Live. Users can enter into a trial for the service by completing a survey on Microsoft Connect. Just make sure your region is covered by Xbox Live before you take part!

And now for a bit of fun…

Rock Band Coming To The iPhone

News that hit computer game rock band is coming to the iPhone via the app store. Prepare to be blown away as you can play all the usual instruments (drums, bass, guitar, vocals) on your phone and when playing with friends over bluetooth you can sync the whole thing together and make sweet music. Read more here

More that 54% Of Employers Block Social Media

A survey published this week has shown that over 54% of employers are blocking websites such as Twitter, Facebook and Myspace in an effort to increase productivity. You can read the full story about the survey here.

@drew name on Twitter set to raise $1Million

What started as a simple little auction to raise some money for Drew Olanoff who is fighting cancer and is auctioning off the @drew twitter name he owns has grown significantly with Drew Carey stepping in and claiming he will pay up to $1 million. Full story here

Google Wave Doesn’t Fly

There was a massive amount of hype around the launch of new communication tool Google Wave but with only 100,000 early birds allowed in to test the service all the buzz wasn’t really that awe inspiring. Read a good overview of it here

How To Build A $170 Million Company From Scratch

If you you are involved in any sort of start up business or have dreams of making millions this is a video that you should watch over and over again. It is presented by Mint founder and CEO Aaron Patzer and explains in graphic detail how he went about the whole process.

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