The U.S. Embassy Wednesday reiterated its denial that Washington was seeking to build a telecoms network in Lebanon, but acknowledged that an American law firm had contacted the Telecommunications Ministry on behalf of the U.S. military. “The U.S. government is not seeking to build a telecommunications network in Lebanon as was alleged in an article published by As-Safir on Dec.15,” the embassy said in a statement. As-Safir reported last week that the embassy had filed a request to Lebanon’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority on behalf of the U.S. army to build a large telecoms station in the country. “We understand that a request for bandwidth access for Internet use on behalf of the U.S. military was made by a U.S. law firm acting for the private company that provides Internet service for the U.S. military,” the embassy statement added. More»

Weeks before he accepted a $1 billion offer from Facebook Inc, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom had verbally agreed to sell his photo-sharing company to Twitter Inc for $525 million in March - but then called off the deal, according to a New York Times report citing unnamed sources. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg ultimately acquired Instagram after pushing through a cash-and-stock deal just weeks before Facebook's May initial public offering. The transaction closed in September at a $715 million valuation, reflecting Facebook's stock drop since the offering. During negotiations with Instagram, Twitter executives had handed Systrom a term sheet outlining the details of the proposed deal, the Times reported, but Systrom later told California state regulators under oath that his company had not received any "formal offers or term sheets" from potential buyers aside from Facebook. Relations between Twitter, Instagram and Facebook have soured since Facebook successfully swooped for the photo service. Earlier this month Instagram shut off a functionality that allowed Twitter to display Instagram pictures, while Twitter introduced its own photo color-filters to compete with Instagram. A spokeswoman for Facebook declined comment. Twitter could not be immediately reached for comment. More»

Google Inc. (GOOG) is poised to offer voluntary concessions that will end a 20-month U.S. antitrust probe of its business practices without any enforcement action being taken, two people familiar with the matter said. Google, which has been under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, is preparing a letter promising not to copy content from rival websites without permission and to allow advertisers to compare data from ad campaigns with their performance on other Internet search engines, one of the people said yesterday. That will bring the antitrust investigation to a close without a lawsuit or settlement, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. An end to the probe without enforcement action would be a blow to competitors including Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Yelp Inc., and Expedia Inc. An alliance of such e-commerce and Web-search companies have pressed the agency to act, claiming Google’s dominance of Internet search combined with favoring its own services in answers to queries violates antitrust laws. Adam Kovacevich, a Google spokesman, declined to comment on whether Google is preparing to announce concessions in the case or whether the FTC is preparing to close the matter without taking action. Cecelia Prewett, a spokeswoman for the FTC, also declined to comment. More»

Google has released a native version of its Maps app for the iPhone. It follows Apple's switch to its own map software which stopped Google powering the handset's default app. The move was widely criticised after numerous mistakes were found in Apple Maps's search results. Google's new iPhone app introduces some functionality previously restricted to Android devices. One analyst said it would prove popular, but added that Nokia still posed a challenge. The Finnish company recently launched its own free maps app for the iPhone. The firms are motivated in part by a desire to gather data automatically generated by handsets using their respective software, as well as users' own feedback. This allows them to fine-tune their services and improve the accuracy of features such as traffic status updates. Android's advantage More»

 Gmail, Google's popular Web-based email service, suffered a failure on Monday that left millions of people around the world cut of their messages. Google confirmed that "service disruptions" had affected GMail and Google Drive, its online storage service. Consumer and business visitors to Gmail.com were greeted by an error page. Google's apps status dashboard, which tracks the availability of its Web services, did not register the outage for half an hour. Some users additionally reported that the outage had affected Google Docs, the company's word-processing and spreadsheet programs, while Chrome, Google's Internet browser, also crashed unexpectedly. "We are currently experiencing an issue with some Google services," Google spokeswoman Andrea Freund said in a statement. "For everyone who is affected, we apologize for any inconvenience you may be experiencing." More»

The outlook for the Saudi telecom sector remains bullish despite the saturating mobile penetration levels, with data segment to drive growth, Al Rajhi Capital said in its "Saudi Telecom Sector" report released Sunday. It forecast that the information and communications technology services will only grow in importance over time. Broadband remains the key growth driver for telecom operators in Saudi Arabia, as increasing smartphone penetration levels and changing usage patterns of consumers are expected to result in a sharp rise in data consumption. With mobile penetration reaching 187.5 percent in Saudi Arabia, the report said "broadband data is the growth driver for the maturing telecom sector in Saudi Arabia." The report believes the adoption of 4G services will increase with the launch of a number of 4G supporting mobiles phones (like Iphone 5). Even as 3G users transfer to 4G services, 2G users will continue to migrate towards 3G as most low-end and mid-level phones now support 3G technology. More»

She was called as the "enchantress of numbers" and is credited with creating the first ever program for an Analytical Engine. On the occasion of Ada Lovelace, 197th birthday, Google has doodled the evolution of computers from the days of an analytical engine to the present day laptops and tablet PCs. The doodle shows Ada Lovelace writing the pioneering computer program with a quill pen. She is seated on a desk and the paper scroll she is writing her algorithm on twirls in the shape of the letters of the Google logo. Ada King, the countess of Lovelace, was born on December 10, 1815 in Piccadilly Terrace, Middlesex, England. She was the daughter of the famous poet Lord Byron. Her original name was Augusta Ada Byron and on her marriage to William King she became Ada King and later her husband became an earl, she became the Countess of Lovelace. Although she was educated at home by tutors, the influence of Augustus De Morgan, honed her mathematical skills. De Morgan was the first Professor of Mathematics at the University of London. More»

Reuters) - Google Inc is replacing the head of its in-house mergers and acquisitions group, David Lawee, with one of its top lawyers, according to a person familiar with the matter. Don Harrison, a high-ranking lawyer at Google, will replace Lawee as head of the Internet search company's corporate development group, which oversees mergers and acquisitions, said the source, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak publicly. Google is also planning to create a new late-stage investment group that Lawee will oversee, the source said. Google declined to comment. Lawee and Harrison could not immediately be reached for comment. More»

Facebook Inc. (FB) will join the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) next week after the exchange operator shortened its waiting period for inclusion in the gauge, potentially making the stock more attractive to fund managers. The operator of the social network with more than 1 billion users will replace Infosys Ltd. (INFO) before the start of trading on Dec. 12, Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. said, about seven months after the company’s $16 billion IPO. The waiting period for entry into the index was a negotiating point with Facebook as it considered listing on Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange, a person with knowledge of the matter said in April. The addition to the index may attract buyers to Facebook amid a 55 percent rebound from its low three months ago as funds that track the Nasdaq-100 buy the shares. The stock had plunged as much as 53 percent after selling for $38 a share in May. The shares recovered after Facebook’s third-quarter sales rose 32 percent to $1.26 billion, topping analysts’ estimates, amid a push to boost revenue from advertising on mobile devices. “Adding Facebook to the index should create some additional demand for shares,” said Colin Sebastian, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. in San Francisco. “But more important in our view is the progress Facebook is making since the summer on mobile and with the ad exchange.” More»

Yahoo Inc believes it has "numerous" grounds to appeal a Mexico City civil court's $2.7 billion preliminary judgment against the company, including both errors in procedure and in application of law, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday. The ruling in the case, which involves allegations of breach of contract related to an online yellow pages listings service, was made by the 49th Civil Court of the Federal District of Mexico City, Yahoo said on Friday. The case has perplexed many investors and tech-industry observers since Yahoo disclosed it, particularly given the large value of the "non-final" judgment. The lawsuit was brought by Worldwide Directories S.A. de C.V. and Ideas Interactivas S.A. de C.V. against Yahoo and Yahoo de Mexico, Yahoo said. The companies could not be reached for comment, although Carlos Bazan-Canabal, who describes himself as a founder of Worldwide Directories, told Reuters via email that he had contracted a U.S.-based law firm to handle the Yahoo case. He declined to comment further on the matter. Bazan-Canabal operates a number of web sites. He said on one that he joined Yahoo in 1999, adding that he is a former executive of Yahoo Mexico, and that he helped to launch that company. Yahoo could not immediately be reached for comment on this. More»