Science

Markets in developing nations are growing fast and as they do, they often skip a generation of technology. The latest example: Internet phone provider Skype now has more customers in China than the U.S.

Microsoft has agreed to purchase voice recognition leader Tellme for something in the $800 million neighborhood. A pricey purchase, but one that gives it an instant edge in voice command search technology.

Europe had wanted to launch its own satellite navigation system — one that would rival America's GPS — by 2010, but that timeline is drifting further out of orbit by the day.

More consumers than ever are getting their news online, which means more consumers than ever have stopped contributing to the cost of news gathering. One possible solution to save the media: Follow the cable model.

Controversy surrounding Diebold has left its e-voting machines under a cloud of suspicion, but the company is doing quite nicely. Electronic voting is just a small sideline business for Diebold — and one it stumbled onto at that.

Soon wannabe whistleblowers can spill corporate and government secrets online. Wikileaks.org promises the opportunity to post documents anonymously. But critics are already asking, says who?

Online radio stations are facing a hefty hike in the royalties they pay to record labels for streaming music. If a federal copyright panel's ruling stands, it could wipe out smaller companies in one retroactive, fell swoop.

Connecticut is investigating complaints that Best Buy tried to trick customers into paying full price for items that were supposed to be on sale. Best Buy says store employees just made a mistake.

Commentator Bill Langworthy points out that, much as in real-world real estate, a domain name's value is all about location, location, location. And, good or bad, typosquatters are just a keystroke away.

The major studios and TV networks are holding out for a substantial chunk of YouTube's advertising revenue, but in the meantime, smaller content providers have been flocking to the online video site.