Continuing their efforts in the mobile realm, Yahoo surprised us today with the launch of onePlace , a mobile application that aggregates and filters content for users. Several have already likened the yet-to-be-released tool to MyYahoo for mobile users. Yahoo's onePlace fits along nicely with oneConnect, which was revealed last month. onePlace incorporates an RSS reader, but can handle any type of online content including images, search queries, websites, videos,

Google Gears is a plug-in for Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers, that allows users to interact with compatible websites while you are offline. Today, Google brought Gears to mobile devices , however there's one hitch - it will only run on Internet Explorer Mobile. If your mobile device runs WebKit, Opera Mini, or some other browser, you're out of luck for the time being. It's not likely that Google will ignore these other mobile browsers for too long, however.

Over the weekend, the AP ran a story about Tellme, a Silicon Valley company which makes the technology behind directory assistance and other voice-controlled services that was acquired by Microsoft about a year ago. Mike McCue, founder of Tellme, tells how ten months into his "marriage" with Microsoft, he doesn't regret selling it. The article supposedly serves to tell Yahoo that an acquisition shouldn't be all that bad,

Last week it was rumored that there would soon be some big shake-ups over at IAC's Ask.com , including layoffs and the possible abandonment of Teoma, the technology that powers Ask's search engine. Today a source indicated that the rumor that Ask would be ditching Teoma was incorrect, however did not dispute or even comment on the other rumor involving layoffs. Ask has not commented on either of the rumors.

Yahoo Inc. has been sued by a group of Chinese political activists who claim that the company aided the Chinese government in tracking the online activities of political dissidents. This marks the second such lawsuit against Yahoo in recent years. Yahoo was sued last year by two Chinese journalists who claimed that Yahoo provided the Chinese government with information that ultimately led to their capture, imprisonment, and subsequent torture.

On Wednesday in the company's annual report, Yahoo admitted that its executives have been distracted by Microsoft's unsolicited acquisition bid, and indicated the possibility that advertisers might cut and run in light of the uncertainty. The unwelcome bid, which was ultimately rejected, might not just cause advertisers to leave, but perhaps even employees. Microsoft's $44.6 billion takeover bid which was rejected two weeks ago,

Google, along with five other telcom companies, is investing $300 million into the construction of an 10,000 km undersea cable to carry data to and from Asia. The high-speed fiber optic cable, known as Unity, will run between the US and Japan, and will have a capacity of up to 7.68 Tbps. Unity is expected to accommodate the growing demand for trans-Pacific bandwidth. According to TeleGeography, such trans-Pacific bandwidth has increased annually at the rate of 63.7%,

Two U.S. pension funds have now sued Yahoo over their efforts to thwart off a Microsoft takeover, and instead entertain less profitable alternatives. The lawsuit was filed on February 21, 2008 by two Detroit retirement systems that claim Yahoo is "pursing all manner of value-destructive third-party deals" while resisting Microsoft's $44.6 billion offer. The lawsuit also makes reference to an alternative deal with News Corp.

A group of hackers known as "Cult of the Dead Cow" recently released a Google Web auditing scanner that allows users to search a specific website or domain for exploitable flaws through the search engine. The tool, known as the Goolag Scanner , is intended for website owners to audit their own web pages. The Goolag Scanner is a standalone Windows GUI-based application,

Microsoft has made their intentions about taking over Yahoo very clear, and are determined to succeed. Yahoo, perhaps sensing the inevitable at this point, has gone ahead and adopted new severance plans to take effect in the event of a Microsoft take over. The plans would cover all of Yahoo's full-employees, including top executives, for two years after a change in control of the company. Those workers who lose their job without just cause, or quit for "good reason",

The world renowned Cleveland Clinic Health System announced Wednesday that are teaming up with Google to test out a new online medical record service, which would allow patients to control who can see their health information. The goal of this trial is to hopefully lead to the creation of a national system for sharing electronic medical records. As the Cleveland Clinic is in my hometown, and I have been a patient there, this is of particular interest to me.

Here's a prime case of you just can't please everyone. Upon announcing that Google's near-term advertising revenues might experience some negative effects from efforts to reduce accidental clicks, shares of Google dipped slightly on Tuesday. A SEC filing on Friday revealed that Google was taking steps to improve the relevency of ads on its sites by removing those that generated low click-through rates, and those that directed users to low quality and irrelevent sites.

Google recently confirmed that they had hired the CodeWeavers team to make improvements to Wine so that Adobe Photoshop CS/CS2 would work better on the Linux desktop. With the help of Google, users can now run Photoshop on the Linux machine with few hassles. Software users around the web have already begun applauding the breakthrough. Additionally, Google has also gathered a team of interns and set them to work on fixing hundreds of Wine patches,

Microsoft, it seems, is hell-bent on taking control of Yahoo, and isn't about to let a little thing like Yahoo rejecting their unsolicited $31 per share bid get them down. According to a report published Tuesday in The New York Times , Microsoft is about to launch a battle to take control of Yahoo's board this week. Microsoft will nominate a slate of directors to Yahoo's board, in an attempt to pressure Yahoo directors to negotiate with Microsoft.

WebsiteGuru.com , a new discussion forum for web professionals and those looking to make it in the online world, is celebrating their recent launch with an amazing $5,500 competition . With a top prize of $4,000, and 12 runner-up prizes, this competition is just the first of many monthly contests to come. Launched February 4th, already the site has attracted "Gurus" from every facet of the web industry - from SEO, design, coding, domains and more.

Last week an Ohio company filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and Google, alleging infringement on a patent related to paid search methods. The lawsuit was filed by Paid Search Engine Tools of Liberty Township, Ohio. In the lawsuit, the company claims that Microsoft adCenter and Google AdWords infringe upon patent no. 7,043,450 , "Paid Search Engine Bid Management." The patent in question was filed in 2002, and granted in May 2006.

Last week in Atlanta, Georgia, contract worker Jonathan Cobb filed a lawsuit, claiming that Google stole his idea for Google Sky. He is seeking $25 million in damages. While high-profile, multi-billion dollar companies tend to attract frivolous lawsuits, what's interesting about this case is the fact that Cobb actually worked at Google as a contractor beginning in 2006. In the lawsuit,

Hitwise recently released some new data, which suggests that those in different income brackets have a tendency to use one search engine over another. What the data reveals is that those who are financially well-off are more likely to use Google, while the poor and working class have an affinity for Yahoo. The results also revealed that Google users tend to be older and spend more money online, while Yahoo users are younger and spend less online.

Today the Yahoo Video Blog announced not just an update to Yahoo Video , but a complete overhaul and all-new site. Some of the new features include a 16:9 widescreen video player, increased file sizes, lots more content, embeddable videos and playlists, and a whole lot more! Most noticeable is the focus on social networking type features. With the changes, Yahoo Video is now a more interactive experience . Profiles now have the ability to include more in-depth information,

Kayak.com announced today the completion of a $196 financing round, which they will use to complete a merger with SideStep Inc. and to pursue a more aggressive global expansion. With the merger of Kayak.com and SideStep.com, 'the world's first travel search site', they will have created the world's 5th largest travel brand. Both Kayak and SideStep are meta travel sites, and search hundreds of other travel websites including airlines, hotels, and sites such as Orbitz.