Top 10: Google plans, Windows 7, Dell busts

Google talked about how it is expanding search capabilities and showed off its Android mobile platform at a conference this week, while Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer teamed to show off the multitouch screen technology of Windows 7 at another event. Meanwhile, a blogger noticed Michael Dell carrying around a prototype of his company’s ultraportable laptop at that second event, and Dell’s company was found guilty of fraud and other charges in a New York case.

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1. Google expanding core search capabilities and Developers praise Android at Google I/O: Google is expanding its search capabilities into cross-language information retrieval and book searches, a company official said at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco. Personalization is fixing to ramp up, too, said Marissa Mayer, Google vice president for search products and user experience, during a keynote. Meanwhile, developers sang praises at a session on Android, Google’s mobile platform. The first Android-based devices are expected out in the second half of this year.

2. Microsoft gives first glimpse of Windows 7, shows off touch-screen tech: Windows 7 will feature multitouch screen technology, Gates and Ballmer demonstrated together at the D: All Things Digital, or D6, conference organized by The Wall Street Journal. Screen digitizers in PCs will make the technology usable, allowing users to move photos and resize and open screens by touch. Windows 7 will ship by the end of next year, they said. Digital ink, speech and parallel computing will also be features of the new OS.

3. Microsoft linking Silverlight, Ruby on Rails: At the RailsConf 2008 conference, Microsoft will integrate its Silverlight browser plug-in technology with the Ruby on Rails Web framework with a special plug-in. It will also show off IronRuby, a version of the Ruby programming language for the .Net platform. Microsoft is making a big play for the Ruby community as it looks to take on Adobe’s Flash with its Silverlight technology.

4. Busted by blogger, Dell offers peek at low-cost laptop: Dell posted photos on a company blog of its ultraportable laptop that is in the works after alert Gizmodo blogger Brian Lam spotted Michael Dell walking around with a little laptop at the D: All Things Digital conference organized by The Wall Street Journal.

5. Security agency calls for EU-wide breach disclosure laws: The European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), the European Union’s top security advisory body, wants E.U.-wide data breach disclosure laws that are tougher than those in the U.S., where regulations differ among the states. ENISA also called for new laws related to privacy at social-networking sites.

6. Court finds Dell guilty of fraud: A New York court found that Dell failed to provide customers technical support they had bought or were otherwise eligible for, didn’t provide onsite technical support some customers paid for and sometimes blamed software for problems caused by hardware. The Albany County Supreme Court found the company guilty of fraud, false advertising, deceptive business practices, and abusive debt collection practices, in the case brought by the state attorney general. The court has yet to decide how much Dell will be fined and how much restitution it will have to pay to customers.

7. Intel delays Centrino 2 launch over chipset, antenna issues: Intel delayed launch of its Centrino 2 platform to work out problems with the chipset and antenna. Montevina, as Centrino 2 is called, was scheduled to launch in June, but laptop makers are now expected to ship Montevina-powered systems to market in July. High-volume production is expected the first week of August, according to an Intel spokesman.

8. FTC halts pretexting operation connected to Hewlett-Packard: A U.S. judge ordered Action Research Group, the Orlando outfit connected with the unseemly HP spying scandal in 2006, to stop obtaining telephone records under false pretenses and without consent. Defendants in the case were ordered to pay US$605,000 in fines. The order followed a U.S. Federal Trade Commission complaint.

9. Vodafone CEO Sarin steps down, to be replaced by Colao and Infineon CEO to quit over strategy differences: In top-level personnel news this week, Arun Sarin is stepping down as Vodafone CEO and chairman in July, and Infineon chief Wolfgang Ziebart is leaving June 1 over a disagreement about the “future strategic orientation” of the company. Vodafone Deputy CEO Vittorio Colao will take over from Sarin, while Infineon announced it will undergo restructuring.

10. 15 great gadgets you can’t get in the U.S.: A pathogen-killing laptop and another that is cased in cedar wood, an inexpensive ($500) video camera that can weather snow, rain and up to 5 feet of water, and smartphones that can beat you three out of four games of chess. OK, maybe not the chess part, but there are some wicked cool smartphones to be found … In Europe and Asia. Such devices are (legally) obtainable in the U.S., though buyers need to make sure the gadgets will work where they live, among other details to consider.