SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday it would offer improved capacity to search copyrighted books on the Internet as the company battles Google Inc. for advertising dollars from Web-based services.

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Apple's iTunes Music Store is introducing a new original programming feature designed to promote foreign-language music in its stores around the world, Billboard has learned.

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Electronics firms will showcase their latest whizz-bang gadgets, many in some of the smallest computers ever, as they try to push recovery into higher gear this week at Taiwan's Computex, the world's No.2 computer fair.

Reuters - Apple Inc.'s highly anticipated iPhone, with service provided by AT&T Inc. , will go on sale June 29, the company said on its Web site on Sunday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Melodeo Inc. said on Tuesday it plans to help music fans expand use of their iTunes digital music collections beyond their desktop computer and iPod by streaming songs in personal libraries to mobile phones.

TechWeb - The design requirements are meant to make use of energy-efficient processors and to help manufacturers make products that also take up less space and generate less noise.

TechWeb - The Sun Blade 6000 Modular System is built on a 10U chassis design and highlights Sun's new partnership with Intel.

AP - A federal agency's decision to ban U.S. imports of new cell phones made with Qualcomm semiconductors could slow the introduction of new handsets and lead to higher prices for cell phone users.

TechWeb - An international limit on Qualcomm's technology could benefit Apple, because some of the advanced phones impacted by the ban were expected to compete directly with the iPhone.

AP - Vietnam has released one of its best-known dissidents from prison, two weeks before its president is to make a historic visit to the United States, an official said Sunday.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Adobe Systems Inc. is releasing new design tools that further blur the divide between software that runs offline on computer desktops and programs that work on the Web, the company said on Sunday.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Flickr, the popular online photo-sharing site owned by Yahoo Inc., said on Monday it is moving to further internationalize its service by creating versions in seven major languages besides English.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Openads, a supplier of free software used by Web sites to manage online ad campaigns, has received $5 million in initial funding, bolstering it to prepare for increasing competition globally with Google Inc.

Reuters - Eastman Kodak Co. said on Thursday it has developed digital camera technology that nearly eliminates the need for flash photography, part of the company's effort to make money from its deep patent portfolio.

TechWeb - Financing issues are said to be behind the talks, although cell phone pioneer Craig McCaw's Clearwire floated a successful IPO earlier this year.

TechWeb - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 running on IBM servers now meets government security standards allowing Linux to be used in homeland security projects and command-and-control operations.

TechWeb - At the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit, developers discussed the evolution of the operating system--and tried to shrug off the patent threat.

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. launched a redesigned MSN portal optimized for mobile phones on Sunday, stepping up its offering at a time when more powerful devices increase the demand for richer content on handsets.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. phone company Verizon Communications Inc. said it plans to offer high-definition video on demand over its advanced Internet and video service called FiOS, although it has not yet set a date.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. has agreed to modify its Windows Vista operating system in response to a complaint that its computer search function put Google Inc. and other potential rivals at a disadvantage, the Justice Department and Microsoft said on Tuesday.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp. said it expects at least 380 new PlayStation 3 software titles to become available in the current business year, on top of more than 100 titles currently on the market, driving demand for its latest console that saw a slow start.

TechWeb - The chip vendor rolls out research prototypes in chips, mobile computing, and tera-scale computing.

TechWeb - Global revenue is expected to increase 6% to $276.6 billion this year from $260.9 billion last year, the firm said.

AP - John DeFazio won't miss the 2 a.m. conference calls. Along with colleagues in IBM Corp.'s huge technology services division, DeFazio used to be summoned to the phone whenever a client's computing center hiccuped in the middle of the night.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Plaxo, which makes software for PC users to keep address books up-to-date, said on Sunday it is helping millions of members open up their online datebooks to build social networks like MySpace or Facebook.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Time Warner Inc. plans to launch a test of its overhauled news portal on Tuesday, drawing influences from the uncluttered design of popular Internet blogs.

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. introduced two new online services to its Windows Live line-up on Tuesday and said it plans to release more Web offerings this year to beef up its Internet strategy.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Red Hat Inc. Chief Executive Matthew Szulik said his company last year held talks with Microsoft Corp over a patent agreement that broke down before the software giant signed a deal with Red Hat rival Novell Inc .

TechWeb - The two companies partner to offer smaller companies high-performance computer hardware and software.

LONDON (Reuters) - To court new generations of consumers, advertising executives are discovering that experience has become an impediment.