Miami

Federal prosecutors won a guilty plea Thursday from one of 11 men who made up a ring that was charged last month with the largest data theft case in history, involving tens of millions of customers of retailers, including TJX Cos. of Framingham, Mass., and BJ's Wholesale Club of Natick, Mass.

Separately the government also said it has evidence the group breached the security of many more businesses than previously disclosed.

Google's Chrome browser has run into more privacy complaints and the search giant is moving to ease complaints about its Google Suggest feature used in Chrome and other products.

Launched in late August, Google Suggest helps users formulate more precise queries that yield more accurate results. So instead of just "hotels in Florida," the technology will ask a "Did you mean?" question that encourages you to select a more specific query, such as "hotels in Miami, Florida" or "hotels in the Florida Keys."

Microsoft will pay comedian Jerry Seinfeld $10 million to advertise its Windows Vista operating system. In all, the campaign, which includes a series of ads featuring Seinfeld and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, will cost $300 million.

Based on the theme "Windows Not Walls," the series aims to shed a more favorable light on Windows Vista. Launched by Microsoft's new ad agency, Miami-based Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the campaign is set to debut Sept. 4 and will be one of Microsoft's largest ad blitzes. Crispin is credited with turning around Burger King's image.

Fuel Miami, LLC, a media company, has come up with a brilliant give-take plan to boost its company, its advertisers, and the city of Miami.

In a move to compete with Apple's attention-getting "Mac vs PC" ads that spotlight Apple's so-called coolness factor, Microsoft is looking to comedian Jerry Seinfeld to pep up its advertising.

The $300 million advertising campaign will star Seinfeld and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, according to The Wall Street Journal. Based on the theme "Windows Not Walls," the series aims to shed a more favorable light on Windows Vista.

American Airlines has announced the availability of Wi-Fi Internet service aboard three of its domestic routes. Customers aboard American Airlines flights from New York to Los Angeles, New York to San Francisco and New York to Miami can access the Internet for $12.95 per flight on its 767-200 airplanes via the service, called Gogo.

According to AA officials, beta testing in May and early August with real customers on cross-country flights showed that the service would be well received.

Investigators looking into a vast international credit card theft ring extending from Ukraine and Belarus to China and victimizing nine of the largest U.S. retailers faced a central mystery: Who was orchestrating the crimes on the ground in the United States?

It turned out, investigators now say, that he was right under their noses. And it was a reference to a character in the popular U.S. comedy "Seinfeld" -- the Soup Nazi -- that helped break the case.

Macintosh clone maker Psystar is feeling the heat. In a suit filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco on July 3, Apple Computer asked the court to "[require] Psystar to recall all such products sold to the public as a result of Psystar's infringement of Apple's copyrights."

For less than $15, you can buy a cell phone loaded with minutes. You can buy more as you go whenever those minutes run out. Best of all, you aren't locked into a long-term contract.

But in South Florida, New York, California, Georgia, Texas and elsewhere, traffickers have figured out they can make big profits by purchasing thousands of these low-cost phones and tweaking the software so that calls can be made on any cell network. The altered phones are then sold all over the world -- costing the phone companies tens of millions of dollars.

American Airlines says customers will be able to test in-flight Internet access on two flights beginning Wednesday, with broader service expected to begin in the following couple weeks.

Facing record high fuel prices, airlines are looking at entertainment and information services as ways to make a few more bucks per passenger.

American's technology partner, Aircell LLC, will charge $9.95 to $12.95 for Internet service, depending on flight length. Aircell and American share the revenue, officials said.