Mountain View,California,United States

China without Google -- a prospect that looks increasingly likely -- could mean no more maps on mobile phones. A free music service that has helped to fight piracy might be in jeopardy. China's fledgling Web outfits would face less pressure to improve, eroding their ability to one day compete abroad.

Google Inc.'s CEO said Wednesday the Internet search company is in active negotiations with the Chinese government and expects some resolution in its dispute with Beijing soon.

Speaking at a media conference in the Middle East, Eric Schmidt declined to provide specifics or predict how long the discussions would last, saying that the company has decided not to publicize details of the talks.

With its mind in the clouds and an eye on rival Microsoft, Google on Tuesday launched an online application store for third-party programs that can be integrated with its online Google Apps office suite, with a single log-in and Google's universal navigation. The programs can sync with Gmail and Google's calendar, and use document-sharing features.

Jared Starkey is going all out for Google broadband. The day after Google said it would provide high-speed Internet access to as many as 500,000 people around the U.S., Starkey set up a Facebook page to lobby Google to bring the service to his hometown, Topeka, Kan. Since then, Starkey has passed out bright-orange necklaces made of the kind of fiber-optic cable used to deliver fast Web connections and rallied 100 people to show up at a downtown redevelopment meeting wearing T-shirts that play on Google's motto for the broadband plan.

Google's effort to launch a social-media network on top of its existing 143 million Gmail users had a rough first week. Within days of last week's launch of Google Buzz, it was hard to keep up with users' privacy complaints and the company's rapid responses. Being automatically linked to contacts was a nonstarter. So was having those contacts revealed to other Gmail users.

Let's say you wanted to find out what your friends or your business associates think of a new product. Google Social Search, now available in beta form to general users, lets you search for that information in the blogs, Twitter tweets, Facebook public pages, and other musings by your social circle.

Let's say you wanted to find out what your friends or your business associates think of a new product. Google Social Search, now available in beta form to general users, lets you search for that information in the blogs, Twitter tweets, Facebook status updates, and other musings by your social circle.

International journalists in China said Monday that their Google e-mail accounts have been hacked in attacks similar to the ones against human rights activists that the search giant cited as a reason for considering pulling out of the country.

In announcing a possible exit from China last week, Google did not specify how the accounts with its Gmail e-mail service were hacked into or by whom. Information since then has trickled out.

Options traders are betting Nokia Oyj will gain 14 percent by Feb. 19 as the world's biggest maker of handsets returns to profit and investors bet the company is about to introduce technology.

Speculation that Nokia will rise pushed the number of bullish options on the stock to almost double the level of bearish ones, the highest ratio in about a year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Under the theme of Web Meets Phone, Google on Tuesday launched its long-awaited direct entry into the smartphone market with its Nexus One, a challenge to the many devices using its Android mobile platform. Taking advantage of one of the world's most popular web addresses, Google began selling the Nexus One with a dedicated page offering 3-D tours, specs and the ability to order the phone and track the order.