Google

After rolling out its latest operating system on its exclusive Nexus One smartphone in January, Google will now release Android 2.1 for a top competitor: the Motorola Droid, which is distributed by Verizon Wireless.

The over-the-air update will be available in batches of 250,000 beginning Thursday, March 18, Verizon Wireless announced. A blog dedicated to Android posted the official software update notice on Wednesday.

The fast-selling Droid is estimated to make up 15 percent of all Android smartphones sold.

Google is making it easier for IT administrators to switch from Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps. The Internet search giant on Wednesday made available a tool to help businesses migrate from Exchange.

The Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Exchange tool will help lure more companies to Google Apps by simplifying the migration of e-mail, contacts and calendars from both cloud-hosted Exchange servers and those hosted at the customer's location. The tool allows businesses to make the move whether they have a handful or thousands of users.

El estudio no tiene en cuenta otras páginas propiedad del buscador como Gmail, Google Maps o YouTube

El sector de la publicidad reclamarán indemnizaciones si Google se marcha a raíz de sus enfrentamientos con el Gobierno

Research In Motion may find that many of its customers are in motion, a survey of more than 1,000 smartphone users suggests. Asked about their next smartphone purchase, 39 percent of 159 RIM BlackBerry users told Crowd Science, an online research firm, that they "definitely or probably" want an Apple iPhone.

Another 34 percent said they would prefer a phone that uses Google's Android operating system. Combined with 38 percent who said they might consider Android, that makes a 72 percent opening for Android, narrowly beating the 68 percent opening for the iPhone.

Microsoft has invited developers to test-drive Internet Explorer 9. The software behemoth on Tuesday released an early version of its new browser to developers during the MIX10 event in Las Vegas.

With more competition from other browsers, including Google's Chrome, Apple's Safari, Opera and Mozilla's Firefox, Microsoft wants to make sure its browser remains on top. The first build of IE9 is a look at what the company has done.

Social networking site Facebook is opening an operations office in India, its first in Asia, to help manage rapid growth in the number of users.

The office, in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, will have advertising and developer support teams, the company said Monday. It will supplement Facebook's other centers in Palo Alto, California; Dublin, Ireland; and Austin, Texas.

The move is part of a push to create support centers across time zones, with round-the-clock, multilingual support, the company said.

In an international Internet drama, Google seems closer to ending operations in China after threatening two months ago to pull out of the market. Google's Chinese-language search engine is the only major foreign competitor in the communist nation.

According to The Wall Street Journal, a person familiar with the situation said Google is likely to take action within weeks. Meanwhile, Chinese government officials told state news outlets that Google's Chinese site is likely to close, and that if Google exits, those news outlets are required to publish only government accounts.

by Sara Firisen

Namit Arora in Shunya's Notes: