The consumer watchdog alleges Google does not do enough to differentiate "organic" search results - those ranked by relevance - from sponsored links which appear at the top of the results page.

In particular, the ACCC claims Trading Post breached the Trade Practices Act in 2005 when it used the names of NSW car dealerships Kloster Ford and Charlestown Toyota as hyperlinks to its own site.

These hyperlinks appeared in a shaded area titled "Sponsored Links" at the top of the results page, but appeared to be the dealerships' official sites, or at least affiliated with the dealerships, the watchdog said.

Christine Adamson SC, acting for the ACCC, said Trading Post had no such affiliation or link to either dealership.

The ACCC has previously said these dealerships compete with Trading Post for local car sales.

Trading Post chose the dealership names through AdWords, a Google commercial program that sets up hyperlinks.

AdWords linked any search on the dealerships' names to the Trading Post site through a link embedded in the search results.

Trading Post then paid Google "per click", Ms Adamson said.  "That's how we found out about it," she told Justice Jim Allsop.

"Kloster Ford was so outraged by the conduct that they contacted the (consumer) advocate."

The second thrust of the case concerned Google Inc's encouragement of this deceptive conduct by allowing sponsored sites to appear at the top of the list of search results, and in the same format as the organic search results, Ms Adamson said.

"Google represents to the world that its search engine is so good that it can rank, out of the multitudinous entries of the world wide web, these entries in order of relevance of the user's query," she said.

"Part of that (reputation is) that it's not influenced by money, it's influenced by relevance."

Justice Allsop asked: "And that's misleading because there would be results put at the top which are placed there not by reference to relevance but because people have paid to have that?"

"Yes," Ms Adamson answered.

Google's counsel Anthony Bannon SC successfully argued for orders that the ACCC file summaries of its case against each of the parties, with Justice Allsop labelling its current claim "opaque and repetitious".

The judge also adjourned the ACCC's notice of motion to serve outside the jurisdiction, pending clarification on the precise involvement of Google Australia and Google Ireland.

Mr Bannon argued the case should only be brought against Google Inc, and not its subsidiaries, with the joining of foreign parties bringing the complications of foreign laws.

Justice Allsop adjourned the case for further directions in the same court on October 4.

Microsoft Corp. failed to win approval for its Office software file format to be considered an international standard, losing a closely watched vote that reflects the software giant's broader battles in Europe and around the world.

Voting on the file format, called Open XML, closed Sunday at the International Organization for Standardization, or ISO. To become a standard, Open XML needed to meet two criteria; it missed both -- albeit narrowly in one case. File formats are the rubrics used to turn bits of data into business letters, spreadsheets and presentations.

A spokesman at ISO, the primary international body that ratifies standards on everything from the size of nuts and bolts to the technical specifications of computer codes, declined to comment, saying the group was preparing an announcement about the vote.

The standards struggle -- which has pitted Microsoft against open-source advocates and traditional rival International Business Machines Corp. – is important because it speaks to the issue of who should control the digital codes used to store billions of documents. Microsoft sought to have its document formats adopted as a standard in part to allay concerns that it keeps rivals from developing competing office software.

The vote isn't the end of the line for Microsoft. The standards issue now enters another phase during which the company has a chance to convince disapproving countries to change their minds. In a statement, a Microsoft executive, Tom Robertson, said he was "extremely delighted" that 74% of the countries voted to support Open XML as a standard. Microsoft needed 75%. Microsoft fell shorter in the other requirement, that two-thirds of a key group of countries vote yes. According to people familiar with the matter, 53% in the key group did so.

The approval of the Open XML format has been a central plank in Microsoft's platform to convince governments and regulators that it is playing nice in the markets for computer software it dominates.

The ISO vote comes at a critical time for the Redmond, Wash., company, which is awaiting a ruling in a European antitrust case, due Sept. 17, that is expected to have broad ramifications for regulators' approach to the company. In Europe, authorities are also mulling a separate antitrust complaint alleging that Microsoft has used its Office file formats to block competitors from the market. Without knowing exactly how a Word document is formatted, for instance, a rival has a hard time selling software that works with Word documents.

Microsoft has also faced resistance from some government bodies worried that by storing documents in the Office format, they'll be forever locked in to buying Microsoft software to decode them. Microsoft has pressed for the new format's acceptance as a open standard in part to defuse these concerns.

Critics charge that standardization would put an international imprimatur on a format that, while nominally open, is still largely directed and controlled by Microsoft.

The balloting has been contentious. Opponents have charged Microsoft with packing national committees from Italy to Kenya with its allies in order to win votes at ISO. Microsoft accuses IBM of stirring up opposition. There are 104 countries at ISO; it appears many abstained in the vote.

Those opposed to Open XML say it isn't really open at all -- that it is actually so complex and so loaded with Microsoft-specific features that no one but Microsoft can use it fully. Critics also allege technical failings and say the format needlessly duplicates an existing format, called Open Document, used by IBM and many open-source programmers.

Microsoft says it has opened up the Office formats to encourage competition and interoperability, not squelch it. Open XML should be a standard in addition to Open Document, Microsoft argues, because Open XML allows for more features.

The patent application covers a system that would allow consumers to pay for services via text message.

Dubbed 'GPay', the service would involve sending an SMS to Google which would then pay the retailer and charge the cost to the consumer.

"We file patent applications on a variety of ideas that our employees come up with. Some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, and some do not," a Google spokesperson told The Times.

The search firm has already worked with mobile phone providers, including LG, to ensure that its search page is included for mobile internet users.

There have been persistent rumours that Google is planning shortly to launch a cheap internet-enabled mobile phone.

In fact, according to attorneys for California, Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, the commonwealth of Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, known as the "California Group" of plaintiffs, "Microsoft's market power remains undiminished and … key provisions of the final judgment—those relating to middleware— have had little or no competitively significant impact."

The disagreement and upcoming courtroom battle about whether or not the final judgment has resulted in more competition in the middleware market comes in a series of filings made to U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ahead of the next joint status conference between all the parties to be held on Sept. 11.

The matter is all the more critical given that most of the terms and conditions of Microsoft's antitrust settlement with the government are due to expire this November.

Following various Net reports doing the rounds this week regarding the official unveiling of Nokia’s new Internet service, the Finnish mobile phone giant duly delivered yesterday by whipping the covers off Ovi, the company’s new Internet brand name.

Wednesday’s introduction of the multi-faceted Ovi (‘door’ in Finnish) marks a significant move by Nokia to expand its market reach from mobile devices through to a wide range of Internet-based services. Nokia claims that Ovi will enable its customers to conveniently access their "existing social network, communities and content, as well as acting as a gateway to Nokia services."

Included in the Ovi services package are also the new Nokia Music Store, which will bypass usual network operator delivery, and also the revamped and re-launched N-Gage gaming platform, both of which Nokia says will allow for the easy assessment and purchase of music and games "from a blockbuster range of artists and publishers." Ovi also includes Nokia Maps, which delivers a navigation service, maps, city guides, and more through compatible Nokia mobile devices.

As expected, Ovi was officially announced by Nokia’s President and CEO, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, at yesterday’s Nokia Go Play event in London, during which Mr. Kallavuo outlined that:

"The industry is converging towards Internet driven experiences and Ovi represents Nokia's vision in combining the Internet and mobility. Nokia is the number one mobile device company in the world. Looking into the future, we will deliver great devices, combined with compelling experiences and services, to make it easy for people to unlock the potential of the Internet.

"We started this journey with our navigation services earlier this year and we are now combining all our services into a single branded offering - Ovi by Nokia. Over the coming 12 months, you will see us integrate new user interface elements, service suites and web communities to Ovi."

Looking a little more closely at the Nokia Music Store and N-Gage platforms reveals that the former will offer "millions of tracks from major artists" as well as independent labels and a broad range of local artists from around the world. Accessible via PC or through a Nokia handset such as the new Nokia N81 or Nokia N95 smartphone multimedia computer, users will be able to browse, buy (single tracks or complete albums), create mobile playlists, and add tracks to wish lists for later retrieval.

The store will open across key Europe regions during Q3, with other EU territories and Asia due to arrive in the months following the initial roll out. Tracks will cost from €1,00 while albums will be priced from €10,00. A monthly subscription fee of €10,00 is also included for PC streaming. While those ‘starting’ prices are not quite as strong as the ‘standard’ prices found on the likes of iTunes, it remains to be seen whether DRM copy protection is missing as a core component of Nokia’s Music Store content, which could help make the slightly higher price more attractive.

Similarly, the re-imagined N-Gage service will allow users to purchase quality videogames directly through their Nokia device. They will also be able to connect with friends, read game reviews, download demos of specific games, and preview available releases. Videogame creators such as Electronic Arts and Gameloft are already bringing some of their most prominent gaming brands through to the N-Gage, which is expected to make its official appearance in November of 2007.

Beyond the specific services on offer through the Nokia Music Store, N-Gage, Nokia Maps, and others yet to arrive, Ovi also allows its users to open the door to Web-based communities, content, and contacts all from a compatible Nokia mobile device or a PC system. Ovi is currently scheduled for its official launch (in English) in Q4 of 2007, with additional content features and further language interfaces expected to arrive before the close of Q2 2008.

Taiwan-based Acer computers announced Monday it will buy U.S. company Gateway Computers for $710 million U.S., doubling its presence in the United States and becoming the third-largest PC maker in the world.

Acer said the merger would create a multibranded PC company with more than $15 billion in revenue and at least 20 million PC units shipped each year.

"This will be an excellent addition to Acer's already strong positions in Europe and Asia," J.T. Wang, Acer's chairman, said in a statement. "Upon acquiring Gateway, we will further solidify our position as No. 3 PC vendor globally."

In the second quarter, Acer was the world's fourth-largest PC maker behind U.S.-based Hewlett-Packard, No. 2 Dell, and third-ranked Lenovo Group Ltd. of China, according to research company Gartner Inc.

Gateway, based in Irvine, Calif., had the third-largest share of the PC market in the United States, but was well behind Dell and Hewlett-Packard.

Under terms of the agreement, Acer will purchase all outstanding shares of Gateway for $1.90 a share — 57 per cent above Gateway's Friday closing price of $1.21. In 1999, Gateway traded at a high of $81.50.

With Sky, users can zoom in on the moon, planets, stars, constellations and galaxies. Some include image photos and information bars. With a click, someone zooming in on Pittsburgh could reverse the image and see what stars can currently be seen from Pittsburgh. Users can also advance in time to see where planets will be located on a given date or when a meteor shower will occur.

"(We've taken) terabytes of data and made it easily accessible to anyone," said Andrew Connolly, an associate professor in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Washington and a visiting faculty member. "We are hoping astronomers around the world will share it (information) with everybody."

Sky was developed by Google's Pittsburgh office, which was opened in 2006 and now has more than 50 engineers, according to Andrew Moore, director of Google's Pittsburgh Engineering Office. The idea stemmed from a Google visiting faculty program with the University of Washington.

"Google Pittsburgh engineers made it possible," Connolly said.

According to Moore, Google's Pittsburgh office is primarily focused on Google infrastructure, computer understanding of text, developing systems for detecting fraud and advertising quality. Engineers worked on the Sky project during so-called 20 percent time, where employees can spend 20 percent of their time working on a project of their choice.

"Today is an example of 20 percent time," Moore said in reference to the Sky project unveiling. "(They do) cool, fun, interesting things on the side."