1. and : Apple showed off the forthcoming iPhone 3.0 at its Worldwide Developer Conference and unveiled new MacBook Pros and the Snow Leopard operating system. Even though the iPhone news was expected and we knew there would be other gear announced at the conference, we're giving it top billing anyway for those of you who cannot get enough Apple.
2. and : The European Commission is going ahead with its antitrust case against Microsoft even though the company said it would strip Internet Explorer from the Windows 7 OS in Europe. Microsoft's announcement that it would remove the browser from the OS in Europe led Jon von Tetzchner, CEO of Norwegian browser maker Opera, to opine that Microsoft is trying to "set the [antitrust] remedy itself."
3. : Even though swine flu stories have gotten less attention the past few weeks, the number of global cases has continued to rise -- so much so that the World Health Organization declared the first worldwide pandemic in 41 years. That news prompted Gartner to urge that companies review their disaster recovery plans, along with identifying which employees are at highest risk and passing along hygiene tips to help avoid getting the disease. (Wash your hands thoroughly and often!)
4. : Authorities in Italy and the U.S. have broken up an international telecommunications hacking ring. An international arrest warrant was also issued for a Filipino hacker whose hacking efforts were allegedly used by other miscreants to defraud telecommunications companies, including AT&T.
5. : EMC CEO Joe Tucci appealed directly to Data Domain employees to make the case that his company's US$1.8 billion bid for the de-duplication and backup vendor is better than NetApp's $1.9 billion offer.
6. : Electronics repair specialists at Rapid Repair dissected a Palm Pre to check out how it works and found that cutting-edge smartphone technology, but even so declared the device is not "light years ahead" of its rivals.
7. : With a big birthday (the half-century mark) coming up for someone very close to us, we take stock of word from Amazon.com that the Kindle DX has sold out. (Perhaps Amazon is intentionally keeping the supply low to generate demand, Gartner analyst Van Baker suggested.) The next-generation e-reader is supposed to be available again on June 17, which is just in the nick of time for a late June birthday (hint, hint).
8. : Google appears to be moving into the database market, with the release of an early version of a new database type that an analyst says will bring a revolutionary approach to data management. Fusion Tables was quietly announced on the blog of the Google research team. This wasn't the only Google news this week ...
9. : Well, the U.S. Department of Justice, revamped under the Obama administration, really is serious about taking on technology companies it seems. The DOJ has sent civil investigative demands related to its investigation of Google's book search engine, according to published reports.
10. : This headline is a bit peripheral to IT, but plenty of buzz was generated in IT circles with the announcement from General Motors that it has tapped former AT&T CEO Edward Whitacre as board chairman after the automaker emerges from bankruptcy.