Google is planning to launch an online bookstore that would only require readers to own a Web browser rather than a dedicated e-reader device. Google Editions, so-named, obviously means trouble for Amazon and its popular Kindle device. Expect Google's service in the first half of next year, initially offering about half a million e-books in partnership with publishers with whom it already cooperates. Readers will be able to buy e-books either from Google directly or from other online stores such as Amazon.com or Barnesandnoble.com. Google will host the e-books and make them searchable.

If the future is indeed mobile, as many pundits believe, then Microsoft's future is looking shaky at best. Just weeks after debuting its new mobile operating system to scathing reviews, the Redmond, Wash.-company is on the defensive about its subsidiary Danger erasing the personal data of an estimated 800,000 T-Mobile Sidekick users. Seemingly, not even news on Thursday that "most, if not all" of the data will be recovered will be enough to change the perception of Microsoft as absentminded mobile proprietor. "Even considered as an extended outage, it is unacceptable service," writes industry journalist …

If and when the deal closes, what are the online implications of Bloomberg LP acquiring BusinessWeek? From challenging Rupert Murdock's monopoly on "premium" business news to his war on free content, they're sure to be profound. Just beginning to digest its broader implications, most industry watchers have yet to put the deal into a digital context.   BusinessWeek, clearly the best source for information at the moment, reports, "It still hasn't been decided whether Bloomberg and BusinessWeek will maintain separate Web sites or be morphed together as one."   Presently, the sites …

Who needs McKinsey? Business Insider is reporting that AOL has hired consultants Alix Partners to orchestrate the soon-to-be-independent company's inevitable layoffs. A knowledgeable source says Alix is helping AOL with a "top to bottom" look at the company in terms of "process efficiencies, cost structure, and strategy," and has yet to come up with an exact number of layoffs. Business Insider, for its part, is predicting the number will be about 2,000, with AOL needing to save about $300 million per year. The consulting firm's last big client was General Motors's debtors.

This week, the Wi-Fi Alliance, a tech industry consortium, said its members will release technology that effectively turns gadgets into mini access points -- or "hotspots" -- able to create wireless connections with other Wi-Fi-enabled gadgets or broadband modems within a radius of about 300 feet. The alliance includes Intel, Cisco Systems, Apple, and more than 300 other makers of the equipment that runs Wi-Fi networks, often used to provide wireless Web connections in homes, cafés, hotels, and airports. Until now, consumers have been required to hook up some gear and create their own hotspots to enjoy Wi-Fi. They'll still …

In the wake of broad restructuring, The Weinstein Co. is selling its majority stake in aSmallWorld.net -- a social network for influencers, and wealthy ones in particular -- to Swiss mogul Patrick Liotard-Vogt. Harvey Weinstein's film and entertainment company bought into the site three years ago, and is now expected to retain a small piece of it. Liotard-Vogt is a scion of the family that founded Nestle Corp. The exclusive site, founded by Erik Wachtmeister, is an invitation-only social network. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Earlier this summer, Weinstein hired financial consultants Miller Buckfire. The firm has since …

With additional funding secured, blog search engine Technorati is now launching a revamped design, which allows third-party bloggers to post content directly on the site. The idea is to bolster its existing search and ranking services with original and editorial content. It is also launching a new Top 100 Blogs feature with an improved ranking system, and clearly demarcated categories. The company just raise $2 million in funding in what it claims is an extension of the fourth round of funding dating back to June 2008. At the time, it had raised $7.5 million at a $35 million valuation. The …

Despite its limited success, entrepreneurs apparently haven't given up on the idea of selling monthly subscriptions to a catalog of online music. Take Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis -- who created and financed peer-to-peer file-sharing service Kazaa - and have now created and financed a start-up called Rdio. By the New York Times' estimate, a few hundred thousand Rhapsody and Napster subscribers presently pay monthly fees of around $15 for the right to stream an unlimited number of songs, at any time, from their PCs and mobile devices. Yahoo, AOL and MTV Networks have long since abandoned their own music …

In the wake of a server outage at Microsoft subsidiary Danger, which erased the personal data of some 800,000 T-Mobile Sidekick users, the two companies are engaged in a little damage control. Yep, T-Mobile has momentarily suspended Sidekick sales, and they're now swearing that some data may be recoverable. The personal data lost in the meltdown included personal contacts, calendar entries, lists and photos. The bigger issue is whether consumers will now question the security of cloud computing, which turns data storage into a service delivered over the Internet from remote data centers.

Adding another dimension to its popular mapping service, Google has added a 3-D building maker to Google Earth. For some locations, Google already shows 3-D buildings in Google Earth, though it apparently wasn't that easy for users to add their own buildings to these maps. Building Maker, meanwhile, takes a game-like approach to crowd-sourcing the production of these 3D buildings. Users can pick a building in any of the 50 cities worldwide where this project is now live, pick a building they'd like to model, and Google will present them with aerial images of the building. Users only …