Through March, Google's Chrome Web browser captured a 6.1% share of the search market, and is on pace to surpass 10% by the end of the year, according to Net Applications. Through February, Chrome held a 5.6% market share. At the present rate, Chrome only needs to gain a percentage point of share every two months to top 10% by December. Chrome's gains are likely coming at the expense of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which sat at 60.7% through March -- from 61.6% through February, notes eWeek. Meanwhile, Mozilla Firefox and Apple's Safari browser -- which Google surpassed …

Meet the new Rhapsody: footloose and fancy free. Officially an independent company, former parent RealNetworks no longer holds majority control of the music subscription provider. (RealNetworks and Viacom now possess equal minority stakes in the standalone entity.) Going forward, Rhapsody will now offer a $10 monthly subscription service. "The new price point reflects an industry-wide drop in the cost of all-you-can-eat music services, which deliver access to a large library of songs for a monthly fee, even as their providers add mobile functionality," notes GigaOm. Traditionally, Rhapsody has delivered streams to the desktop, along with "tethered download" …

Despite reports that iPad mania was eating Android innovation alive, its "marketplace" saw 9,331 new mobile applications added to its app store during the month of March, according to new data from AndroidLib.com. The figure is particularly impressive when compared to historical growth numbers, notes ReadWriteWeb. In December of last year, there were 3,807 new applications added to the Android app store. By January, 4,458 more were added. In February, 5,532 arrived. "If this trend continues, we could possibly see a month this year where the number of new applications tops 5 digits," adds ReadWriteWeb. For sure, …

Two years ago, Apple and venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partnered on a $100 million fund for mobile entrepreneurs. Since then, the suitably named iFund has raised another $330 million "from others," and created 14 ventures -- 3 of which remain "stealth" -- across various categories. Booyah, for one, purports to be creating "new forms of entertainment," like the popular social check-in platform MyTown. Another, InMobi, is an independent mobile ad network, which claims to reach mobile users in 37 countries. The fund, however, is now out of money, and is "doubling down," and …

No doubt, the iPad has its detractors and ill wishers. Though he concedes that the tablet might be "the greatest toy ever," Aaron Gell, president of Mediaelites.com, is one self-professed iPad Hater. "I hate it and all that it stands for, and I desperately hope it goes the way of the Newton," he confesses in The Huffington Post. Why? Because it proves, once and for all, that Apple is the great Defender-in-Chief of closed networks and walled gardens, i.e., the true enemy of innovation. "For all the nightmare scenarios about Google, it's now become evident that …

Following claims of extortion and resulting lawsuits, Yelp will no longer sell businesses the opportunity to prominently position positive reviews. "Three suits filed this year allege that Yelp pressured businesses to advertise and retaliated against companies that didn't by negatively skewing their ratings," explains The Wall Street Journal's Digits blog. "The conduct is an offer to manipulate content in exchange for payment," said Jared Beck, a lawyer representing one of the plaintiffs, in a Journal story last month. Notes Search Engine Land: "The connection between reviews and advertising is what seemed to …

Likely by Tuesday, Google will begin asking all Buzz users to confirm or change their privacy settings. Since its coolly-received debut, the newfangled communication platform has faced continued criticism from privacy advocates and disgruntled users alike. Google is expected to admit that it "'didn't get everything right,' " which has resulted in serious privacy tweaks since its launch," reports Mashable. The blog adds that, "Google's taking a step in the right direction by giving every user a big opportunity to change their privacy settings ... It had to be done." It's unlikely that the move and the …

And then, there was one iPad buyer who went right home and put the device in a blender. Now, with apologies to the Daily Show, your moment of Zen:

The entertainment industry might be anxious to learn that just 26% of iPad owners plan to watch video on their devices. That according to a Piper Jaffray survey of 448 consumers who lined up on Saturday to buy an iPad. By contract, 74% planned to use their iPads to surf the Web -- admittedly, an activity that some respondents might have interpreted to mean watching streaming video online. Meanwhile, 38% said they planned to use their iPads to read books; 32% to e-mail; 18% to play games and other apps; and 8% to listen to music. Not …

Despite the mass adoption of online video, viewers remain predominately young, wealthy, and early adopters, according to new research from GigaOM Pro conducted by TDG analyst Michael Greeson. More than a third of online video viewers surveyed were between the ages of 18 and 32, while those ages 33 to 44 accounted for 30% of viewers. The median age of online video viewers in the survey was 41 years. Online video viewers tend to be early adopters, and are more likely to own an HDTV, DVR or standalone Blu-Ray player and operate a home network than those …