In a tech world spat of unprecedented proportions, Google is calling out Microsoft for allegedly "stealing" its search results. Breaking the story wide open, Search Engine Land's Danny Sullivan wrote on Tuesday: "Google has run a sting operation that it says proves Bing has been watching what people search for on Google, the sites they select from Google's results, then uses that information to improve Bing's own search listings. Bing doesn't deny this."On its Bing blog, Microsoft admits to collecting click-stream data from customers when they use Bing and other search engines, including Google. Yet  "This allegation that …

>Microsoft is blaming Yahoo for a mobile "data drain," which appears to be affecting a small number of Windows Phone 7 devices. "Microsoft suggested an 'inefficiency' between Yahoo Mail and the Windows Phone Mail client is causing Windows Phone 7's unexplained data drain for some users," eWeek reports. Microsoft has spent the past few weeks investigating complaints of smartphones "devouring" users' data, even when not running apps or surfing the Web. Late last month, the software giant claimed to have discovered the culprit. Rafael Rivera, proprietor of the Within Windows blog, wrote that he discovered Yahoo's Internet …

What's a downloaded app worth? Not as much as their publishers would have you believe. Indeed, 1-in-4 downloaded apps are used just once, according to a new study from analytics firm Localytics. "The big takeaway from the news for mobile app developers is that first impressions of your app matter greatly," writes VentureBeat, "and you should also pay more attention to the number of people who keep using your apps, instead of just looking at download statistics." For its study, Localytics looked at thousands of apps across every major mobile platform using its app analytics software. Worse …

By 2015, people will send 26 times more mobile data than they do now, The Los Angeles Times reports, citing Cisco's annual Global Mobile Traffic Forecast. "That's the equivalent of every man, woman and child on Earth sending 1,000 text messages every second," Suraj Shetty, Cisco's VP of worldwide service provider marketing, tells the newspaper. No, that's no actually what mankind will be doing in 2015. Rather, according to Cisco, most of the mobile traffic will still come from laptops and netbooks -- 56% -- while smart phones will account for about 27%, and tablets only about …

For the next month, seven top airlines have agreed to offer Facebook on their in-flight Wi-Fi networks for free. As USA Today explains, it's part of a promotion with Gogo Inflight Internet, which presently serves 1,100 commercial aircraft -- or about 3,800 flights a day -- and 5,000 private planes. Promotion aside, the price of Gogo's in-flight service ranges from $4.95 for short flights to $12.95 for longer journeys. The free Facebook service will be available on North American flights for Virgin America, United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta, AirTran, US Airways and Alaska Airlines. "Those who wish …

As if Facebook wasn't embedded deep enough into the media landscape, the company is reportedly planning to launch a new third-party commenting system within weeks. "This new technology could see Facebook as the engine behind the comments system [sic] on many high-profile blogs and other digital publications," sources tell CNet. Facebook is reportedly reaching out to top media companies and blogs as launch partners -- a move paidContent considers "possibly more noteworthy" considering that a Facebook commenting system already exists. Unlike Facebook's existing "social plug-in" service, however, the new system involves "handling the log-in and publishing" and automatically …