Google is the fastest growing global brand, according to Businessweek and Interbrand’s Best Global Brand Survey.

The online search company first appeared in the top 100 list in 2005, at number 38; today, it is 10th on the list. Google’s brand value is calculated to be more than 25 billion dollars, and has risen 43% from its 2007 value of $18 billion. The key is Google’s quest for omnipresence:

“Innovations like Google Mobile, Google Docs & Spreadsheets and Google Book Search extend the brand’s reach and ubiquity and make it an increasingly important part of our everyday lives.”

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Nokia (NOK) is pushing itself into the mobile music market with a new partnership with Warner Music Group (WMG), with both companies hoping to entice customers into downloading more songs while helping dwindling music sales.

The world’s largest phone-making company is using the deal to push its Comes With Music subscription service and mobile Nokia music store, while Warner Music Group hopes the partnership will ease some of the burden from iTunes’ market.

Although iTunes is by far the largest digital music store and supports a pay-to-download MP3 service, many major record labels are struggling with the Apple store because of disagreements in price.

Nokia’s Come With Music service is the mobile industry’s most significant step towards aligning the offerings of Web 2.0 mobile technology with the needs of the music industry.

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Greenpeace released its periodic “Guide to Greener Electronics” with the top 18 manufactures of consumer electronics, mobile phones, and PCs ranked according to how environmentally friendly they are.

Sony and Sony Ericsson topped the list as the greenest manufacturing companies because of their commitment of toxic chemical phase-outs in the production of their items and their low greenhouse gas emissions.

At the bottom of the list were Nintendo, Microsoft, LG, and Fujitsu Siemens mostly because of their products’ energy usage.

Since 2006, Greenpeace has released the “Guide to Greener Electronics” based on how companies manufacture their products and make attempts to safely recycle old ones, but the newest list has a wider criteria.

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The ’smartphone’ arms race has just gotten a bit colder. Nokia upped the ante Monday, or at the very least began the catch-up process, by purchasing Plazes, CNBC reported.

Much like its more established predecessors Twitter and Jaiku, Plazes is a social networking start-up service. But where Twitter and Jaiku provide venues for “micro-blogging,” or character-limited forums by which to inform all friends and contacts also using the service of present activities or thoughts, Plazes focuses, as its name would indicate, on place.

It grants subscribers access to “location -aware services,” explained CNBC’s article, so users can better prepare for their social activities.

So buying the service, should make Nokia’s phones more competitive in the Internet-equipped cell phone arena cluttered with BlackBerries, the original iPhone and the upcoming iPhone G3, among others.

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On Monday, Nokia unveiled two new phones aimed at the business market in an attempt to create competition for RIM’s dominant Blackberry and Apple’s iPhone.

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Adobe Systems, Inc. unveiled a project that will enable mobile device developers to use the company’s Flash software for free in order to improve the mobile Internet experience.

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Lemon Way, a French-based independent software vendor, is bringing the complex banking world straight to your cell phone with Wonderbank.

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For the first time, Cuban citizens are legally allowed to own cell phones, as new President Raul Castro lifted the first major restriction under the post-Fidel government.

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Each week, Atelier reviews what is trendy on the web magazine of our great expert contributor. Ubergizmo.com is dedicated to consumer electronics news and reviews.

Amazon MP3 Store goes International

Online retailer Amazon.com now holds the distinction of being the only retailer to offer DRM-free MP3s from all four major music labels - that, and in addition to thousands of other independent labels worldwide. These offerings are now no longer limited to the US only, but internationally so the rest of the world can get on with their lives without being tied down to some sort of pesky DRM music on their respective audio players.

1.1 Billion Cellphones Sold Worldwide in 2007

That’s the result from a study done by Strategy Analytics. That’s an increase of 10% from the Billion phones sold in 2006 and the growth is expected to continue to 1.24B phones for 2008. The growth in unit shipped is driven by emerging regions, where Nokia leads. I thought that Motorola had dropped at the forth place, but here’s what the studay says:
1/Nokia
2/Samsung
3/Motorola

Treo 800w Specifications Leaked

Well look here - after hearing news of Palm’s intention to close down the majority of their retail stores, along comes more information of the upcoming Treo 800w’s specifications. A case of a little bit too late, perhaps?

Netflix on Video Streaming on Mac, Video-on-Demand

Netflix recently announced its quarterly results, and discussed about the idea of having video streaming (Instant Watch) on the Mac. Again, it comes back to a digital rights management (DRM) issue: 

“To date, the only widely used DRM format for the Mac has been Apple’s own FairPlay system, which has not been licensed to any third parties. This has so far limited the Netflix service to Windows alone” (electronista)

Video on demand can be seen as a threat to Netflix and many are wondering if the rental company should create its own VoD system. At the moment, the company dismisses the idea, but it’s hard to tell if it really believes that DVD discs will hold their own for the foreseeable future, or if they simply do not want to validate an concept that is harmful to their business.

LawnBott Gets Upgrade

For those who do not yet have kids who are old enough to mow the lawn as a chore, fret not. There is the LawnBott LB3200 that not only goes about its task without complaining or asking for higher wages, it is also Bluetooth-enabled, allowing one to control it remotely from a cell phone or laptop. You will first need to include the perimeter wire to set the boundary before unleashing the LawnBott LB3200. Capable of cutting on slopes up to 30 degrees in an area as large as 38,000 square feet, it will automatically return to its dock once it is running out of juice or when the job is complete. Don’t worry about coming home to a shredded pet as there’s a free-floating 360-degree bumper, a blade-stop sensor and an onboard alarm system to prevent untoward accidents. Is the Lawnbott LB3200 worth $3,250?

SpaceShipTwo & WhiteKnightTwo Unveiled

Designs for SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo from Virgin Galactic were unveiled, ushering in the age of private spaceflight to the masses (or at least those who could afford it, that is). Currently, the SpaceShipTwo stands at 60% complete with test flights due later this year while the WhiteKnightTwo is 70% completed. The latter will also hold the record for being the largest all carbon composite plane when finished - in comparison, the Boeing 787 is just 50% carbon composite. Some key features of SpaceShipTwo include :

Designed to re-enter the atmosphere at any angle, it can correct itself. I wonder if there must be some sort of physical fitness test future passengers must go through before stepping onboard.

Glowing Skateboards Patented

Check out these glowing skateboards from Photon Light Boards. These will definitely increase the cool factor as you blaze through town performing all your ollies and tricks to impress the ladies. These boards can be purchased pre-fitted with LEDs in a range of setups, or for those who want something more personal, there is always the option of a custom setup. The boards alone are pretty expensive, ranging from $95 to $200 minus trucks and wheels, with the higher price point pointing towards an obviously more complex design. These skateboards are rechargeable thanks to a sleekly mounted powerpack and plug. View the video of the Glowing Skateboards here.

Wrong Number Generator

I know that April Fool’s Day is still a long way off, but the Wrong Number Generator is always good for a laugh (or two). Plug it into the phone jack and you’re good to go - perfect to set up the entire office for some laughs when dealing with a particularly difficult colleague. No idea on how it works, but it will automatically change the number you dial, although there is a 25% chance that the call will go through properly in order to prevent the victim from complaining about a consistent defect of wrong numbers. Of course, most folks these days already have a cell phone so chances are this will only be good for a couple of wrong numbers. Rest assured, emergency lines such as 911 will always dial correctly. The Wrong Number Generator retails for $89.

Find all the sources, and discover more consumer electronics news and reviews at Ubergizmo.com.

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Christmas Tree Ball with LED messages 
Now here’s a Christmas tree decoration that allows you to display a message of your choice with its integrated LEDs. Each $14.95 Christmas Tree Ball will be able to store up to 18 scrolling season greetings, ranging from the classic "Season Greetings" to "Feliz Navidad". Just in case reading this post reminds you that you have yet to set up your Christmas tree, there is always the pre-lit Christmas tree to help you get started. Alternatively, you can check out the rest of our Christmas tree posts.

Cellphone Holder 
While this has been dubbed the Cellphone Holder, it is certainly capable of doing more than that. This piece of plastic helps you charge your phone while preventing it from getting stepped on should you leave your handset on the floor. I’m not sure how many people actually do that though, but by the looks of it, will you accidentally snag the charger wire and drag your cellphone onto the floor? The answer depends on the inpidual I guess, and the Cellphone Holder certainly looks capable of housing other devices like PDAs and iPods as well. If only there was some sort of fence built in to prevent accidental drops. The Cellphone Holder retails for $7.95.

Newspaper telephone launched 
Dagens Nyheter from Sweden has rolled out what is known as the first "newspaper" telephone in the world, featuring a handset that provides free access to its website for daily subscribers. This sounds more like a novelty item than anything else, unless you’re a world leader who needs to know what’s happening all the time. I figure out that a RSS news feed would be much better since you get the latest headlines at the top always instead of sifting through a whole paper. Either that or you can always get a WiFi capable device (even a DS Lite or PSP will do just fine) to check out the current news as long as you’re within a WiFi hotspot. Dagens Nyheter subscribers can pick up the Nokia 6120 3G handset and fork out $33 monthly for this unique call plan. Do you think this idea will take off universally?

First solar-powered bus in the world 
Australia will play host to the first solar-powered electric bus in the world, with Tindo leading the charge in Adelaide, Australia. 100% powered by solar energy thanks to a BP Solar-sourced photovoltaic station, this green ride can ferry up to 42 passengers at once - without forking out a single cent. According to the Adelaide City Council, "The solar electric bus and the recharging system at the Adelaide Central Bus Station represent a significant investment by the Adelaide City Council into a sustainable future for the City of Adelaide, while providing leadership in sustainable public transport options for cities around Australia." When will we see such buses roaming the streets of US?

Portable PC Theater concept 
The Portable PC Theater concept was specially designed for your entertainment, so you don’t get a display to go along with it. Instead, it comes equipped with a built-in projector that can be removed for better positioning. Flanking the projection lens are stereo speakers to get your kicks off - too bad there is no surround sound with this. All cords can be retracted into the Portable PC Theater when not in use just like how a vacuum cleaner works, and there is even room inside to store a collapsible keyboard. The Portable PC Theater concept is but a pipe dream at this point in time, but if I could pick something that measures a mere 3 DVDs high and 2 CDs wide, I would definitely jump at the chance.

Shower heads react to temperature 
These shower heads are capable of altering their color depending on the current water temperature. These colors range from white to blue, changing to pink and violet as the mercury increases and finally touching red as ample warning. While this is definitely a novel idea, I find it pretty pointless since you ought to be well versed with the temperature indicator on your own shower at home after taking a few baths. Kids ought to like this novelty though.

Find all the sources, and discover more consumer electronics news and reviews at Ubergizmo.com.

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