You're standing on a street corner and remember that you need to pick up a video game for your sister's birthday. On your smartphone, you search Google and tap on the "in stock nearby" link next to the blue dots that show up for some of the search results. Google then shows you which local retailers have the game in stock.

That buying omniscience, where your mobile device can tell you whether what you want is nearby, was announced Thursday by the search giant.

iPhone, Palm, Android

The blue dots in the search results link to participating retailers, which currently include Best Buy, Sears, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, and West Elm. The "in stock nearby" link connects to the seller's page, where the retailer near you notes whether the given item is "in stock" or has "limited availability." The distance from your current location is also indicated if you have enabled My Location or manually specified your location.

Apparently we aren't the only species to prefer the crisp, smooth picture of an HDTV compared to that from one of those old CRT sets of yesteryear.

A study of octopus behavior (which first surfaced in December 2008 but was revisited in an article by the Journal of Experimental Biology on Friday) shows the mollusks react to high-definition videos where they used to be nonresponsive to movies on a SD set.

Renata Pronk and colleagues from Macquarie University, Australia, decided to see if using and LCD display and HD video would fix the long-time problem.

Google, seemingly torn between Chinese censorship and Chinese opportunity, is now '99.9 percent' certain that it will shut down its Chinese search engine, Google.cn.

According to a Financial Times source 'familiar with the company's thinking,' the search giant, having reached an apparent impasse with the Chinese government officials, has drafted detailed plans to close the Chinese search business, though it remains optimistic about finding a way to maintain its overall operations in China.

For Google, which, amid an investigation into alleged Chinese hacking of prominent U.S. Web properties, expressed in January that it no longer intends to run a censored search engine in China, staying in China after shuttering Google.cn could involve enabling its Chinese sales, software development, and research operations to remain intact.

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Apple fans flocked online Friday to be among the first to order iPad tablet computers slated to begin shipping in the United States on April 3.

Apple was offering free shipping on pre-orders but limited buyers to no more than two iPads each in a sign that supplies will be tight when the iconic company's latest creation hits the market.

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad in San Francisco on January 27, billing it as a "revolutionary" device that will carve out a home between smartphones and laptop computers.

On Wednesday at the GDC, LucasArts unveiled its plans for The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition. The game will be distributed for the Mac by Aspyr, and sold through the GameAgent online store for $10.

The Special Edition includes two versions of the game. The first version is the original game released in 1990. The second version is what an Aspyr representative called an “enhancedâ€

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition is for Intel Macs only and requires OS 10.5 (Leopard) or 10.6 (Snow Leopard). Aspyr says that Macs with integrated Intel graphics are not supported.

Dan Dobberpuhl, the PA Semi founder and CEO who came to Apple with the acquisition of his company, has apparently jumped ship to work at a chip-related start-up.

Apple acquired PA Semi in April of 2008 for $278 million. At the time, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said the company was purchased to design system-on-chips for iPhones and iPods. Dobberpuhl was the leader of the team Apple hired.

Apple did not respond to inquiries about whether Dobberpuhl was still at Apple. Several sources said Dobberpuhl's departure was not recent and may have happened as long ago as last fall or possibly before that. Sources said they believe Dobberpuhl has joined Amarjit Gill, a former PA Semi principal, at Silicon Valley start-up Agnilux.

Dobberpuhl isn't alone. Other key PA Semi team members have left Apple, including one of PA Semi's leading members, Mark Hayter.

On the opening night of SXSW Interactive, HDNet founder Mark Cuban and Boxee founder Avner Ronan traded verbal barbs and a few well-reasoned arguments trying to answer the simple question: will Internet TV take over?

Ronan sees Internet video services replacing the cable TV model and allowing users to purchase programming a la carte. Ever the businessman, Cuban just wants to see the money, or as he put it at one point, the "shekels." At times the debate seemed rehearsed, but that is because it started more than a year ago in a combative exchange of blog posts. (One of Cuban's was titled "Why Do Internet People Think Content People Are Stupid?") With the rhetorical groundwork laid, the two executives held nothing back in their face-to-face meeting.

Steve Jobs is accustomed to bringing the house downв”unveiling remarkable devices like the iPad, the iPhone, and the original iPod make that a pretty common occurrence. Now, though, after an extended battle, the Apple CEO can finally bring down the other house heвs been trying to raze for so long. Maybe.

Hereвs the background: In 1984, Apple introduced the Macintosh, and Jobs bought a 17,000-square foot mansion in Woodside, Calif. The mansionв”built in the 1920s by San Francisco copper magnate Daniel C. Jacklingв”somehow never really impressed Appleвs CEO, who called it one of the biggest abominations of a house Iвve ever seen. The home includes 14 bedrooms and 13.5 bathrooms, and sits on a 6 acre lot.

NO SIGNS OF COMPROMISE: China, in a dispute with Google over censoring its China-based search engine, said the company must obey its laws or 'pay the consequences.'

THE SPEAKER: Li Yizhong, the minister of Industry and Information Technology, made the remarks on the sidelines of China's annual legislature.

GOOGLE'S POSITION: The company still hopes to resolve its standoff, but has threatened to leave China if necessary.

Source: Summary Box: Ch...

While it's great the Federal Communications Commission is offering free broadband speed tests, it would be greater if the commission would use the data to force carriers to more accurately describe the speeds they offer and then keep their promises.

There are lots of speed tests available on the Internet, but when the agency charged with regulating Internet carriers offers a speed test, it should be more than a curiosity or a toy.

The FCC's broadband.gov site should generate real information that leads to enforcement actions against carriers that don't deliver promised speeds. Of course, first the FCC must require carriers to make actual speed promises.