In a move that stunned many in the tech circles, Oracle pulled a trigger on Google with a lawsuit alleging that the Android platform and devices infringe one or more Java patents and copyright.

Oracle claims that Google has been aware of Sun’s patent portfolio, including the patents at issue, since the middle of this decade, when Google hired certain former Sun Java engineers.

The lawsuit leads one to question the intentions of Oracle’s latest lawsuit and its commitment to open source. Java has been covered by the open source General Public License since 2006, way before Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystems was completed in January 2010.

Back to life with the Android Xperia X10 and X10 mini launched early this year, Sony Ericsson has just unveiled the Xperia X8, an “in between” member of the Android Xperia family that it promises to be “affordable”.

The “mid-tier” touch-screen device looks essentially like a smaller X10. It has a 3-inch screen, 3.2-megapixel camera and 3.5mm audio jack – all the basics of a multimedia phone for youngsters.

Out in selected markets in Q3 this year, the X8 comes in five colours, including white and pink

Nokia gave the media a first-hand look at the upcoming Nokia N8 this morning, as it kicked off its usual pre-CommunicAsia show this morning with its Connections event.

After playing with the phone briefly at the media event, I’d say my impression of this nifty little number hasn’t changed from when it was unveiled two months ago.

Without a doubt, the hardware and multimedia are great, but the Symbian OS, even in its latest version, is not as attractive as Android or iPhone OS.

Well, I’m glad I did not wait for the HTC Desire to come to Singapore!

The twin of the highly-successful Google Nexus One is hitting shops here only at the end of this month, killing earlier rumours that it was going on shelves this weekend.

I say I’m glad I didn’t wait because I would have enjoyed my Google Nexus One (which is made by HTC as well, for those who don’t know) for almost half a year before the HTC Desire comes to town.

Still, for those who wait, there are rewards for your patience. Topmost is the fact that the Desire will be sold through telecom operators, which means discounts for signing up a subscription plan.

Net surfers heading to Asiaone, the Singapore Press Holdings site offering a lot of the publishing company’s newspaper articles, were prevented from entering the news site in the past two days, as it was hit by a “malicious malware attack“.

The news portal acknowledged the problem on Wednesday, saying that users faced error messages on their browsers, which prevented them from entering the site.

There has always been rivalry in the tech industry, but it’s not that common when a tech giant chooses to name and launch a direct assault on an opponent.

Take a look at the following YouTube video, which was just put up yesterday by Microsoft on YouTube, on why their solutions are better than Google’s cloud ones. Basically it charges that Google only has cloud-based solutions, whilst Microsoft has a mix of on-prem and cloud solutions that fit its customers better.

My comment is that the world is migrating towards cloud-based solutions (with some caveats as kinks are being worked out), so vendors either evolve or be rendered obsolete. And with Google in the driver’s seat on this, it can’t be fun for others having to play catch up.

The Internet has been abuzz with Google’s announcement of Buzz, their new social networking platform that they just announced about a day ago.

Of course, Facebook is the king of the hill in the social networking space that Google is going after.

Reams of commentaries and news analysis has been written about this — here are some excellent ones by PC Mag and TechCrunch — so I’m not going to delve into the history and just go straight to the point with my comments.

With Buzz bundled in Gmail natively, my gut feel is that it has a good chance of taking off, especially with the huge Gmail install base. Went to the Buzz website to find out more, but apparently it’s not available for Singapore yet.

Here’s their statement on the site:

We’re still rolling out Buzz to everyone, so if you don’t see it in your Gmail account yet, check back soon.

*Update*: It’s now up for me. That was fast!

That’s about it for the newspoint. The story I really want to write, however, is how Google has been taking over all the tools I’ve been using.

Scenic sightseeing tours – not tanks making minced meat out of hapless civilians – are the results you will find if you do an online search for “Tiananmen Square” or “Tibet” while in China.

Propaganda, not reality, is what you get when looking for information behind the Great Firewall of China, so goes the Western view of China’s Internet censorship regime.

Thus, Google’s threat today to pull out of China altogether and to provide a search that is unfettered by the communist government’s censorship regime, has been greeted by some Western commentators as a good thing for freedom of speech in the awakening giant.

Question is: are things that simple? Dig deeper and you will find that this story of Google versus China has a lot more questions than answers.

Tiny Singapore finally joins the ranks of countries with Street View today, right on the heels of the roll out in Hawaii and large parts of Spain in November.

This also makes Singapore the third Asian country after Japan and Taiwan (Taipei city only) to be mapped in 3D by the Mountain View firm.

Yes, Google has spoken… when it comes to improving its map’s accuracy and ease of use, it’s going to haul ass as it brings in multiple data streams quickly.

At a press conference held in the basement level of the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station in Singapore, LTA and Google announced a new data partnership between the two which promises to help LTA reach its goal of creating a “people-centred land transport system that shows the commuter how to commute seamlessly”, according to Mr Yam Ah Mee, LTA’s chief executive.

Are homegrown online maps being side-lined?
However, it’s interesting to note that this visualisation of the “penultimate” transport network will not be stewarded by homegrown online map providers like gothere (lauded by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a national speech) and Singapore Press Holdings’ Rednano search engine.