!nside ADViac | ADViac Network (Singapore)

The Google logo is reflected in the windows of 
the company's China head office

BEIJING - US Web giant Google said Friday its licence to operate in China, the world's largest Internet market, has been renewed, ending weeks of tension over Beijing's handling of the issue.

"We have got the renewal," Google's Beijing-based spokeswoman Marsha Wang told AFP.

"We are very pleased we got the ICP (Internet Content Provider) annual renewal. We are very pleased we can continue to provide products and services to our users."

The renewal comes after a period of uncertainty over the licence and follows a standoff between the US Internet giant and Beijing over state censorship.

In March, Google said it would no longer...

Customers wait in line at the Soho Apple Store 
in New York City to be the first owners of the new iPhone 4.

SAN FRANCISCO, USA : Apple fans mobbed stores in Japan, Europe and the United States in an iPhone 4 frenzy that promised blockbuster sales despite some opening day blemishes.

Hundreds of people queued up through the morning on Thursday outside the Apple store in downtown San Francisco, where one person reportedly sold a place in line for 400 dollars and another swapped a spot for an iPhone 4.

Some online complaints about iPhone 4 signal strength being hampered by a troublesome antenna design...

People stand on a stairway and watch SCDF 
officers wade through rain water which flooded a basement shopping area 
and coffee shop

SINGAPORE: The insurance claims from Wednesday's Orchard Road flood is estimated to amount to at least S$6 million for now and will likely increase when more cases are filed.

Insurance companies expect the claims to come mainly from businesses which are equipment intensive or are located at the basement of buildings.

The flood in Orchard caused shopkeepers many problems but now, the problems are flowing over to insurance companies.

Firms like NTUC Income are expecting...

WASHINGTON : The US International Trade Commission said Friday that it will investigate a patent infringement complaint by Taiwan-based mobile phone maker HTC Corp. against Apple.

HTC, the target of a patent suit by Apple in March alleging infringement of iPhone patents, filed a complaint with the Washington-based ITC last month seeking a ban on imports of Asian-manufactured iPhones, iPods and iPads into the United States.

HTC alleged that Apple products infringed five HTC patents and seeks to have them barred from being imported into the United States from their manufacturing facilities in Asia.

The ITC, an independent US agency which has the power to ban imports, said in a statement that it had agreed to open an investigation "of certain portable electronic devices and related software" based on the complaint filed by HTC.

HTC, which stands for High Tech Computer Corp., is Taiwan's leading smartphone maker.

The company makes...