Welcome to this morning’s edition of “First To Know,” a series in which we keep you in the know on what’s happening in the digital world. We’re keeping our eyes on three particular stories of interest today.
iPhone 4 Off to a Strong Start in China
Although sales of the iPhone 3GS in China were less than spectacular — not least because the version that appeared in China lacked Wi-Fi support — the iPhone 4 is shaping up to be a success in the country thus far.
On launch day, the line was more than 1,000 customers long when doors opened at the Apple Store in Bejing’s Joy City shopping mall, Fortune reports. And more than 200,000 pre-orders for the device had been placed with China Unicom, which is selling the iPhone 4 with a two-year mobile service contract. (Most iPhone buyers are planning to purchase the device directly from Apple, which is selling it for about $150 less and without a contract in China, a survey revealed.)
French Court Convicts Google and CEO Eric Schmidt of Defamation
A Paris court has convicted Google and its CEO Eric Schmidt of defamation for results produced from its “suggest” function.
When the name of the plaintiff in the case, a minor, was typed into the search engine, the words “rapist” and “satanist” were brought up via the “suggest” feature.
Google was ordered to pay a symbolic fine of one euro and “take measures to ensure there could be no repeat of the offense,” the AFP reports. A spokesperson for the search giant said it would be appealing the ruling.
Celebrities Have Little Influence on Twitter, Study Shows
A recently published study from Northwestern University claims that celebrities like Ashton Kutcher, who has millions of Twitter followers, have little conversation-generating influence on the microblogging site.
The study found that experts in certain fields were much more likely to trigger discussion trends, no doubt a relief to many who participate in these kinds of conversations on Twitter.
However, if a celebrity tweets about his or her area of expertise (for example, if Lebron James tweets about basketball), s/he may actually exert some influence in that case. But an entertainment celebrity’s political statements generally don’t hold as much sway as those tweeted by politicians or political analysts.
Further News
- The forthcoming Windows 7 Phone will not allow users to connect to the Internet on the device via a personal computer (a.k.a. tethering), a MicrosoftT spokesperson revealed.
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More About: ashton kutcher, china, eric schmidt, first to know series, france, Google, iphone 4
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