The hugely popular social networking site Facebook might have hit the impressive milestone of half a billion users two weeks ago, but news broke this week that the micro blogging site Twitter hit one of its own after launching in July 2006.

 

The social networking site crossed the two billion mark in tweets and according to the Guardian, a graphic designer from Tokyo, Japan was the one to post the 20 billionth tweet.

 

“It looks like I posted the 20 billionth tweet. I’m getting replies from people all over the world. It’s scary. What are the chances? Maybe I’m going to die. Is it more amazing than winning the lottery? I thought it was a joke,” he tweeted on his Twitter page.

 

 

According to CNET, Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt stated that the search company believes that there are more than 200 000 Android-powered devices being sold each and every day.

 

“The number was about 100 000 [per day] about two months ago,” Schmidt said. “It looks like Android is not just phenomenal but incredibly phenomenal in its growth rate. God knows how long that will continue.”

 

The success of Android hasn’t deterred the company’s plans for Chrome OS though as Schmidt stated that, “Maybe we can get the same success out of Chrome OS. [As] Chrome OS is targeted at a different part of the market.”

 

 

 According to the Telegraph, chipmaker Intel has agreed to a settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that sees the company pledging to alter the manner it operates while also providing access to its key central processing units to makers of related products for the next six years.

 

In addition the settlement also bans Intel from putting pressure or refusing to do business with computer manufacturers should they choose to work with AMD or the company’s other rivals. This agreement means that the company will avoid having to pay a multi-million dollar fine to settle the charges.

 

“This case demonstrates that the FTC is willing to challenge anti-competitive conduct by even the most powerful companies in the fastest-moving industries,” said Jon Leibowitz, chairman of the FTC.

 

 

Microsoft announced on Wednesday that it has settled its patent infringement case with customer relationship management software manufacturer Salesforce.com. According to ZDNet, Redmond sued Salesforce.com for patent infringement in May, with Salesforce.com counter-suing Microsoft for the same.

 

While the terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed Redmond did state that it “is being compensated by Salesforce.com.” In addition Salesforce.com will receive broad coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio for its products and services as well as its back-end server infrastructure during the term, while Microsoft will receive coverage under Salesforce.com’s patent portfolio for Microsoft’s products and services.

  

 

While Nokia gave us a peak at what the final version of Symbian^3 is going to look like on smartphones like the N8, this week also saw a video of Nokia’s MeeGo OS hitting the net, for a short while anyways.

 

According to The Nokia Blog, this video amongst others shows off the social networking widget as well as the integration of social networking feeds within contacts, music player and Ovi Store. The video has since been removed due to a copyright claim by the Finnish manufacturer, but is still available on YouTube.