Six European nations are challenging Google's privacy policies it emerged on Tuesday—just after the announcement that its privacy director was stepping down. Later this year, when Google Glass hits the market, privacy issues are already emerging as Google’s wearable tech, estimated retail price $1,500, brings seismic change to the scientific landscape and to what's possible with personal computing.

Google, on the defensive, argues that its already-filled "Glass Explorer" program of Google Glass public beta-testers "will give all of us the chance to be active participants in shaping the future of this technology, including its features and social norms."Continue reading...

BP sells Gulf of Mexico oil fields for $5.5 billion to help pay for spill settlement while Petrobras seeks partner for development of its Gulf sites.

HP expands workforce reduction to 29,000 positions.

AIG will see U.S. slash its stake to become minority shareholder with $18 billion sell-off.

Apple cuts reliance on Samsung for iPhone chips as iPhone 5 mania and rumor mill heat up.

Audi threatens BMW's seven-year luxury auto crown.

Google charges retailers in growing competition with Amazon, as Google Fiber launch site takes off and Google Glasses hit the runway at New York Fashion Week.

NBC faces Paralympic TV deal scrutiny while the UK celebrates the end of the summer of the Olympics with London 2012 parade.Continue reading...

Headphone lines are running into every ear and the world is constantly staring into its smartphones, seemingly hoping to be sucked into a virtual mobile world. It does not seem that anyone wants to go without their data at any second of their lives. After all, it could be crucial to know the so-called “Nasty Factor” of a pitch as it happens in the fifth inning of a game in April or to see a celebrity Twitter spat unfold in real time.

The good folks at Google and Oakley want to help you, the teeming data-driven masses, see just what is shaking at all times. Google’s “Project Glass,” which quickly became nicknamed Google Glasses, got some publicity recently when it emerged that the company was developing specs that would allow for data to be projected onto the lenses. Now Bloomberg is reporting that Oakley — also making some noise as an official sponsor of the London 2012 Summer Games — has been working on a similar product since 1997.Continue reading...