About a week ago, Google announced that it integrated Google Voice into Gmail chat thus allowing Gmail users to call landline and mobile phones free of charge (in the US and Canada). According to the Mountain View-based search engine giant, a lot of people took advantage of this feature. As Google explained, more than 10million calls were made from Gmail to landline and mobile phones.

With so many people giving this feature a try, the Google Voice team decided to offer some advice on how to get more out of calling in Gmail. “The uptake has been amazing and 10,000,000 calls later, we wanted to offer some tips and tricks on how you, as a loyal Google Voice user, can unlock additional features when you setup Gmail to receive calls with your Google Voice number,” commented Google Voice Product Marketing Manager, Michael Bolognino.

As you may remember, the latest and greatest Windows version, Windows 7, hit the market on the 22nd of October 2009. Next month the operating system will celebrate its first anniversary and to celebrate, Redmond-based software giant Microsoft is bringing back the Family Pack offer.

Thanks to Windows 7 Family Pack, you can get a version of the operating system and install it on a total of 3 computers. This is especially useful if you have multiple computers in your home. Back in 2009 you could get 3 Widows 7 Home Premium licenses for a $144.99. Microsoft announced that the price has not changed – the Windows 7 Family pack that Microsoft will bring back this October will cost the same as it did in 2009.

Symantec, company that specializes in providing antivirus, antispyware, and internet security software solutions, recently announced that it struck a deal with Fujitsu, the leading provider of ICT-based business solutions for the global marketplace. As part of this deal, Fujitsu will preinstall Symantec’s Norton Internet Security on the business and consumer PCs it sells all over the world.

“Fujitsu consumer and business PCs will ship worldwide with Norton Internet Security, excepting Japan where Norton AntiVirus will ship to business customers. EMEA and Japan customers will receive a 90-day subscription, while Fujitsu customers in Asia-Pacific and the Americas will receive a 60-day subscription,” explained Symantec in a press release.

Cupertino-based software developer Apple announced that iTunes reached another important milestone in its development process. To be more precise, Apple announced the release of iTunes 10. This is a major upgrade, an upgrade that brings an important new enhancement to the table.

The enhancement I am talking about is Ping, a new music-oriented social network. Thanks to Ping social music discovery you can follow your favorite artists and you can follow your friends to see what music they like – what music they downloaded, what music they’re listening to, things like that. Furthermore you can tell your friends about your favorite albums and songs, post your thoughts and opinions, view concert listings, and tell your friends what concerts you plan to attend.

The development team at Twitter has announced that the official Twitter app is now available on Apple’s iPad. The official Twitter app was rolled out back in May, following the acquisition of Tweetie. What Twitter did is bought Tweetie, brought Tweetie developer Loren Brichter (a.k.a. Atebits) on board, and built the official Twitter app on top of Tweetie. The official Twitter app was basically Tweetie 3.0.

The official Twitter app has been updated to version 3.1. This version provides support for the iPad device. “Twitter for iPad takes advantage of the iPad’s fluid touch interface, letting you move lots of information around smoothly and quickly – without needing to open and close windows or click buttons. There are a few things we want to point out that make this app a really fast and fun way to read real-time content,” commented Loren Brichter and Bryan Haggerty.

Remember the Priority Inbox feature that Google rolled out a few days ago as a means to prevent email overload and help you better sort through your inbox? When the feature was rolled out I took it for a spin in my browser of choice, Mozilla’s Firefox.

Turns out that if you used Google's own Chrome browser something like this happened (in some cases): when you accessed your Gmail inbox using Chrome, the video showcasing the Priority Inbox feature would automatically start playing. The problem was that the video was nowhere to be seen – only the music that accompanied it could be heard in the background. That jazzy tune put the scare on many Chrome users who thought they had a virus.

The Microsoft-developed Windows Phone 7 operating system, the Apple-developed iOS 4.1 operating system, and Palm’s webOS 2.0 operating system all made the news this week. Keep reading below to find out why.

Windows Phone 7
Redmond-based software giant Microsoft has put the finishing touches on Windows Phone 7, the mobile equivalent of the Windows 7 operating system. The operating system has reached the most important milestone in its development process – Release To Manufacturing (RTM). All that’s left now is for Windows Phone 7-powered devices to make it to the market.

Great news for all of you out there who are fans of the online DVD and Blu-ray Disc rental service Netflix and have an iPhone: after many months of teasing, Netflix has finally rolled out a Netflix app for the Apple-developed device. As you may remember, Netflix said it may release an iPhone app back in April. Then in June, the company confirmed the fact that it would release an iPhone app. Netflix finally released the iPhone app about a week back, on the 26 of August.

If you would like to get the Netflix app, you can do so now. You can get the application straight from Apple’s App Store – just click this link. The app is provided free of charge to everyone who has a Netflix subscription. If you do not have a subscription, you can get one. It will set you back just $8.99. For your hard earned money you will get to watch as many movies as you want.

The development process of Skype Connect has finally come full circle with the application graduating out of Beta and being released as a final, stable product. Skype Connect 1.0, which used to be known as Skype for SIP, has officially been launched, announced the company we all know for developing the popular instant messaging and VoIP client.

Skype Connect 1.0 is meant for business looking for an IP-enabled solution that allows private branch exchange (PBX) or Unified Communications (UC) systems to connect to Skype. As Skype explained, Skype Connect 1.0 will enable businesses to achieve the following:

As you may already know, the Android-operating system is the child of Mountain View-based search engine giant Google. This Linux-based operating system, which powers numerous mobile models including the HTC Droid Incredible, Motorola Droid, Droid 2, and Droid X, Motorola Devour, and the LG Ally, provides easy access to just about all of Google’s services, including search obviously.

If you are not a big fan of Google’s search engine and would much rather use Microsoft’s Bing search engine, there are some good news for you – but only if you have a Verizon Android-powered Phone. The good news is that Redmond-based software giant Microsoft has recently rolled out Bing for Android. The app is now available free of charge on the Android Market for Verizon phones.