James Murdoch’s testimony on phone hacking is getting called into question by those who were closest to the situation at the time: that could have a huge impact on his position at the company if proven to be true. But it wasn’t the only big development today in the News…

Facebook has just wrapped up the press conference announcing its new e-mail product—billed as a “Gmail killer.” Mark Zuckerberg hit the stage right on time and began with some personal research he’s done about the use and disuse of e-mail. About 350 million people are actively using messaging on Facebook,…

Jay Penske’s Mail.com Media Corp., which has been busily buying up media sites, is selling its Mail.com e-mail business to German internet firm United Internet Group. The sale means Mail.com Media Corp.—which will soon be getting a new name—will now primarily be made up of the media sites it has…

Although they’ve been working together since 2004, the CEO’s of Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) held a press conference in Times Square to announce the details of a new level for their relationship. The news, which leaked last week, has Yahoo providing Nokia devices with e-mail, search and…

Fresh from making a short-lived surge to the top of iTunes Store’s app chart, browser maker Opera is now buying Australian webmail service FastMail.fm to bolster its own email effort across multiple devices. The Opera desktop web browser, which claims 50 million users, has offered a built-in email client for…

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) will not be showing off any new phones next week at Mobile World Congress in Spain, but rather will focus on its content and services strategy. Bloomberg quotes an unnamed source as saying it will be the first time in at least a decade that the company…

—Broadband stats The UK added just over one million broadband subscribers in the 12 months to July, giving it 17.83 million connections according to the Broadband Forum. Global broadband subscriptions increased 14 percent year on year to 445 million. —Greyhound wifi: When First Group launches its UK version of the…

Hoping to get more businesses to adopt its suite of online *Google* Apps, Google (NSDQ: GOOG) said Tuesday that it had finally dropped the ‘beta’ tag that it had stubbornly affixed to the names of the products for years. In a blog post announcing the move, which applies worldwide, Google…

Here’s one startup that’s already swimming in the dead pool - and a gruesome announcement on which to end the week. Just-out-of-beta FarAwayFish.com says it will send your post-dated emails and SMS to family, and grant them access to your social web profile after you pop your clogs - basic…

Lycos Europe, which is liquidating the majority of the business after failing to find a buyer, is shutting down its Tripod free web hosting business - and is warning users to back up now or face losing their websites. The failed portal e-mailed users on Saturday to say it is…

How has London’s The Friday Project pulled off what US-counterpart Salon still can’t manage? A good case study…