TechBytes: Kindle App Upgraded

July 12, 2010— -- A federal judge has given the green light to a class action over Apple's iPhone. The suit takes aim at Apple's "locking" of the iPhone so that it could be used only with AT&T. It says consumers who signed up for a two-year contract would be locked in for longer, because of Apple's exclusive deal with AT&T. Anyone who purchased an iPhone since its original release can join the suit.

So, who's been using the iPad since it came out two months ago? Yahoo's blog has kept track. The company says the majority of users are still men, but women are quickly catching up. Also, an earlier survey found news and sports sites were popular with iPad users. Now, shopping and travel sites are growing in popularity.

It looks like Google wants to play. Online reports say the company has invested between $100 million and $200 million in Zynga. That's the company that launched Farmville, a popular game on Facebook. It could become part of a larger social networking platform reportedly in development at Google.

Hotmail is trying to win back scores of lost customers. According to USA Today, Hotmail is adding new features to help users with spam and cluttered mailboxes. There are also reportedly plans to integrate other Microsoft features, such as Instant Messenger and Bing search. An online version of MS Office and the SkyDrive storage system could also be included.

Apple reportedly wants to change how we watch TV. The company is said to be redesigning the Apple TV, and one feature it will include is the ability to "rent" TV episodes for 99 cents. Just as they do with iTunes movie rentals now, users would have 30 days to watch the show, which would be streamed instead of downloaded.