Google has just released a new Mac search application dubbed Quick Search Box that will allow you to easily search your Mac and the web from the app. It is essentially like using Spotlight to search for local files, but now you can easily search the web and local files from one text-box.

Google notes Quick Search Box is different from Google Desktop in that Google Desktop doesn’t support the ability to actually launch applications.

With Quick Search Box, you can also update your Twitter status straight from the text-box after you have set up your twitter account details. Quick Search Box does not have the ability to search through Tweets, or do much else with Twitter except let you update your status.

Google firstly announced Quick Search Box back in January.

The Taiwanese-based electronics maker Kinpo has just released their first video of their own Google Android powered UMPC device. The device currently sports a 7-inch 800x480px touch display and is dubbed the Kinpo Thin Client.

It is clear from the video there is a lot more work to do. The company will at some point release an Android powered device, but it is currently unclear when that will happen. We can likely estimate in about a year from now.

The news comes a few days after we’ve seen the very first video of an Android powered computer from Acer.

It is clear that computer-makers are taking notice of Google’s open source Android OS. We can confirm that both BenQ and HTC are working on release an Android powered device, but we have yet to see any actual pictures. BenQ says it will release an Android netbook by 2010. There is no time frame from HTC.

The very first laptop computer powered by Google Android has been unveiled. It was long rumored that Google was going to push Android beyond mobile phones to power laptop computers.

The first Android powered laptop the world has firstly seen comes from Acer. The OS still seems to need a lot of more work to fully run on a laptop, but judging from the first video below, it seems Google is off to a good start. The computer takes about 15-seconds to load up, and seems to not lag at all after it is done initially booting up. The browser also seems to load pages swiftly with correct formatting over HSDPA.

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Apple Computers has showed interest in building a massive $1 billion data center in North Carolina.

Today, the North Carolina House voted in favor (81 to 31) of a bill that would grant up to $46 million to Apple in tax breaks over the next ten years.

The bill includes various provisions for Apple to get the breaks. Apple would have to provide health insurance, give up other state benefits, and would have to build the facility in one of the poorest counties. Additionally, Apple would have to also reach its $1 billion investment within nine years.

North Carolina in the past has changed existing laws to provide cash incentives to companies making significant investments.

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Check out Google’s first television ad, developed by Google Japan.

Update: To launch June 2nd 2009 on the Rogers network.

Rogers Communications, the cable and telecom giant, has announced it will finally release a Google Android powered phone in Canada. The company confirmed today it will be launching both the HTC Magic and HTC Dream powered by the open-source Google Android OS.

Rogers senior vice president John Boynton said in a statement, “Both devices [the HTC Dream and HTC Magic] offer outstanding wireless Internet search capabilities and a full suite of applications,”

Bell Canada, also announced earlier in the week the company would be the exclusive carrier to offer the new Palm Pre in Canada.

Both companies failed to disclose details on pricing and availability, but we are working on our source.

Google has publicly criticized Rogers Communications in the past for not offering unlimited mobile Internet data. Google has also voiced concern over Rogers Wireless complete GSM monopoly in Canada.

In related Rogers news, according to an internal source, the company in June will start to charge customers for incoming text messages, unless subscribed to a basic SMS plan. The source familiar with the matter spoke on condition of anonymity citing details have yet to be made public. Telus already has been doing this for months. The moves highlight that few control the oligopolistic telecom market in Canada, and in this case, a monopoly over the GSM networks.

Microsoft today has added web-based support for IM on select Windows Live web pages, including Hotmail and the Win Live people page.

The feature was already added for users in Japan, Spain, the U.K., Italy, and France, though will now be added in North America, Brazil, Germany, and other European countries. The service will eventually support all users.

The new web-based IM support will make it easier for people to connect and use Windows Live Messenger from restricted computers such as at work.

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Acer senior VIP James T. Wong has apparently confirmed the company is developing with Google an Android OS powered desktop today after confirming Acer has a working Android powered desktop prototype. Wong also said that Android currently does not support multi-touch. Wong made the comments in the Liberty Science Center’s IMAX Theater and noted he thought that Android “had a good chance.” There was no more elaboration on a possible product.

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, 39, has just announced she will be leaving Google after six years with the company to pursue her love of start-up Internet companies.

Singh Cassidy, who grew up in Ontario, Canada, is a top-level executive, working as President for Asia-Pacific & Latin American operations at Google. Her first position at Google was as a general manager at the Google Maps division.

Her parents, both doctors, surged her to work for herself in life. Sukhinder said, “My father drummed into me that I should work for myself,”

Sukhinder has been involved in many start-ups, including Yodlee, an online financial banking service, in 1999 where she raised capital from Silicon Valley based VC firm Accel Partners.

Sukhinder also worked for Open TV, News Corp., BSkyB, among other companies.

Sukhinder will now start working at Accel as CEO-in-Residence starting in the next week.

The venture capital industry remains dry in this gloomy economy. According to new numbers released by the U.S. National Venture Capital Association M&A deals in Q1 2009 totaled $645 million, down from $4.5 billion year-over-year in the same period.

The largest VC backed acquisition in Q1 2009 was a medical company Ablation Frontiers for $225 million made by Medtronic Inc.

Microsoft today has just announced Amalga Unified Intelligence System (UIS) 2009. The system can be used to aggregate patient healthcare data from existing systems to make the data easily accessible for both professionals and patients via Microsoft’s HealthVault technology (HealthVault was firstly announced in 2007).

The new version includes many new features, including added plugins and IT tools that will lower the total cost of ownership, according to Microsoft.

Microsoft today also unveiled new prototypes of applications aimed at assimilating health care patient data on Microsoft Surface tables. Thirteen hospitals in the U.S. are currently testing the technology in a live environment.

There are various included applications that allow doctors to easily access records, utilize images and video to help in better explaining information to patients. With the multi-touch technology, more than one person can use the device at the same time. Doctors can easily zoom, change sizes, and rotate photos.

Microsoft Surface also features the ‘vision system’ that can identify objects placed on the surface of the display. As an interesting side note, Sony recently filed for a printer patent that uses similar technology as the Microsoft Surface vision system, where gadgets placed on the surface of the Sony printer are identified, allowing the user to print directly from supported devices.

A new app in Microsoft Surface for health care lets doctors know the number of beds available, the status of pending laboratory results (with alerts), the number of patients arriving and with what type of emergency, among other useful information for emergency physicians. Another app includes a patient scheduling and check-in system.

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