The report concluded that there were 485m internet users in China up until the end of June. While this still represented a 6.1 per cent rise, that was still the slowest growth since the Nineties. It is believed that internet use is approaching saturation point in major cities, although it hasn’t had much impact in rural areas as yet.

Those who do use the internet are increasingly getting involved in microblogging with CNNIC estimating 200 per cent growth in the number of people involved in the pastime compared to six months ago. With 195m people registered on one microblogging site or another, 40 per cent of China’s internet users use such sites. Twitter is not available in China. The top microblogging sites are Sina, with an estimated 57 per cent market share; Tencent, with 21 per cent; and Baidu, with 13 per cent.

The news comes from tech news site, Business Insider, which spoke to Dekko co-founder, Matt Miesnieks, who did not deny the report, simply saying that he wasn’t in a position to comment on investors. Timberlake has also not yet commented.

It is not known how much Timberlake has invested in MySpace, but he is a stakeholder in ad agency, Specific Media, which now holds a majority stake in the site. Timberlake himself has been given the task of restoring the site to something approaching its former glories and he now has an office there. Last year, he also invested in Stipple, which is another tech start-up – one that aims to help people monetise photos on the internet.

Another young actor who is a keen tech investor is Ashton Kutcher. The man who is set to replace Charlie Sheen in Two and a Half Men has put money into Flipboard and Foursquare amongst others.

The data analysis was based on surname popularity. Allen says that if he takes a sample of 100-200 surnames, he can accurately estimate total usage numbers. The surname popularity data is taken from the US Census Bureau, so this would give him US figures, but he believes that he can then calculate worldwide usage via a ratio of US to non-US users.

Google itself has released no user numbers as yet, although it is said that demand has so far been high with some users reported to have tens of thousands of people following them

Overall, Google+ has gone down well, but as with any new product, there is criticism. Google’s senior vice-president of social, Vic Gondotra, said:

“Lots of criticism for Google+. We are listening and working to address. Stay tuned for changes this week.”

10m users in a fortnight would represent a hugely impressive start, but with Twitter boasting 300m users and Facebook 750m, there is plenty of room for improvement as it seeks to gain ground on its rivals.

Chris Van Der Westhuizen, a Goodle software engineer, said:

“Transit Navigation uses GPS to determine your current location along your route and alerts you when it’s time to get off or make a transfer. This is particularly helpful if you’re in a city where you don’t speak the language and can’t read the route maps or understand the announcements.”

Many of the cities and areas covered are in the US, but major European holiday destinations such as Vienna, Paris, Munich and Barcelona are also in there, which could prove helpful for tourists.

Notifications appear on screen when you need to stop or transfer and there is a vibrate setting as well. However, the service is still in beta testing, meaning there may still be a few issues, which might not be too great if you’re rushing to catch a plane or something.

A similar service was launched by Nokia to cover New York a couple of months ago and it too has plans for expansion.

The social networking site now features a ‘call’ button. If clicked, the service is activated and users can make calls, much as they would with Skype’s normal program. Video calls are currently only one-to-one, but group calls are likely to follow at some point.

The development was announced at a press conference at Facebook’s head office. The chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, also revealed Facebook’s current user base. The site has now hit 750m members. However, he emphasised that user interaction was a more important measure. Each user is apparently sharing twice as much information as they were this time last year.

There will also be a new group chat feature in which multiple people can be involved in the same instant messenger conversation simultaneously. The chat tool will also appear in a larger sidebar.

Google Health was meant to give people access to the information about themselves that is held by doctors. It was thought this would give people more control over their healthcare. PowerMeter monitored energy usage. It was hoped this might encourage people to be more responsible when it came to energy consumption and the service had the slogan “Save energy. Save money. Make a difference.”

However, an announcement on the Google blog reveals that the two services will only remain available for a limited time, primarily so that users can retrieve their data.

The blog post read:

“Both [services] were based on the idea that with more and better information, people can make smarter choices, whether in regard to managing personal health and wellness, or saving money and conserving energy at home. While they didn’t scale as we had hoped, we believe they did highlight the importance of access to information in areas where it’s traditionally been difficult.”

The Wall Street Journal has said that subpoenas could be issued in the next few days. However, Google and the FTC have not commented on the issue.

Google has been investigated previously for a number of reasons, primarily with regards to mergers and acquisitions. However, a similar case is ongoing in Europe. The European Commission is responding to suggestions that Google has discriminated against competitors in its search results and prevented some rivals from using its AdWords program to advertise. Many also believe that the company unfairly takes advantage of its dominance of the search market to promote its other services.

After the European case was launched, Google executives wrote on the company blog:

“Given our success and the disruptive nature of our business, it’s entirely understandable that we’ve caused unease among other companies and caught the attention of regulators.”

Many legal experts believe it would be difficult for the US government to mount an antitrust case against Google, but even so, such a move would occupy a great deal of senior management’s time and energy that could otherwise be spent elsewhere.

MySpace was acquired by News Corporation for $580m back in 2008, but its value has plummeted since then due to falling user numbers and harsh comparisons with Facebook.

According to the Telegraph’s source, News Corporation has given potential buyers minimal financial information up until now in a bid to ensure a higher price. They believe that the site will attract a $100m bid of not more than that.

“The interested parties, of which there are more than have been reported, are at the due diligence stage and have only in the last week been allowed to see under the hood of MySpace’s figures and business activities. Until now, News Corporation has deliberately restricted information in order to get the price and interest up as high as possible.”

For all that it has something of a bad reputation, MySpace still has around 40m active users worldwide and is therefore not without value.

The app has apparently been in development for around the length of time the iPad has been on the market and it is designed to work specifically to the workings of the tablet’s interface. It is now reportedly in the final test stages of its development and will soon become available to iPad users.

Although large tech companies like Apple and Facebook are often in fierce competition with one another, they regularly come together for mutually beneficial ventures and there’s little doubt that a free Facebook app for iPad would be advantageous to both parties. Users of the iPad have been asking for such an app ever since the tablet became available so the demand certainly exists.

Facebook will obviously benefit from greater exposure to its active users through its compatibility with the device, while Apple will benefit from the fact that its customers will no longer be put off by the absence of a Facebook app.

Internet Eyes is a website that permits users to monitor CCTV cameras via its interface and it is used primarily by small business owners and people who want to keep an eye on their property. However, a video was uploaded onto the popular video sharing website You Tube after apparently being recorded from a stream on Internet Eyes. This has raised serious question regarding the privacy.

It has been found that Internet Eyes violated data protection legislation as a result of an investigation spurred by the discovery of the YouTube video. Internet Eyes was found to have insufficient safeguards in place to protect innocent members of the public appearing in videos. It was also found to have no way of regulating its members or finding out who was uploading what material.

The YouTube video did carry the image of an innocent shopper and the Information Commissioner held that this represented a leak of personal data. The rebuke will only add to the negative image of Internet Eyes which has courted controversy ever since its inception – even being labelled a ‘snooper’s paradise’ by critics.