Google, Inc. (GOOG) has been referenced by more than a handful of journalists in recent years as the company most closely competing with Microsoft Corporation (MSFT). In reality, that's not very true: Google derives almost all of its revenue from internet advertising while Microsoft gets its cash buckets from operating system and productivity software. The lines are blurring, but even in 2010 there are way more closer competitors to Microsoft than Google.

It's the Internet and it's all about speed. On Tuesday Cisco Systems (CSCO) will unveil new tools that will enable its internet service providers to build their own high-speed networks.

Cisco says its plan will "forever change the Internet and its impact on consumers, businesses and government."

While details of the new tools are yet to be presented, the idea would open up the whole area of high-speed networks to anyone willing to set them up.

U.S. consumer electronics behemoth Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) will be joining Japan's Panasonic Corp. to unveil and heavily promote newer 3D television sets this quarter. As flat panel televisions continue selling at a decent but middling pace, the "next big thing" in home entertainment is ready to roll off shelves. Best Buy believes it will be 3DTV, apparently.

Panasonic will discount the prices of the rollout models by 50% as it creates demand for the new category using pricing as its primary weapon. But will customers care? Just because Panasonic is trying to reverse losses in its television operating doesn't mean customers will soon adopt a new television technology that is surely to have very limited content. If Panasonic needs a 3D ecosystem of content to push these new televisions, that could be years off.

Best Buy (BBY) will be joining Vudu -- which was recently bought by Walmart (WMT) -- Netflix (NFLX), Roxio's CinemaNow, Amazon.com (AMZN) On Demand, and others in streaming video content directly over the Internet to your favorite television set. Details are sketchy so far, but the large question is this: do we need another one of these services? The market is already saturated. What's the benefit?

For one, Best Buy's Reward Zone Premier Solver members will receive one free video rental per month. That's quite a benefit for a customer that spends $2,500 per year at the largest consumer electronics chain in the U.S. -- not. You need to throw a bigger bone to these customers, Best Buy. That's like giving a dime back for every few hundred dollars spent. Not impressive.

Think you can tell which upcoming motion pictures will be blockbusters and which will be bombs? If so, you may get the chance to put your money where your mouth is.

For years, Wall Street investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald has been operating a so-called Hollywood Stock Exchange, which allows players to trade faux stocks in upcoming films; specifically, "investing" in box office futures. Cantor Fitzgerald is now seeking permission from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to allow players to invest for real.

What is the Social Security Fast-Track program? This is how the program works. For persons under age 65 who are unable to work, the Social Security Administration has a special program. The program initially specified 50 diseases for which a person could apply and receive disability benefits. It has been expanded to include 38 more diseases, including Alzheimer's.

The original paper work, a five-step application, took upwards of 440 days to complete. The program called "Compassionate Allowances" speeds up the paper work bottleneck. Individuals who qualify can't work due to a medical condition expected to last at least one year or one that will result in death.

Google (GOOG) is finally taking some of the "dark fiber" it has purchased four years ago and is doing something with it. At the time, the traditional telecommunications community raised eyebrows at the purchase. After all, Google could start bypassing them and connecting consumers and businesses to the internet using its own lines rather.

That premise is starting to now become a reality. Google announced an "experimental" launch of a very high-speed internet network that would originally be available to about 50,000 people, with the capability of serving up to 500,000. This new Google network would be about 100 times faster than the average high-speed network available in the U.S. The kicker: Google will make this new ultra high-speed service available at "competitive prices" compared to existing high-speed internet pricing.

Taiwan's Acer has been on a tear recently. It markets the eMachines, Acer and Gateway computer brands and overtook Dell Inc. (DELL) recently to become the second-largest computer seller in the world. It may not be the most innovative, but it is selling a large amount of PCs every quarter. Its presence is large in the U.S. retail sector, where Dell's efforts over the last 18 months are still not where they need to be.

Now that Acer Chairman J.T. Wang wants to see Apple's (AAPL) new iPad tablet computer, one has to wonder why Acer cares at all. Although Amazon, Inc. (AMZN) already has the Kindle e-reader device (and ready to unveil a third-generation product to compete with Apple), Acer's Chairman may not realize that Apple is not wanting to compete as a tablet PC manufacturer.

While the entire world was wrapped up in the hype of the Apple (AAPL) iPad launch Wednesday, many tech enthusiasts, bloggers and uber-geeks -- the kind who hang on anything Steve Jobs belches out -- came away mostly underwhelmed and disappointed.

Apple, after knocking the middle ground between laptop and smartphone, unveiled a product that, well doesn't really have any of the best qualities of both. So, the iPad may go down as one of the biggest launch letdowns in Apple's recent history. It's already being called a larger iPod touch with an e-book reader attached. Not flattering, Apple.

Google (GOOG) has been kind of harsh with its Chinese web presence recently (with good reason), and now the world's largest information company (like that?) may not want to see two new smartphones that feature its Android operating system released in China. Why? Because the future of anything-Google in China is in jeopardy at the moment. In other words, Google's "do no evil" motto is finally catching up to it in the world's largest country by population -- but also one of the most repressed as its economy continues expanding.