Last week Interbrand issued its 2008 Best Global Brands rankings. While most of the top 10 remained unchanged, with IBM and Microsoft swapping places (IBM rose from 3 to 2), one big change emerged: Google rose from 20 to 10, with Mercedes-Benz dropping to 11.

Microsoft's new phase of its ad campaign, aimed at renovating the image of Windows, which began with the much criticized Seinfeld-Gates ads (three of which were filmed but only two of which were aired), seems much better than the first phase.

On Friday afternoon (after the stock market close, go figure) Apple recalled millions of iPhone 3G power adapters. The recall covers Latin America, North America and Japan. The problem: weak prongs on the adapter may break off and remain stuck in an outlet, causing a risk of shock.

I wrote earlier about the problems faced by many users of Windows Vista with the latest version of iTunes (8.0.0.35). Apple went so far as to have an employee jump into the support forums to address the issue, which generally means they're admitting there's a problem --- not something they frequently do.

Perhaps stung by the criticism of their first Seinfeld - Gates commercial, Microsoft on Thursday night showed off their second in the series during CBS' Big Brother. The ad was simultaneously uploaded to YouTube, and is titled "New Family -- Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates (Long Version)."

My focus on this event was a bit selfish: naturally with a name like "Let's Rock," the event was going to be music-focused, and thus iPod-ish. But I was hoping for a iPhone software update to fix my (and others') 3G issues.

Let me start by saying I love how Apple does these events and announcements. The hype generated is nothing but excellent publicity for Apple. It’s almost like they are reinventing the wheel every time they do an event like this or make an announcement about new iPod or so. We all patiently await the newest iSomething to be bestowed upon us. It doesn’t sound a little cheesy, but it’s true.

Coincidence that Microsoft is announcing these new features for their Zunes the day before Apple's iPod Event? No, but not planned either. Spurred on by a retailer leak, Microsoft decided to provide the details on the new Zunes and the 3.0 software.

While it's true that Best Buy is going to start selling iPhones on Sunday, making it the first independent retailer to sell the sought-after device, a look at their upcoming Sunday ad insert (click to enlarge) shows some more of their typically lame sales tactics.

Is "Let's Rock" Apple special event about iPod? Judging from the poster image we may think so.

University of Michigan released its annual American Customer Satisfaction Index scores for the PC industry on Tuesday. In the index Apple seems to have outscored its competition for the fifth straight year. ACSI measures the overall customer satisfaction with a company on parameters like quality, value, customer service, etc. Apple’s score was 85 and has actually increased in 2008 over that last year.

If you are a user of iPhone OS 2.0 and 2.0.1, then you are quite lucky if you have not encountered “White Apple Logo Screen of Death.” The internet discussion boards are full of beans with this new problem affecting numerous users of iPhone OS 2.0 and 2.0.1.