Weekly Roundup: New iPhone players and Google declares privacy dead

A former Google engineer has developed a new search engine to compete with the online giant. The search engine, named Cuil, can index a larger part of the web faster and cheaper than Google, according to its founders.

A study released this week showed than 59 percent of Australian businesses don't answer online customer inquiries within seven days, despite spending billions of dollars on online advertising.

Australian iPhone enthusiasts were given even more choices this week. On Friday, Virgin became the fourth carrier of the device in the country, releasing competitive plans that allow for more data usage that many of options available with the other carriers.

Telstra also announced that it would increase its data plans by up to 650 percent on its $10 and $29 Next G plans. And although it doesn't have a license to sell the iPhone, 3 Mobile announced it would be offering six plans for iPhone customers with unlocked phones.

In a submission to a US court, Google has claimed that "privacy does not exist in the modern world". The Internet giant is being sued by an American couple who say their home's appearance on Google StreetView has depreciated its value and caused them emotional distress.

A similar privacy debate is taking place in New South Wales, where a University of NSW academic has said engineers and product developers should take people's personal privacy into account when designing new products.

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