

Industry notes



Google develops a Facebook rival. The WSJ reports that Google is in talks with "several makers of popular online games as it seeks to develop a broader social networking service that could compete with Facebook Inc., according to people familiar with the matter." The company is already talking to developers about running their games on the new social networking service.



LG posts record loss from handsets due to iPhone. "LG Electronics Inc. , the world’s third-biggest mobile-phone maker, reported a record loss at its handset business after lagging behind Apple Inc. and smartphone makers in selling models that send e-mails and surf the Internet," Bloomberg reports.



Microsoft: Yahoo, Google partnership plan would 'eliminate' search competition in Japan. Yahoo's plan to partner with Google in Japan will "eliminate" search competition in the country, Microsoft's Dave Heiner, vice president and deputy general counsel, charged in a blog post Tuesday. "Today, Google accounts for about 51 percent of paid search advertising in Japan. Yahoo Japan accounts for 47 percent. Their combined share of natural search results is almost as high," he said. Heiner warned that "if Google is permitted to proceed with its plan … Google alone would decide what consumers in Japan will find, or not find, on the Web."







Schedule.



10 a.m…Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs markup for a bill to require Congress to establish a unified and searchable database on a public website for congressional earmarks. 342 Dirksen Senate Office Building.



2 p.m...House Armed Services Terrorism Subcommittee hearing on harnessing small-business innovation for national security cyber needs. 2118 Rayburn House Office Building.



2 p.m....House Judiciary Crime Subcommittee hearing on online privacy. 2141 Rayburn House Office Building.



SAID.



"I know you're pulling a pretty heavy load down there."



-Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski at a hearing on Tuesday. He added that he supports what the FCC is doing. He appeared to be referencing broadband reclassification, noting the "controversy" around the proceeding.



WATERCOOLER.



OLD SPICE…The guy in the Old Spice commercials received millions of viral video views "quicker than past hits like Susan Boyle and U.S. President Barack Obama Barack Hussein ObamaUnseemly brawl unlikely to change a thing It's now up to health systems to solve our food problems Testing the Electoral College process against judicial overreach MORE’s election victory speech," Mashable reported on Tuesday. The article argues sales may have even doubled thanks to the campaign.

(Puneet Kollipara contributed to this post).

