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TomTom's already seen Google muscle in on its turf in a big way, and it looks like it might now be trying to return the favor. If camera-toting vans like the one above are any indication, it would appear that the company is currently working to bolster its navigation options with its own Street View-like service. So far, all of the van sightings seem to be confined to Europe (France and Belgium, specifically), and they of course don't  necessarily  confirm that TomTom is indeed working on a Street View competitor -- although we have to wonder what the vans are for if it's not. It's also worth noting that TomTom didacquire TeleAtlas, which uses vans equipped with cameras, lasers and GPS in the actual creation of its maps, but the higher, 360-degree camera used on these vans seems much closer to those used on Google's Street View cars. Seen one yourself? Feel free to let us know in the comments below. GeorGraphy

Type "Liberty City" into Google Maps and it whisks you to some place east of Wichita, Kansas. Yup , Wichita , for Pete's sake. No self-respecting  Grand Theft Auto  fan can stand for an omission like that, and thankfully now they don't have to. Those hardcore Niko-lovers at  gta4.net  have not only recreated the real  fictional Liberty City using the Google Maps API, they've even cobbled together 80,000 screenshots to provide full-blown Street View too. Man, we haven't seen this much Gay Tony passion since the Trashmaster. Oh, wait a minute -- apparently this so-called Street View leaves out a couple of ramps that  gta4.net  considered to be "not very interesting." Hush, and you call yourselves fans? Kotaku gta4.net

You've already seen Android activations mapped around the globe over time, now how about some Google search volumes? Using WebGL and different color crayons for each language, the coders at Mountain View have put together the above Search Globe, which presents a single day's worth of Google queries in a beautiful, skyscraper-infused visualization. Jacking yourself into the source link below (your browser  can  handle WebGL, right?) will let you twist and turn the model world for a closer exploration of global Google use. And if you get tired of that, there's an alternative map showing world populations over 1990s -- that's available at the second link. The Official Google Blog Google Data Arts (Search) ,  (Population)

While the anticipated arrival of  Windows 7  is still some 18 months away by Microsoft’s (tentative) reckoning, the Redmond-based company has this week taken the opportunity to unveil one of the ambitious new features it has planned for possible inclusion. With Apple’s iconic  iPhone  and  Nintendo’s  hugely popular dual-screen DS  videogame  console paving the way for a rush of ‘me too’ touch-sensitive devices, it hardly comes as a surprise to find American software behemoth Microsoft Corp. busy banding around a multi-touch interface for its next operating system. Specifically, during the Wall Street Journal’s ‘D: All Things Digital’ conference in California, representatives from Microsoft gave attendees their first video demo glimpse of the multi-touch interface in action. The demo‘s content, which appeared somewhat similar to Microsoft’s touch-based Surface technology, showcased a user applying simple tactile finger gestures to access, shift...

Microsoft's WorldWide Telescope -- a collaboration with NASA that explores high-resolution photos and 3D renders of the cosmos -- was already pretty cool, but Redmond upped the ante to incredible with the addition of a Kinect depth camera at MIX 11. Using a piece of software created with the company's upcoming Kinect SDK for Windows, Microsoft gave us a virtual tour of Earth and the surrounding stars, guided by a deep-voiced narrator holding the whole world in his hands. Of course, you'd already know that if you watched the video above, so what are you waiting for? Oh, and we've got more MIX video on the way, so stay tuned. Myriam Joire contributed to this report.

A couple of months back, Google brought check-ins to Latitude, its location-sharing service, through Google Maps 5.1 for Android. Naturally, iPhone users only recently received the same functionality, but some would argue they should be grateful to be included at all. (Kidding. Sort of.) Now, Latitude's inching closer to direct competition with Foursquare and Groupon by offering check-in deals at retailers like RadioShack, American Eagle, Quiznos, and Finish Line. Google is currently namechecking over a dozen nationwide partners, and that list will surely grow as the bandwagon approaches Mach 5. Curious as to how this all works? Check in at RadioShack, for example, and you might receive ten percent off an in-store purchase. Offers are tied to check-in frequency, building on Latitude's three-tiered status system; higher status means better deals. If you'd rather peek nearby offers before you decide to leave the house, head to Google's official check in page i...