The XBIZ Weekly Tech Watch

This week's tech watch brings good news for the open-source community, as well as a slew of new toys for iPhone fans, as well as a look at an electric car.

• In a dramatic development, a U.S. appeals court has ruled that software patents may only be granted if the software interacts with a physical object like a machine or otherwise changes the physical world. This means that straight software cannot be patented, giving the open-source community a victory – at least until this case reaches the Supreme Court.

• Hopefully electric cars are on the horizon, and in the meantime, CrunchGear has a review of the Chevy Volt.

• Is MTV censoring the names of file-sharing sites from the songs that appear on its site?

• Gmail has a new text-messaging feature.

• Social-networking addicts have another way to aggregate their online activity with Yoono.com.

Syncplicity.com has an unusual domain name, but it's another online alternative for computer professionals to back up their data.

• Google is now indexing scanned documents, an elaborate process that will use optical recognition technology to index scanned text data.

• Like CafePress, Zazzle.com lets anyone create their own clothing lines instantly.

Radus is a full-scale content aggregator that lets users scan loads of online information, including RSS feeds, photos, videos and music.

• Facebook continues to become more popular than MySpace outside the United States.

• Users of the document-sharing service DocStoc.com can now upload files by simply sending an email.

• People who own the Apple iPhone can now access WiFi service at all AT&T HotSpots.

• Need to spy on someone? The EyeClops night-vision goggles may the answer.

• Gizmodo has a run-down of this week's new applications for the Apple iPhone.

• On the heels of news that Sony's Blu-ray format may be dying, Sony has stopped delivering its good to Circuit City stores.

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