[Best of the Web – Friday, 15 January 2010]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 tops $1bn in sales: Videogames are big business. If you were in any doubt of that, consider that the Christmas season’s big blockbuster, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, has just exceeded US$1bn in sales. It’s estimated that the game has sold more than 15m units since launch on 10 November 2009. The top-grossing entertainment title of all time is the James Cameron-directed Titanic, which has raked in $1,8bn in total. [LA Times] [The Telegraph]

Nexus One sales fail to impress: Sales of Google’s Nexus One smartphone have got off to a dismal start. The Web search giant has sold only 20 000 units in the first week, according to estimates by research companies. The Nexus One, powered by Google’s Android operating system and built by Taiwan’s HTC, sold only a fraction of the volume Motorola’s Droid, which also runs Android, notched up in its first week on the market. Analysts have blamed the fact that the only way to get the Nexus One is via direct order from a Google Web page. [PC World] [Sci-Tech Daily]

App Store loses $450m to piracy: Apple’s iTunes Store has lost an estimated $450m to pirates stealing applications instead of paying for them, according to research by technology analytics company 24/7 Wall St. The store allows iPhone and iPod Touch users to pay for and download applications for their devices. Ars Technica suggests the figure, though shocking at first, is misleading. It argues that the estimate is based on “questionable numbers and an optimistic assumption that pirates would otherwise buy the software they steal”. [The Telegraph] [Ars Technica]

Microsoft flaw may have aided Google attackers: A security flaw in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer Web browser may have been one of the tools used in the cyber-attack against Google and other businesses based in China. Information security company McAfee revealed the flaw, which affects all versions of Internet Explorer, including version 8 which ships with the new Windows 7 operating system. As a result of the cyber-attack, Google has said it is no longer prepared to censor search results on Google.cn and is prepared to close its Chinese office if necessary. [eWeek] [PC World]