Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, announced Windows Phone 7 in New York on Monday. Ballmer hopes his new mobile OS will pull back the market share he has lost to smartphone rivals RIMM, Apple and Android.

Windows Phone 7 starts with a handicap, missing key features that are available in some competitor’s phones but not present in Microsoft’s new devices. These include copy/paste, tethering, Flash support, HTML5 support and multi-tasking.

The Sydney Morning Herald says Windows Phone 7 will be available in Australia soon:

Over the next two months five Windows Phone 7 handsets will be available in Australia from HTC, LG and Samsung. The handsets, the first of which will be launched next week, include the HTC 7 Mozart and 7 Trophy, the LG Optimus 7 and Optimus 7 Q and the Samsung Omnia 7.

Josh Bernoff on why Facebook keeps pushing the privacy envelope with its users:

Not stated, but in the background, is this key fact: the more private your content is, the more Google can’t index it. The more public it is, the more Google searches can land on it. Facebook is trying not to be part of the splinternet, but its own members won’t let it.