By Jon Fortt and Michal Lev-Ram

Will Apple give up some control over the iPhone in order to court corporate customers?

That’s one of the juiciest questions surrounding a gathering on Apple’s (AAPL) campus Thursday, where CEO Steve Jobs has promised to open up the iPhone’s software secrets to the world for the first time. Apple’s invitation to the event also hinted at new business-friendly features for the device, and Silicon Valley is abuzz about what that could mean. Will the BlackBerry-toting masses be able to trade in the company smartphone for an iPhone?

As founder and CEO Michael Dell seeks to reinvent the company’s public face, he’s shaking more hands and hugging more trees.

Dell CEO Michael Dell and Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz. Image: Sun Microsystems

It was a speech at a big-business technology conference, but you could have mistaken it for an Arbor Day rally.

On stage earlier this week was Dell (DELL) founder and CEO Michael Dell, giving a speech packed with talk of saving trees and preserving the planet. Sure, there were plenty of references to virtualization, a new partnership with Sun Microsystems (JAVA), and a new all-in-one desktop PC to rival Apple’s (AAPL) iMac – but the biggest applause lines were eco-friendly.

Most of the trouble people have with home PCs is software-related – and it often has to do with viruses and spyware that takes over people’s computers when they unwittingly download it. That’s why Josh Pickus believes he can use some of a virus-writer’s smartest tactics to fight back.

Pickus is CEO of SupportSoft (SPRT), a Silicon Valley company with an interesting approach to fighting Windows (MSFT) PC problems. SupportSoft doesn’t send a technician to your door like Best Buy’s (BBY) Geek Squad, or talk you through a fix using phone-based support. Instead, when you install its diagnostic software on a PC, SupportSoft troubleshooters can temporarily take control of the computer over the Internet to fix problems while you watch.

When does a Chinese company’s strategic technology investment become a national security risk?

Lawmakers were starting to ask that question Friday after 3Com, a struggling manufacturer of networking equipment, announced plans to sell itself to private equity firm Bain Capital Partners, and Chinese networking giant Huawei Technologies in a $2.2 billion cash deal.

Adobe Systems (ADBE) has reported Q3 earnings that blew past analyst expectations and the company’s own projections, based on unexpectedly strong sales of its Creative Suite and Acrobat products. Because Adobe is the first major technology company to report earnings during this cycle, executives sometimes offer insights into the technology buying patterns that affect larger players such as Apple (AAPL) and Intel (INTC).

Lawyers disagree about when, if ever, it’s a crime to unlock an iPhone. Most agree that unlocking your own iPhone doesn’t pose a problem – but things get murky if you post instructions online for unlocking an iPhone, or if you sell software for unlocking iPhones.

Google (GOOG) has begun using its YouTube video site to get its message out about privacy policies for its search engine.

Most every major PC manufacturer is integrating fingerprint security into its systems now according to a research report, and that’s creating a boom market in fingerprint sensors; according to Frost & Sullivan, the sensors market was worth 113.6 million in 2006, and it should reach $1.9 billion in 2013. (Note to readers: always take multi-year projections with a grain of salt.)

Today Peter Fleischer, Google’s (GOOG) Global Privacy Counsel, said Google will make its people-tracking Internet cookies expire after two years instead of lasting for decades. (Cookies are little files that Web sites routinely place on your computer to record your online activity – Google cookies typically had been set to expire in the year 2038.)

There’s one major catch to Google’s new policy, though: From all appearances, the cookies expire only if you stop using Google completely for two years.

Interesting news out of Akamai (AKAM) today: The company is showing off some interactive maps that give information about the health of the Internet and what people are doing online. For example, its maps show there is a flurry of network attacks right now in Venezuela; 844 in the last 24 hours.

Other interesting tidbits: News is very popular in North America, where it’s being viewed at a rate of nearly 2.3 million news-related Web site visits per minute today.