Week in review: Oracle sues Google, Irrational Games unveils new BioShock

Here’s our roundup of the week’s tech business news. First, the most popular stories VentureBeat published in the last seven days:

Oracle sues Google over Android — Oracle announced this week that it has filed suit against Google for alleged patent and copyright infringement. The business software giant, headed by Larry Ellison, said that the suit concerns intellectual property related to the Java programming language.

HP’s PR nightmare spreads across the Internet with nude photos of Jodie Fisher — The PR nightmare that Hewlett-Packard sought to avoid showed no signs of petering out as Playboy posted nude photos of Jodie Fisher, the woman who brought down HP chief executive Mark Hurd.

Console game sales shrink slightly in July, but StarCraft II makes PC game sales soar — Overall U.S. console game sales shrank 1 percent in July, continuing a weak trend that has persisted for much of the year. But sales of StarCraft II, which went on sale on July 27, were so strong that PC game sales rose 103 percent during the month.

Former softcore porn actress saddened that HP’s Mark Hurd lost his job over their relationship — Speaking of Jodie Fisher, this post covered her confirmation Sunday that she was the mysterious marketing consultant whose relationship with Hewlett-Packard chief executive Mark Hurd led him to lose his job.

With Skype, Marc Andreessen is the new king of Silicon Valley — HP’s CEO ouster. Facebook’s coming war with Google. Skype’s IPO. What do these headlines have in common? One man: Marc Andreessen.

And here are five more posts we think are important, thought-provoking, or fun:

Irrational Games’ secret Project Icarus is unveiled as BioShock Infinite — Irrational Games revealed its mysterious Project Icarus is actually BioShock Infinite, the next game in the popular BioShock game franchise.

Why Starbucks keeps seeking Internet froth — Starbucks is declaring itself a “content curator” with its new Digital Network, an assemblage of free news, music, and other content available to customers using its now-free Wi-Fi network. We investigate why the ubiquitous coffee chain keeps trying to reinvent itself as an Internet startup.

Bay Area soon to be home to 5,050 more EV charging stations — In the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the most progressive regions when it comes to advanced transportation, the Air Quality Management District is funneling $5 million into an initiative to roll out 3,000 home chargers, 2,000 public chargers in commercial areas, and as many as 50 rapid charging stations along nearby highways.

ComiXology scores another digital comics hit with Scott Pilgrim — Digital comics startup ComiXology’s latest partner is Oni Press, publisher of the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley. The company launched an iPad and iPhone Scott Pilgrim app just ahead of the release of the movie adaptation Friday.

New Apple TV renamed iTV — gains apps, restricted to 720p HD video — In May, we reported that the next Apple TV would potentially retail for $99 and run on iPhone-like hardware with iOS. Engadget has received information on the project, which apparently has been renamed iTV (the original name for the Apple TV).