It was a busy day in the technology industry yesterday, as a number of tech companies made news – even about not making news.

A Pew Research Center report said Microsoft Corp. has fallen off the radar when it comes to mainstream media coverage. Only 3 percent of technology articles that the survey looked at from June 2009 to June 2010 focused on Microsoft, as opposed to Apple Computer Inc.’s 15 percent and Google Inc.’s 11 percent.

Apple made the news again Monday, as the company may have competition for its popular iPad. Research in Motion (RIM) unveiled the BlackBerry PlayBook on Monday, according to Reuters. RIM expects to ship the device, a tablet computer much like the iPad, to corporate customers and developers in October, but not to consumers until early 2011. The company didn’t reveal how much the tablet would cost. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said Monday that Apple may have a thinner iPad with a built-in camera on the market by June, according to the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.

Other tech headlines include:

-One of Facebook Inc.’s first backers, Peter Thiel, said the company won’t go public before 2012. Thiel, in an interview with online blog TechCrunch, estimated Facebook to be worth more than $30 billion.

-International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) agreed to acquire Blade Network Technologies Inc. for an undisclosed amount. Blade is a privately held company that specializes in software and devices that route data and transactions to and from servers.

-Google is reportedly buying the developer of mobile social calendar application Plannr, according to TechCrunch.

-Even while blogging news, TechCrunch was in the news. AOL Inc. is close to buying the Silicon Valley blog for somewhere between $20 million and $30 million, according to The Wall Street Journal.