Google and Sprint are unveiling a mobile payment processing system ahead of other similar systems. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Google has announced it will unveil its own mobile payment system that will allow people to use their cell phones in lieu of a wallet. Google is launching its own near-field communication technology, which uses a chip mounted in a phone that is read by a sensor and linked to a bank account. Google is the latest company to join in attempting to phase out the ancient technology of the wallet.

Sprint debuting new payment system on Nexus S smartphone

The latest trend in smartphone technology is mobile payment processing. There is already a joint venture between AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon in developing and installing ISIS, a proprietary type of near-field communications technology, on smartphones in the next few years. Near-field communication, or NFC, technology works by planting a readable chip in a phone that contains the user’s credit card or bank account information. If a merchant has an NFC reader at the point of purchase, customers need only to tap the phone near the reader to initiate the transaction and have their checking or credit account charged accordingly. Sprint, according to Bloomberg, is unveiling its own NFC system developed in part with Google, and will be available on Sprint phones starting with the Nexus S Android smartphone.

Same product, but from Google

The Google mobile payment system will first be available on the Nexus S, an Android smartphone. The Google payment system should start to become available on a growing number of phones with the Google-based Android platform. Google plans to debut its NFC technology in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington D.C. to start with. The Google NFC technology uses hardware and software from VeriFone Systems and ViVOtech to run the feature. Mobile-phone based commerce was estimated at $370 million worldwide last year. Apple is currently working on its own NFC system. ISIS, according to Forbes, hopes to partner with Google, Apple and all banks and credit card companies in the United States, including other NFC system producing firms, in order to ensure uniformity of technology nationwide. NFC technology is rarely used in the United States for transaction purposes, but the technology is a decade old.

Other mobile payment systems on the horizon

There is more than one type of “mobile wallet.” Square, for instance, turns a smartphone into a credit card machine. A user needs only download and install the Square app and plug the credit card reader into the headphone jack. The user then can simply swipe a credit card to receive a payment. Square debuted in 2009 and originally only received and did not spend payments. The new version of the Square app includes a way to pay for goods in participating stores using a mobile phone, according to CNN, by selecting the store in the app when a person goes to pay the clerk. The store clerk simply checks the store’s database for Square-using customers and bills the customers credit card. No chip reading is required.

Sources

Bloomberg

Forbes

CNN

Android has finally overtaken Research in Motion and the Blackberry as the dominant platform of smartphones. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

In the war for supremacy in the market for smartphones, the Android operating system has finally toppled Research in Motion and the Blackberry line. Google’s popular Android line has spread quickly, overtaking Apple and Microsoft products within months of the the first launch of an Android phone. More than types of 170 devices use the Android system.

Blackberry loses some juice among consumers

The Blackberry line of phones made by Research in Motion has held the the top spot for sales of smartphones for a long time, but the company has finally been dethroned, according to CNN. The Google based Android platform has surpassed RIM in sales after steadily outpacing all other domestic competition and safely pulling into the lead with more than 31 percent of sales. The first phone using the Android operating system was the HTC G1, which was released in November 2009 and carried exclusively by T-Mobile. In early 2010, Android had only a 7 percent share of the smartphone market, but the platform has enjoyed constant growth since its introduction. An Android OS is now the base of more than 170 types of phones and tablet computers across numerous carriers.

Other phones have their jobs cut out for them

Of the four popular smartphone platforms in the U.S., the only one that has constantly grown market share is Android. Research in Motion at one point sold 42 percent of all smartphones, but RIM sales have dwindled to 30.4 percent between February of 2010 and the end of January of 2011. Windows phones have been constantly on the decline, and now make up less than 10 percent of the smartphone market. Apple, with its flagship product the iPhone, has held fairly constant. An estimated 350,000 new Android devices are activated daily. The Symbian OS offered by Nokia held a larger share of the market than Android until late 2010, when Symbian sales finally were eclipsed by Android.

Android Nokia phone not likely

Just about every phone company makes an Android phone, as Google licenses it for free, and adapting it is fairly easy for any developer, but Nokia isn’t having it, according to the Los Angeles Times. It was recently announced that Nokia is planning to revamp its offerings by partnering with Microsoft and installing Windows Mobile on Nokia phones. Microsoft is reportedly going to pay Nokia $1 billion for the rights to put Windows Phone 7 on Nokia devices, which could be a net benefit for both companies if it is successful.

Sources

CNN

Los Angeles Times

E-books take less space to store, but the tradeoff is "renting" rather than purchasing the book. Image: Flickr / wonderlane / CC-BY

Today, the Google e-bookstore officially opened for business. Google e-books are readable on many platforms and are stored “in the cloud” to maximize readability. This e-book venture may raise questions of customer service and ownership, however.

Google e-books available now

The Google e-bookstore has officially been launched as of Monday, Dec. 6. The Google e-book store offers “public domain” books for free download and current books for $9 to $20. There are about 4,000 publisher partners for the Google e-book service in the United States and 35,000 international publisher partners. Google e-books also have partnered with the American Booksellers Association, Powell’s and other book sellers. The Java-based e-reader displays the print page number and both ePub and PDF format for the books. When you purchase a Google e-book, it is stored on your Google account and can be accessed from any compatible device.

Google e-books and customer service

The Google e-bookstore is not the first time Google has tried to enter the retail market. The Google Nexus One was the first time Google tried to offer a retail product. Though the phone was relatively popular, there were lots of complaints about the customer service.  It is not likely that the Google e-books service will fail entirely on the good-or-bad customer service, but it will play a role in how popular the service proves to be.

Questioning ownership of Google e-books

The move of customers to the e-books market raises questions beyond just where money is being spent. Purchasing an e-book can be considered “renting” a copy of the book, rather than actually purchasing it. The book itself is still on the servers of a company, and you have rights to access it. This fuzzy line of ownership makes it tough to do many of the things that a physical book is good for. Not only can you not lend a book to a friend if you love it, but marking the pages or carrying it around without a battery is tough. Earlier this year, Amazon also made changes to e-books that had been already purchased. E-books purchased on the Google store or anywhere else can be very useful. In the end, though, printed books still definitely have their place.

Sources

Tech Crunch

Soon, Google Local could well be attached to Groupon deals. Image: Flickr/ brettstark / CC-BY-ND

Local-business giant Groupon has seen meteoric growth. Search giant Google has not only noticed, it has made a $5.3 billion offer for the company. If the deal goes through, Google would be expanding its local-search dominance while expanding its small and medium business market.

Groupon’s local business

Started in Chicago, local business marketer Groupon has been expanding exponentially in the last two years. The company has 2,500 staffers across the globe and pulls in half a billion dollars in revenue each year. The business model is simple — the company offers one discounted deal each day, e-mailed to subscribers. Usually, small and medium local businesses use Groupon to bring customers in with their deals. Groupon obsessively tracks the buying habits and demographic data of its subscribers to offer them deals they are more likely to buy.

Google’s local search problem

Though Google is the major leader in web search, it has a problem targeting small and medium local businesses. Paid local search on Google is expected to drop by 20 percent or more over the next five years. Small businesses tend to use and then drop Google advertising and sponsored search results. Only 18 percent of Google’s ad revenue comes from local businesses. Facebook is also challenging Google’s dominance by targeting local businesses with the launch of Facebook Places. Google is also facing anti-trust investigations in Europe over how search engine results are ranked, which could seriously affect search revenue, if the company is found at fault.

How the Groupon / Google deal will work

If Groupon does accept Google’s $5.3 billion offer, both companies would benefit. Groupon, a relative infant in the tech world, would get a huge return on its initial investment. Google would be given access to a huge trove of customer data – everything from consumer e-mails to pricing information and spending habits. Google would likely use the opportunity to continue its expansion beyond simple search and paid search revenue. The deal isn’t anything new; in fact, Google attempted to buy Yelp for many of the same reasons in 2009. The difference is that if the Google-Groupon buyout does go through, customers could well see an international-sized change in their local buying options.

Sources

All Things Digital
AdAge

Keeping employees close to home is what Googletown is all about. (Photo Credit: CC BY-SA/Susan/Flickr)

It’s been rumored for some time, but according to various sources, the mini-metropolis Googletown is slated for construction. While “Googletown” may not be the official name, the city should prove to be yet another way that Google keeps its best and brightest close to the office so they can innovate on cue.

Googletown: Built in a grand tradition

As the San Jose Mercury News accurately points out, the concept of Googletown (or “Google city”) isn’t a new idea. “Company towns” have been a part of various countries for some time. One of the first in the United States was built to accommodate employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company during the 1880s. Like Pullman, Chicago, on performance-enhancing drugs, Googletown would offer Google employees and their families sporting facilities, child care, gourmet shops, restaurants and the all-important housing, writes Gawker.

Taking inspiration from the pyramids

Google will allegedly build “the equivalent of more than two TransAmerica Pyramids,” says Gawker. The site will be near NASA Ames/Moffett Field in Silicon Valley. The plans include 180,000 square feet of housing at Ames Field, which will utilize 15 percent of the usable space on the 42-acre development. Separate plans for more housing and retail in Google’s home base of Mountain View, Calif., are also under consideration, although that would require a change in zoning laws to permit additional housing and retail. While the contractor responsible for any Mountain View projects has not been confirmed, Google will use its own developer – Planetary Ventures – for the Ames Field work.

Keeping employees on the farm

The United States’ infrastructure is such that employees are frequently forced to live far from their place of employment and weather long, gas-guzzling commutes. Googletown would give the search giant more immediate access to its valuable employees, and employees wouldn’t have to struggle as much with transportation. Considering that Google pays its employees millions of dollars in retention bonuses not to defect to other companies like Twitter and Facebook, spending millions more to keep them close to home makes sense – so long as Google’s rise to prominence isn’t merely the rise of another bubble set to burst.

Sources

Gawker

San Jose Mercury News

Wikipedia

Facebook will reveal a new webmail client codenamed “Project Titan” on Monday. (Photo Credit: CC BY-SA/Snortbook)

While Google has a head start in the webmail client field with Gmail, Facebook believes they have a Gmail killer that’s ready for the world. TechCrunch reports that Facebook will roll out Project Titan on Monday. Experts predict that Facebook’s highly anticipated webmail client could give Gmail a run for its money.

News of the Gmail killer has circulated since February

According to Gizmodo, Facebook’s Gmail killer called Project Titan is intended to replace Facebook’s current messaging platform. It will have full POP and IMAP support, and users will receive their own @facebook.com e-mail address. This webmail platform will also include message search capability and, most significantly, will allow Facebook users to send messages to people outside of the Facebook network. Thus, Facebook users will have one less reason to leave Facebook in order to perform basic online tasks. Considering that Facebook has upwards of 500 million active users (according to their Press Room), keeping everyone inside the borders of Facebook is a profitable proposition, indeed.

Project Titan: not just an IM upgrade

As TechCrunch excitedly points out, Project Titan won’t simply be an upgrade to existing message services. It will be a full-powered webmail client. However, it seems likely that there will be bugs at launch, as is the case with any new product. Yet experts see a “huge amount of potential.”

Facebook plans to dominate your online world

Everyone knows that Facebook dominates the social networking world. It also has the most popular photo storage product and events calendar products around and a tremendous micropayments system that works well with games. If the Gmail killer Project Titan can cut into Gmail’s webmail market share – and integrate the product seamlessly into its existing platforms – it will be like the smell of napalm in the morning for Mark Zuckerberg and company. It’s no wonder that Google got nasty with Facebook last week over freedom of contract data. They may be hearing a Gmail killer coming around the mountain.

Sources:

Gizmodo

TechCrunch

Trade the Trend’s coverage of Project Titan

The Google vs. Facebook battle rages on. (Photo Credit: CC BY-SA/Media Collective)

The Google vs. Facebook online data war rages on, reports the Guardian. The latest exchange of blows centers on Google’s view that Facebook leaves users in a “data dead end” that is inconsistent with a “world of true data liberation.” In short, Google has criticized Facebook because users of the social network cannot export their contact data to other applications in an efficient manner. To make Facebook understand the gravity of this issue, Google has banned Facebook from using its data feed for Gmail contacts.

Google punches Facebook, Facebook leapfrogs Google

Google’s hard-line data stance against Facebook temporarily prevented Facebook users from being able to import or invite contacts from Google services via the automated path. Not one to take things lying down, Facebook responded with a hack that effectively enabled its users to reach over the Google roadblock. New Facebook users can download and then upload a file containing their Google contacts without ever having to leave Facebook.

Google’s Data Liberation Front, a team of company engineers committed to making it easy for Google users to move their information in and out of Google products, is reportedly “disappointed” in Facebook’s move, writes the Guardian. From a Google corporate statement:

“We’re disappointed that Facebook didn’t invest their time in making it possible for their users to get their contacts out of Facebook. As passionate believers that people should be able to control the data they create, we will continue to allow our users to export their Google contacts.”

Facebook has yet to comment on the issue.

Will this escalate the Great Online Data War?

Greek dramatist Aeschylus (525 BC – 456 BC) once wrote that “In war, truth is the first casualty.” The most likely scenario is that the Great Online Data War – Google vs. Facebook – does not have one clear party in the right or in the wrong. The truth of the matter is that Google and Facebook will make decisions that benefit themselves first. This recent skirmish between the online titans makes it seem as though Facebook simply doesn’t want to provide an escape route for its users, but Google could simply be looking for an opening in Facebook through which it can extend a new battering ram in the rumored Google Me service.

Sources

Guardian

(Picasa Web Albums - O.R.)

I often hear people say “Google it” as if Google is something one cannot do without. Of course, this may seem slightly dipping in exaggeration, but yet I have experienced it to be true at times. I wonder what life would be like without the computer and Internet. Would we be counting the days by the number of full moons, deciphering stone tablets and bartering silk sheets for bushels of barley?

Internet origin

According to Wikipedia, Charles Babbage originated the concept of a programmable computer. He is credited for inventing the first mechanical computer that eventually led to more complex designs. About 111 years after his death, the idea of a global network was formed from internetworking. An abbreviation of internetworking, Internet, was adopted from the first Request for Comments published on the Transmission Control Program protocol in December 1974 by Vinton Cerf, Yogen Dalal and Carl Sunshine.

Google functions

Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded a search engine in September of 1998 called Google, Inc. Marziah Karch from About.com Guide writes, “Google is one of the five most popular websites in the world. It is a web search engine that lets you find other sites on the web based on keyword searches. Google also provides specialized searches through blogs, catalogs, videos, news items and more. Google provides Internet services that let you create blogs, send e-mail and publish web pages. Google has social networking tools, organization tools and chat tools, services for mobile devices, and even Google branded merchandise.”

This makes almost anything just a click away. Business, communication and education have become incredibly convenient and efficient. The world and lives in general have never been explored at so broadly and yet at such close range, thanks to the Internet and search engines like Google. From instant payday loans online and no-hassle payday installment loans to your favorite toy on eBay, you can find almost anything you want in almost no time at all.

Gemalto alleges that Android developers and retailers stole the JavaCard technoloogy Gemalto patented. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Dutch technology company Gemalto has served a huge patent infringement lawsuit to a number of companies. The allegation is Google and makers of Android smartphones such as Samsung and Motorola have infringed on patents held by Gemalto. Gemalto is claiming that Android makers intentionally used Java Card technology developed by Gemalto in Android systems. Gemalto developed its Java Card technology in the 1990s at its labs in Texas.

Gemalto v. Android lawsuit alleges infringement

Recently, the Netherlands based technology company Gemalto joined others in suing the various purveyors of Android smartphones, according to Bloomberg. The suit was filed in the United States District Court in East Texas. The companies named in the suit include HTC, Google, Samsung, Exedea and Motorola. Gemalto is alleging that these companies deliberately used Gemalto JavaCard technology in Android phones. JavaCard allows for a SIM card to run the Java programming language. A Gemalto smart card was developed in the 1990s and is extensively used in credit cards, among other uses. In the complaint Gemalto stresses that its patented technologies were used without its permission in Android phones. The suit also alleges that the phones use the Gemalto Dalvik virtual programming.

Android suits pending

Other lawsuits are pending against the various makers and carriers of Android technology. Earlier this year, suits were filed against Android by both Apple Inc. and Oracle. The Apple suit and the Oracle suit both concern patent or copyright infringement on the part of Android or at least an Android provider and Android’s use of Java. The Gemalto suit is the third.

War of the smartphones

The battle between Android seems to be turning from just Apple and Android to Android and nearly everyone. If Android did commit any patent infringement, it remains for courts to determine. Android and Apple have become the largest competitors in the market of smartphones, as the RIM Blackberry has been slipping this year.

Sources

Bloomberg

Steve Jobs let iPhone competitors have it at an Apple earnings conference, citing Apple's sales dominance. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Steve Jobs recently participated in an Apple earnings press conference. During the discussion of how well Apple Inc. stock is doing, Jobs took time to let loose on RIM (Blackberry) and Android platforms. He touted the fact that Apple sells more units of the iPhone than either platform and has better software to boot. An Apple event is scheduled soon, called “Back to the Mac” The event will likely discuss upcoming computers from Apple.

Jobs blasts RIM and Android at Apple earnings meeting

Steve Jobs made a surprise visit to a recent Apple earnings press conference. Earnings for Apple Inc. for the fourth quarter were substantial. He opened by saying he usually doesn’t attend such meetings, but he couldn’t resist talking about the first $20 billion quarter for Apple, according to Apple Insider. He also took some time to slam the competition. He pointed out that the iPhone outsold RIM Blackberry by 2 million units, and that Research In Motion had too far to go to catch up. He also pointed out that Android smartphones by Google activated 200,000 units a day to Apple’s 275,000.

Android tablets to die quickly

On the heels of the best quarter ever for the Apple stock price — AAPL just hit $300 a share — Jobs also felt he would weigh in on gripes about software and tablets. He said that Google’s claims about the iPhone being “closed” and Android being “open” were misleading. He also pointed out that the Android tablet PCs due out soon will be “dead on arrival” because a 7-inch screen is only a bit bigger than a smart phone. He opined that because Apple makes everything in house, the iPad is more bang for less buck than the competition.

Getting ‘Back to the Mac’

An Apple event is scheduled for Wednesday. It is called “Back to the Mac” and the topic, according to CNET will be the new hardware and Mac operating system.

Sources

CNET

Apple Insider

Microsoft's Bing and Facebook will soon integrate search results. Image: Flickr / search-engine-land / CC-BY

In a joint announcement today, Microsoft’s Bing search engine and Facebook have announced a partnership. Bing will integrate social network search into its personalized results. Microsoft is hoping the Facebook partnership will help it overtake Google.

Facebook partnership for Bing

Facebook will now be integrating Bing search results and visa-versa. Microsoft and Facebook outlined two of the biggest features during their press announcement today. First, if searching for a person, Bing will use your Facebook profile to return results of people you are most likely to know. Called “social distance,” this feature makes decisions based on your friends list. Second, Bing will rate search results based on what your friends and social network have “liked” on Facebook. This individual ranking of search results will be done when your Facebook and Bing accounts are linked — either through Facebook connect or a similar feature.

The expansion of Microsoft’s Bing

The announcement of Bing’s integration of Facebook comes as Microsoft is trying to wrestle search market share away from Google. Bing is also currently integrating with Yahoo! search results. These two moves make Bing the strongest competitor so far to Google’s search rankings and results. Microsoft has been making very calculated moves to try to take over the search results market. It appears that Google and Bing will be duking it out for a long time to come. Following the announcement, Microsoft shares rose 65 cents apiece.

Turning off the Facebook integration

If you do not want your Facebook and Bing search results integrated, the companies are offering a way to turn off the linking feature. The details of exactly how this will work for users have not been outlined yet, however. This means once the Facebook/Bing search integration is turned on, you will most likely need to readjust your privacy settings on both websites to ensure your results return as you wish.

Sources

USA Today
Bloomburg News

Oracle is suing Google for patent and copyright violation in Android OS. (Photo Credit: CC BY-SA/Eric/Picasa)

While Google Android smartphone sales may have passed the iPhone worldwide in the second quarter of 2010, it doesn’t take an Oracle to see that there’s trouble ahead for the company whose unofficial motto is “Do no evil.” The Wall Street Journal reports that Oracle Corp. has sued Google Inc. for patent and copyright infringement, claiming that the Android OS violates Oracle’s Java copyrights. The lawsuit pits Oracle CEO Larry Ellison against Google founder Eric Schmidt, a former Sun chief technology officer. Oracle acquired Sun, the company that invented the Java programming language, in January 2010. Today, Java is used in the Android smartphone as well as hundreds of other devices.

Oracle lawsuit seeks unspecified damages

According to the WSJ, the Oracle lawsuit seeks “unspecific damages and an injunction against ‘continued acts of infringement’ by Google.” Google has not officially responded to Oracle’s lawsuit yet, but it had been widely assumed that it was allowed to use free open-source Java licenses, as Sun traditionally authorized use of such licenses. However, no licensing deal between Oracle and Google had been officially announced. If an injunction against Google is granted by the presiding California court, developers would be barred from creating applications for Android OS and shipments of Android phones would come to a halt.

Protecting intellectual property

While Sun’s business practices centered on a healthy respect for open-source software and free exchange of ideas, Oracle “takes a lot more care in terms of protecting its IP, and Java is one of the crown jewels of the Sun acquisition,” tech analyst Ray Wang told the Journal. Perhaps it is as PC World suggests, that Oracle clings to IP because the U.S. government is on its tail over tax evasion. Whatever the case, the company that was once considered a rival to Microsoft – a position it has clearly lost to Google – is now looking for the court system to generate revenue.

Sources:

PC World

Wall Street Journal

“Trade the Trend” report on the Oracle-Google lawsuit

The FCC has proposed a Third Way for net neutrality that shields broadband companies from full telecommunications regulation but prevents them from charging customers the way cell phone companies do. Flickr photo.

Net neutrality, in a nutshell is fast, open, equal and affordable Internet access to all Americans. Some broadband providers have proposed to start charging more to their customers for higher levels of service, much like cell phone companies. The Federal Communications Commission started an uproar in the net neutrality debate on Thursday when it announced that it will seek public comment on imposing new regulations on Internet service providers to keep them from offering tiered service. Meanwhile, there’s an effort on Capitol Hill to define more clearly the FCC’s authority. But the FCC doesn’t want to wait for Congress to get around to it before it regains control of the net neutrality issue

FCC net neutrality

Consumer groups and free speech advocate groups such as savetheinternet.com are in favor of net neutrality. Internet service providers and free market advocates are against it. Until last week the two proposed versions of net neutrality legislation would prohibit: (1) the “tiering” of broadband through sale of voice- or video-oriented Quality of Service packages; and (2) content- or service-sensitive blocking or censorship on the part of broadband carriers. Last week, the FCC released what is called the “Third Way” plan.

Net neutrality: The Third Way

Net neutrality under the third way, according to the Washington Post, is this: Currently, broadband is defined as an information service, which means it doesn’t face much FCC oversight. The new plan is to shift broadband into the same classification as telephone service, which would trigger more oversight by the agency. The FCC says it would not subject Internet service providers to the full brunt of regulation that would come with the new classification.

Comcast net neutrality case

The FCC’s Third Way is an effort to regain control of the net neutrality issue in response to a Federal Court decision in April that overturned a 2008 FCC ruling in the Comcast net neutrality case. In 2007, Comcast was found to be blocking or severely delaying BitTorrent uploads on their network, claiming that downloading huge amounts of data was clogging the network. In August 2008, the FCC ruled that Comcast broke the law when it throttled the bandwidth available to certain customers for video files in order to make sure that other customers had adequate bandwidth.

Time Warner net neutrality challenge

In a 2009 test of the net neutrality issue,Time Warner Cable announced its intention offer broadband packages in 10GB, 20GB, 40GB and 60GB increments. The plans included overage charges of $1 per GB, capped at $75. Time Warner launched the pricing system in several markets to much public outcry. Later the company announced that it would offer larger packages but public discontent remained. They were eventually forced to abandon the Time Warner net neutrality challenge altogether.

Net neutrality supporters

The FCC voted Thursday to start the controversial process of reclassifying high-speed Internet access to give the agency authority over service providers that would prevent disparate treatment of customers. The Channel Web reports that last week, a group of 13 companies including Amazon, Google  and Sony sent the FCC a letter in support of the Third Way saying that it will ensure that consumers have access to an open Internet, one that would preserve a level playing field for all participants. The net neutrality supporters said the Third Way does so without regulating the Internet but by applying basic rules of the road to the transmission services that provide access to the Internet.

Against net neutrality

Republicans in Congress are adamantly against net neutrality any which way. The Los Angeles Times reports that Republicans offer the familiar argument that the Third Way is more government meddling in a free market that will stunt innovation and investment, echoing their Internet-service provider patrons. Texas Republican senator Kay Bailey Hutchison speaking out against net neutrality said the agency has created “new burdensome regulations that threaten to stifle the growth of America’s broadband services.”

Google net neutrality letter

But Google cheered the FCC’s decision. “As we have said before, broadband infrastructure is too important to be left outside of any oversight,” the company said on The Official Google Blog. Massachusetts Democratic senator Edward J. Markey applauded the FCC’s move, calling it a “light-touch regulatory proposal” that would ensure “continued innovation, consumer protection and certainty in the broadband marketplace.”

Samuel Johnson, who wrote the first English Dictionary, where people can find the definition of vitriol. From Wikimedia Commons

For those of us who pay attention these sorts of things, Google Trends and Google Hot Searches can be quite telling.  One of the big searches for Friday, April 2, was the term “vitriol.” Granted, it is sort of an obscure word. Some people put a lot of instant cash in them that their college, where they get all smarty pantsed and high falutin’ but even some of them need a definition.

What DOES vitriol mean?

The Merriam-Webster entry for vitriol defines it as either a sulfate of various metals, that being the antiquated definition, and the more common definition as something having a caustic (meaning corrosive or acidic) quality, usually speech. There – no need to go out for payday loans to get a copy of the Oxford English Dictionary.

We’re still having confused

Yes, that was, and those above were, deliberate grammar mistakes. Still haven’t got it yet? OK; say hello to my little friend.

“I call him Governor Bush because that’s the last legal position he held in this country.” – George Carlin

That’s an example of vitriol.

How did this word get brought up?

A lot of the statements and attitudes coming from the more conservative camps have been increasingly nasty.  According to a recent post on the USA Today web site, President Obama had a recent interview with CBS News where he strongly objected to the amount of vitriol in the nation’s discourse.  After the health care reform debates, this recent Guardians of the Free Republics fiasco, and Hutaree Militia – there is certainly a lot of vitriol.

It seems that so many people seem to think that they know so much better than anyone else the way things ought to be, and when it appears that their vision of heaven on earth is not going to be happening, they get incredibly mad, on either side of the aisle (the Dems were just as fire and brimstone several years ago) and perhaps it is indeed time for us all to take a breath, relax and remember it’s all just a ride.

Do most prefer Yahoo mail or Gmail?

I’m not sure about the rest of the world, but it took a freak of nature to convince me to replace yahoo with another mail server, thus giving my number one spot to a search engine that I didn’t know. What held me back was mostly that I have always liked the way the Yahoo mail engine looks. It has always appealed to me, aesthetically. Plus, it was my first, so I was attached. Moreover, you don’t need a pay day loan to pay for extra storage.

Always simple and easy, I just felt comfortable using its features. Many people I know use yahoo, but my loyalty has shifted slightly. I now prefer Gmail, but I keep my Yahoo account open for storage space. I even get to receive my Yahoo mail in my new Gmail account. Let’s face it; Google is the next generation with its hip and high tech solutions to our mail, especially for spam problems. I like the fact that Gmail is simply referred to as “Gmail.” You couldn’t ask for a better name to start an internet empire with.

What’s wrong with a little healthy competition?

I think neither Google nor Yahoo would have had the success they have without each another. So Google and Yahoo search engines should not hate but congratulate. The fact is the two engines are similar, but they have enough differences to avoid any real problems. Yahoo is more concerned with entertainment, from e-mail and instant messaging to jokes and games. Google, on the other hand, is primarily a searching entity with extra stuff built  around the search feature. Yahoo has been trying to catch up with Google, but who knows if it ever will. The real battle will begin once Yahoo and Bing become one.

(Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yodelanecdotal/ / CC BY 2.0)

Internet cafes provide the majority of internet access on Mainland China. Image from Flickr.

As of 3:03 p.m. Eastern time today, Google has officially shut down Google.cn search operations, ending the online loans of information that Google and China had worked out. Google and China have been in a long-standing debate over the censoring of search results — a debate that has gotten especially heated since Jan. 12. Today, on its official blog, Google announced that had cut the cord to Google.cn and would be redirecting all searches in China to Google.com.hk, the Hong Kong portal for the search engine.

Availability of Google in China

Along with redirecting the Google.cn portal to Google.com.hk, Google also launched an “Apps Status Dashboard” report on China. According to that dashboard, as of 2:15 p.m. Pacific time today, Google users in China are able to access the web and image search functions freely, without censorship. News, advertisements, and Gmail also appear to be freely accessible. However, YouTube, Google Sites, and Blogger are completely blocked, while Google Groups, Picasa, and Google Docs have a small loan from the government – they are only partially blocked.

China’s unique relationship with Hong Kong

Google’s decision to redirect Google.cn to Google.com.hk is a decision made partially possible by the unique relationship of mainland China with Hong Kong. Google has long had a non-censored presence in Hong Kong, even though it is a “special administrative region” of the Republic of China. Hong Kong is technically Chinese, though it is operated as a multi-party democratic republic, rather than under the single-party system of China. Because Hong Kong is financially and politically separate from China, Google has been able to offer a full suite of web services there for many years.

How China’s government will react to Google

Senior Vice President David Drummond, Google’s chief legal officer, stated today that “We very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block access to our services.” Most industry and political watchers do expect China to begin censoring search results from Google.com.hk any day. The Chinese government has a long history of censorship, and China’s “Great Firewall” is surprisingly effective at censoring sections of the internet that the Chinese government determines should not be allowed.

YouTube (owned by Google) is being sued by Viacom for alleged copyright infringement. Image from Flickr.

This morning, a New York Federal Court judge released hundreds of thousands of pages (PDF) of documents related to the three-year-old Viacom v. YouTube lawsuit. Viacom is the owner of a huge variety of media outlets, including Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central, MTV and BET. Viacom is suing Google – specifically, Google’s YouTube property – over alleged copyright infringements. At the basis of this lawsuit is the 1996 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. There have been other cases testing the DMCA, but the Viacom vs. YouTube/Google case is the largest, asking for more than $1 billion worth of fast cash for Viacom.

The Viacom allegations against YouTube

Filed on March 13, 2007, the Viacom lawsuit against Google and YouTube alleged copyright infringement. In the released documents, Viacom claims that YouTube engaged in “massive intentional copyright infringement” by making available over 100,000 “unauthorized” clips of Viacom-owned materials and taking no actions to remove or block copyrighted information from YouTube.

Google’s defense of YouTube

Google has defended YouTube against Viacom’s allegations in several ways. First, Google claims that Viacom has taken many of the YouTube e-mails included in the court documents out of context. As reported by CNet, Viacom’s complaint omitted the word “stop” from an e-mail a YouTube founder sent saying “…please stop putting stolen videos on the site.” Google also provides e-mails from 2005 in which YouTube’s founders outline that “video must be about you, must be appropriate for all audiences, cannot contain contact information, no copyrighted material.”

In the defense of YouTube against Viacom, YouTube has also alleged that Viacom secretly uploaded thousands of hours of video content at the same time they were complaining about that content’s presence on YouTube.

Viacom retaliation for YouTube purchase attempt?

CNBC has reported that Viacom’s lawsuit may be about more than just copyright protection. YouTube and Google claim that Viacom had tried to purchase YouTube before Google did, and then offered to partner with Google to purchase YouTube – using cash advance loans from both Viacom and Google to invest in YouTube. When both of these efforts failed, YouTube alleges, Viacom filed the lawsuit in retaliation.

YouTube protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act?

The lawsuit between Viacom and Google/YouTube is based on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This law was passed in 1998 and conforms to treaties the United States made with the World Intellectual Property Organization. In short, the act protects service providers (such as YouTube) from copyright infringement lawsuits if they remove material when a copyright claim is made by the media owners. Viacom is claiming that while YouTube did remove copyrighted material when asked, YouTube did not take appropriate actions to prevent the copyrighted material from ever being posted.

The implications of Viacom v. YouTube

In the end, no matter how many allegations Google and Viacom make against one another, the real matter at hand is if YouTube violated the DMCA. While YouTube’s terms of service have always included a prohibition against copyrighted content, the judge must rule if YouTube took actions that violated Viacom’s copyright. If YouTube is found guilty, it could have wide-ranging implications for the availability of commercially copyrighted content on the web.

Last week, more users typed www.facebook.com into their browser than www.google.com. Image from Flickr.

Last week, Facebook took a crown that Google has long held as its own: the most visited web site for the week. As reported by web traffic ranking service Hitwise on March 15, Facebook accounted for 7.07 percent of United States web traffic in the week ending March 13, while Google accounted for 7.03 percent. It may seem like a very minor difference, but in the battle of the web giants, the Google/Facebook rivalry has implications bigger than guaranteed payday loans.

How Facebook is catching up to Google

As reported on CNN.com, the most surprising thing about the report from Hitwise wasn’t necessarily that Facebook overtook Google’s visit statistics. It was, instead, that Facebook can claim 185 percent growth in traffic in just the past year, while Google’s growth is pegged at 9 percent. This explosion in growth shows that more and more people are treating Facebook as a web destination – and the growth in games, applications and tools on Facebook helps account for this expansion of market share.

How Facebook and Google differ

Of course, when looking at these numbers, it is important to consider the basic differences between Google and Facebook. Facebook is very much the “social destination” — the place you go on the web to chat with friends, play games, and generally hang out. Google, on the other hand, is more like a jumping-off point. Users don’t tend to hang out on Google.com. Instead, they use it as a portal to find exactly what they are looking for.

While both web sites make a large portion of their operating cash from advertising, the basic business model and offerings of the web sites are, at their base, different. This is not to say there is not crossover. Google’s recent launch of Google Buzz brings the search giant into the social-sharing sphere, though Facebook has yet to offer anything that directly competes with Google’s search offerings.

How the Google/Facebook numbers were calculated

As the New York Daily News points out, the Hitwise numbers that put Facebook as the most-visited site in the United States do not include “visits to other Google websites, such as Gmail, YouTube and Google Maps.” What this means is that the numbers only indicate the number of times users typed www.facebook.com and www.google.com into their browsers.

It does not account for anybody typing search strings such as “military personal loans” into the Google search boxes available in web browsers, on outside web sites, in Google toolbars or on their mobile phones. It also does not account for many of Google’s more popular web properties, such as the fifth-most visited site in that same week, YouTube. Taken in combination, Google and its properties most certainly still have significantly more traffic and daily users than Faceboook.

What this means for both Google and Facebook

Basic differences in offerings and statistics calculation aside, the fact that Facebook surpassed Google in number of visitors last week does still fire a shot across the bow of Google. Because both web sites are advertising-supported, both web sites are essentially competing for the same number of dollars, just in more places. Google, a relatively new startup itself (though ancient in web terms), has always considered the possibility of “the next startup” dethroning it. Facebook does definitely have the user base to be able to give Google a run for its money.

At the same time, Facebook is focused on the social networks and groups that individuals form for themselves, while Google is more focused on providing search and services for individuals. The difference in their business models mean that both Google and Facebook will continue to draw in hundreds of millions of page views – the real question is where will advertisers decide to spend their money? Only time will tell.

Google is the best-known name in search in most of the world - but Google's China operations will be shutting down. Image from Flickr.

Google is the nearly indisputable king of internet searches; last month alone, it claimed 72.11 percent of all searches in the U.S., according to HitWise. It makes sense, then, that Google would be trying to break into China, where the number of internet users exceeds the entire population of the U.S., according to the McKinsey Quarterly. Google initially censored many search results in order to comply with the government in China – blocking results about democracy, pay day loans, and Tienanmen Square. However, it appears that Google and China have reached an impasse in negotiations about censorship, and google.cn, the Chinese-based portal for Google will be shutting down.

Google’s China-based search

Google.cn, the Google China web site, started in 2005. Originally, Google had agreed to censor search results in China to meet with the Chinese government’s requirements. Google took some very heated opposition to this move, but the proposition of getting their “foot in the door” to the very large Chinese market encouraged Google to work with the requirements of the government in China. There were some that accused Google, a very public supporter of net neutrality of putting their principles on the back shelf by agreeing to censor their results. Like short term loans for bad credit, Google was willing to take out some search results in order to get things on track.

The disagreement between Google and China

After the initial anger about Google censoring its search results to meet with China’s government regulations died down, things remained fairly quiet until January of this year. On Jan. 12, Google announced a “New approach to China.” This move came as the result of cyber attacks not only on Google, but on the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists and advocates. At that point, Google announced that it would no longer be censoring search results in China. The government in China, as reported by the BBC agreed to talks with Google about censoring practices. However, the New York Times reports that those talks appear to have broken down. Nicole Wong, Google’s Vice President outlined in a statement:

“We are no longer willing to censor our search results in China, and we are currently reviewing our options. If the option is that we’ll shutter our .cn operation and leave the country, we are prepared to do that.

China has gone so far as to warn Google partners in China that they need to find “alternatives” to their Google search boxes.

History of internet censorship in China

The government in China, for the most part, appears to be very unconcerned about Google’s decision to remove its censored search engine. This is, in part, because China has a fairly well-developed system of internet censorship that they have been monitoring and using for years. Known as the “great Firewall,” there is a massive no-access blockage to many web sites available online.

Many popular web sites, such as YouTube and Wikipedia, are also heavily restricted based on certain topics. China also requires internet users to provide personal information to log onto the internet in Internet cafes, where most internet users in China log on. This massive effort of information control is known as the “Golden Shield Project.” Many U.S. companies, such as Google, have altered the way they do business in China in order to work with their huge population and growing economic power.

What Google will do with China

Now that Google is “most likely” shutting down its Google.cn operations, internet users in China will most likely not be able to access Google.com. Though they will be effectively cutting themselves out of a very large market, Google’s handling of the government in China is just the latest of a long string of U.S. Companies clashing with the Chinese government. Google has stated that it hopes users in China will continue to use Google.com, though in reality, Google will most likely lose the market share available in China.

Image from Flickr.

The internetverse is still buzzing about Google Buzz, and it appears Google has purchased a company that will give its social network something special. Aardvark developed a type of search engine that allows you to do keyword searches on your social networks rather than the World Wide Web.

I am, of course, assuming that Google will actually be using this product on Google Buzz after it spent $50 million, according to TechCrunch, to acquire it. Seems logical to me, but that’s not an official statement, just the opinion of one blogger who still needs tax resolution

Official statements on Google and Aardvark

What we do know is that Google and Aardvark signed the acquisition deal today — that’s pretty much it. However, as Google goes about buying $50 million bells and whistles to add to Google Buzz, there are a few things we should consider before jumping on the Buzz bandwagon.

When you signed up for Facebook, you knew that all of your friends would be able to see all of your other friends. Of course, you can hide your friends list now. However, when you entered e-mails into your gmail account, did you count on the fact that everyone would be able to see those contacts? That is a risk of Google Buzz.

All together now, Googlers

MSNBC reports that on Google Buzz, you create a “Google profile that will primarily be seen by other Google users.” Other Google users? Isn’t that, like, everybody? You can dial up the privacy knob a bit by telling it not to display your last name. For me, this would be of great use. However, I don’t think it will hide my friend Shadra’s identity very well.

Because your Gmail or Google account username is your e-mail address, everyone will know your e-mail address. Thank goodness for those spam filters, eh? But what about non-spammers who you’d rather not have e-mailing you and disrupting your world? And what if you don’t want your coworkers to be on the chat list of your personal e-mail account, where you write all of your special, private status messages?

Get informed about Google Buzz

MSNBC does a really good job of summarizing the privacy concerns surrounding Google Buzz here:  www.msnbc.msn.com. I can only imagine that being able to do keyword searches involving social contacts through Aardvark will add to these concerns. Google Buzz will probably work very well for a lot of people, but make sure you read up before you sign up.