Moving to staunch the defection of staff to competitors, Google Inc. is giving a 10 percent raise to all of its 23,000 employees, according to people familiar with the matter. The raise, which will be given to executives and staff across the globe, is effective in January. Get the full story »
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Google announces ‘Instant Previews’ search feature
People searching on Google will soon be able to see previews of websites before clicking on them.
The “Instant Previews” feature announced Tuesday is meant to help people bypass websites that are either irrelevant or simply too visually cluttered for their tastes. It works for Google web searches, as well as searches for news, video and local businesses. Get the full story »
Google blocks data from Facebook amid rivalry
Google will begin blocking Facebook and other Web services from accessing its users’ information, highlighting an intensifying rivalry between the two Internet giants.
Google will no longer let other services automatically import its users’ email contact data for their own purposes, unless the information flows both ways. It accused Facebook in particular of siphoning up Google contact data, without allowing for the automatic import and export of Facebook users’ information.
Facebook, with more than 500 million users, relies on email services such as Google’s Gmail to help new users find friends already on the network. When a person joins, they are asked to import their Gmail contact list into the social network service. Facebook then tells the user which email contacts are also on the social network. Get the full story »
Nov. 5, 2010 at 11:33 a.m.
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Filed under: Cell phones, Consumer electronics, Corporate governance, Technology BlackBerry’s corporate dominance may be eroding
Shares in Research In Motion slipped more than 3 percent on Friday morning as investors fretted the BlackBerry smartphone’s stranglehold on corporate communications was being eroded by rival devices. Get the full story »
Britain says Google Street View breached law
Web search giant Google broke UK law by harvesting emails, Internet addresses and passwords while collecting data for its Street View maps service, Britain’s Information Commissioner said on Wednesday. Get the full story »
Nov. 1, 2010 at 4:53 p.m.
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Filed under: Computers, Government, Software, Telecommunications, Updated Google sues Interior Dept. for favoring Microsoft
Google is suing the U.S. government for excluding its products from being considered for a five-year contract worth about $59 million to upgrade the Department of the Interior’s email system.
In a complaint filed on Friday, Google said the government abused its discretion and acted in a manner that was “arbitrary and capricious” by only considering sales proposals with email technology based on Microsoft Corp technology. Get the full story »
Apple sues Motorola over smartphone software
Apple Inc. sued Motorola Inc., alleging that the company’s smartphone lineup and the operating software it uses infringe on the iPhone-maker’s intellectual property.
The two lawsuits came after Motorola sued Apple in October for patent infringement and were the latest skirmish in a long-running series of disputes in the fiercely competitive smartphone industry. Get the full story »
YouTube CEO Hurley to step down
YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley is stepping down as CEO of the world’s most popular Web site for watching video.
Hurley’s decision to give up the leadership role at the 5-year-old site formalizes a transition that has been in the works for some time as YouTube’s owner, Google Inc., asserted more control. Get the full story »
Google adds local color with Place Search
Google is making another move to give consumers quick access to information about local places by rolling out Place Search, which clusters search results around specific locations.
For example, if a consumer searches for a museum in Los Angeles, the results will show each museum with relevant snippets of information and links from across the Web, making it easier to compare options. A red pin marks the location of each museum on a map.
Online travel coalition fights Google’s ITA deal
Several leading Internet travel agencies and search engines are urging U.S. government regulators to block Google from buying a technology supplier that plays an instrumental role in finding the best airline fares. The opponents, led by Expedia Inc., have formed a coalition called FairSearch.org to fight Google Inc.’s proposed $700 million acquisition of ITA Software.
Google’s Schmidt: ‘I misspoke’ on Street View
Marketwatch.com | In attempting to remove the foot he placed in his mouth on CNN last week, Google CEO Eric Schmidt assured people they could have their house removed from the search engine’s Street View if its presence there worries them.
Google to rein in employees on privacy matters
Google is promising to monitor its employees more closely to make sure they don’t intrude on people’s privacy while the company collects and stores information about its users.
The tougher privacy measures announced Friday appear to be in reaction to recent breaches that have raised questions about the Internet search leader’s internal controls and policies. Get the full story »
Disney, NBC latest to block shows from Google TV
Three of the biggest U.S. television broadcasters have blocked their shows from Google Inc.’s new Web TV service, throwing a wrench into the company’s plans to expand from computers to the living room.
Spokespeople from Walt Disney Co. and NBC Universal confirmed Thursday that they blocked access to its broadcast TV shows from Google TV. Disney owns network and cable TV businesses ABC and ESPN. Get the full story »
Google trumps street targets; shares surge
Google Inc. blew past Wall Street’s quarterly profit and revenue expectations as a 25 percent revenue surge offset rising expenses, sending its shares up 9 percent. Get the full story »
Google to fund undersea cables for huge wind farm
The Thanet Offshore Wind Farm, the world's largest, located off the Kent coast in southern England. Google plans to invest in a wind farm off the coast of the U.S. (Reuters/Stefan Wermuth)
Google is investing in a new wind farm power grid to be located off the East Coast of the United States.
“We just signed an agreement to invest in the development of a backbone transmission project off the Mid-Atlantic coast, that offers a solid financial return while helping to accelerate offshore wind development — so it’s both good business and good for the environment,” announced the search engine company in a blog on Monday night.
Google said the Atlantic Wind Connection will be located at least 10 miles offshore and will stretch 350 miles from New Jersey to Virginia. The wind farm will be capable of producing 6,000 megawatts, enough to power nearly 2 million homes. The wind-generated power will be delivered to the land-based transmission system via subsea cables, the company said.
Get the full story »
