Obviously the big story of yesterday and today in the technology world is the impending launch of Google’s open-source browser Chrome. It will likely be available for download here later today. (TechCrunch and Google Blogoscoped have a few screenshots.) There are dozens and dozens of stories on Techmeme.
Earlier this month, Google’s popular email service had a major outage. News.com is now reporting that Google has responded to Google Apps Premier users with a credit and a promise to provide better communication tools in case this happens again.
Remember Google losing its head of PR, Elliott Schrage, to Facebook back in May? Google has quietly found a replacement, that of Rachel Whetstone. She formerly headed corporate communications for Google in Europe. Google confirmed to us she was named to the post several weeks ago, though no announcement was made. But her replacement got […]
Kevin Johnson, who was arguably the primary architect of the now apparently failed Yahoo acquisition, is leaving Microsoft to run Juniper Networks. Simultaneously, the company is reorganizing the division that Johnson ran (“Platform Services”) into two: Windows and Windows Live + Online Services. Here’s the official Microsoft announcement from yesterday. The company announced no immediate […]
There are two views of the just-announced Yahoo reorganization. An upbeat assessment sees it as an instrumental step toward realizing Yahoo’s broad platform ambitions; a more skeptical perspective sees it as yet another run at streamlining the organization in the wake of the upheavals of the failed Microsoft acquisition bid and the departures of key […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web
The final quote in Miguel Helft’s NY Times article on the deepening alliance between Google and CRM software provider Salesforce.com says it all, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so that makes Google my best friend.” It’s attributed to Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com. Basically, in a deal announced this morning, Salesforce is […]
Last night, at Campfire One, Google launched an Amazon S3/EC2-like product named Google App Engine. For non-techies, Google App Engine will allow you to host your web sites and applications on their infrastructure. Not only that, this service will automatically grow in resources and capacity, as your application or web site requires. If you launch […]
IAC stays in Barry Diller’s control. US government agencies look to Google’s search hardware to find information. Google’s hotel-industrial complex that’s coming to Mountain View. Those darn declining paid clicks — will they hurt Google’s bottom line? Yahoo breaks out golden handcuffs to retain employees, while Google loses another one to Facebook. And more in […]
China’s Alibaba.com, in which Yahoo is a significant minority shareholder, enjoyed a massive 340 percent gain in net profit tied to China’s fast-growing economy. As Google argued earlier, it appears that those doing business in Asia and China in particular are somewhat insulated from the United States’ economic woes.
Each month, I compile Search Month — a recap of all the stories that have happened relating to search, categorized by topic. I thought it would be fun to take all the Search Months over the past year and produce this edition of Search Year 2007. It was far more work than I imagined, but […]
How might Google be broken up into various companies? The story below explores the idea, in the guise of a chapter from a fictional book about how a Google break-up might have come about and the results from it. It explores the idea of a Search Engine Reform Act that breaks-up the company, as well […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
In this corner, with a $214 billion market cap, is Google and “The Cloud” (and partners like IBM). In the other, weighing in at $327 billion, is Microsoft and the PC desktop. This is the theme of a Sunday New York Times piece about the high-stakes future of computing. The article explains that “cloud computing” […]
YourSearchAdvisor and TechCrunch report on a meeting sponsored by the Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce last week for local businesses about forthcoming developments and enhancements for Google Apps and Docs. The speaker was Scott Johnston, former VP of Product Development at JotSpot, which was acquired by Google in late 2006. Most of these enhancements are […]
Microsoft took the beta label off Windows Live Services, a mix of desktop and Web apps that are part of the company’s “software + services” strategy to keep those promoting “cloud computing” at bay (e.g., Google). Reuters and eWeek have rundowns of the global launch, while Digital Inspiration complains about the launch of the Live […]
Ask.com has bespoke answer for cutting server power usage from ComputerWorld reports Ask.com has contracted Dell four months ago to build out customized servers around the software applications they have built. This helps Ask.com “cut server power usage by 30%” of a typical server, said Mark Stockford, the senior vice president of operations at the […]
Google’s combo of search, ads & apps gave it a very strong Q3. Here’s the top-line from the press release: Google reported revenues of $4.23 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2007, an increase of 57% compared to the third quarter of 2006 and an increase of 9% compared to the second quarter of […]
Google Blogoscoped reports that the rumored Google Docs for Mobile is now live. You can search on docs or peruse a list of your documents. However, only some document types are available for viewing. Right now “word” docs are available and so are spreadsheets (although they rendered somewhat awkwardly for me), but you cannot access […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Google announced they have teamed up with IBM to “provide hardware, software, and services to augment university curricula and expand research horizons.” Google and I.B.M. Join in ‘Cloud Computing’ Research from the New York Times explains the two companies are building out a ‘cloud computing’ environment to help students obtain the technical training required to […]
Microsoft announced the beta launch of Microsoft Office Live Workspace. This is Microsoft’s answer to Google Docs and will be a “web-based feature of Microsoft Office that enables people to access their documents online anywhere and easily share their work with others.” Microsoft is currently accepting beta testers over here and will be launching it […]
Tonight Google launched its long-awaited presentations tool as part of the ghastly named Docs & Spreadsheets suite. But smartly the company has simultaneously changed the name of Docs & Spreadsheets simply to Google Docs. It could equally have been changed to “Google Office,” however, which the presentation software now appropriately completes.
PowerPoint haters unite! So, Techcrunch says that The Inquirer says that Google is thiiiiiiiis close to launching Presently, a web-based alternative to PowerPoint. With consulting firm CapGemini now pushing Google Apps hard, can we finally say goodbye to Microsoft’s Office Suite? Some speculate that the app will be unveiled next week at TechCruch 40 (formerly […]
Capgemini Backs Google’s Software Push from the Associated Press covers how Paris-based tech and business consultancy CapGemini is going to start recommending and installing Google Apps on enterprise desktops, a move viewed as a big boost for Google’s “office” application aspirations. CapGemini also works with Microsoft and IBM and “influences the type of software used […]
Microsoft has rolled out something similar to the Google Pack software bundle called “Windows Live Services.” Google Operating System has a lengthy (favorable) overview. The package includes mail and instant messaging, search toolbar, online storage, photosharing and blogging software, all from Microsoft. It operates as something of an extension of Windows desktop software and is […]
Microsoft Works to become a free, ad-funded product from ZDNet reports that the next version of the Microsoft Works office suite is to be ad funded.
Microsoft vows it won’t let its core businesses be undermined by “the cloud.” This article from the NY Times (and related discussion at Techmeme) quotes Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer saying that Microsoft will compete aggressively with Google and other online alternatives to Office and will offer Web-based versions of all its core software: “We’re not […]
The Google Enterprise Blog announced that they are getting out of the hardware business by partnering with Dell to manufacture their Google Search Appliance boxes. Google said they made this move so that they can “focus more on the software side.” Google is also excited about Dell’s capabilities of marketing the search appliance globally.
Google shivs server crowd with PeakStream buy from The Register reports Google has purchased PeakStream, a start-up that sells tools for programming chips with multiple processing units. The financial terms of the buyout were not disclosed, but rumors are that Google bought them on the cheap. Reportedly, PeakStream was not doing well financially and Google […]
Being a non-developer I was a bit of a fish out of water at Google Developer Day yesterday. The event, which took place in the 10 countries where Google has offices, was intended to showcase Google Gears and the company’s various APIs. I attended the event in California, which was moved from Google’s Mountain View […]
Today at Google Developer Day 2007, Google released Google Gears. Google Gears is a browser extension that will help developers create offline web applications in the open source framework. Gears is powered by JavaScript APIs enabling data storage, application caching, and multi-threading technologies for offline browsing and application use. Google Reader is the first online […]
As we expected, Google has launched a “Premier Edition” of Google Apps. Google Apps Premier Edition will give you everything standard Google Apps has plus the following features:
PC World reports that Google Apps will be adding Google Docs and Spreadsheets to the suite this quarter and possibly within a few weeks. We expected this to come sooner than later after Google decided to roll out fee-based Google Apps. PC World has quotes from lots of organizations that would find Google Apps & […]
Google Steps Into Microsoft’s Office from BusinessWeek covers how Google appears ready to begin charging corporations for use of Google Apps, which is free at this time. I suspect the “subscription fee amounting to a few dollars per person per month” described in the article is to allow Google to offer support for these products, […]
Intel inside again for new Google servers at News.com reports that Google has began purchasing Intel processors for their servers. Intel designed custom motherboards for Google, so that Google would use the hardware. Back when I was at Search Engine Watch, I reported on March 3, 2006 that Google switched to AMD from Intel, Google […]