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Why Is Microsoft Having Copyright Links Taken Down From Google?

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 25 May 2012 19:43:01 +0000

Our friends over at TechDirt has found out that according to Google’s copyright transparency tool, Microsoft has been sending Google a lot of takedown notices for copyright infringing links. However many of these same links still appear to be indexed in Microsoft’s search engine Bing.com. Google generally takes down links that infringe copyright in under 11 hours and they are processing over 1 million takedowns per month by hand-checking them. Microsoft takes a longer amount of time to take down links even though they are requesting many of them from Google themselves. You can see some of the links that Microsoft requested to have taken down at this link.

Google Announces In-App Subscriptions For Google Play

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 25 May 2012 13:15:30 +0000

When Google launched In-app Billing last year on Google Play, developers were able to find more ways to sell and engage users over the lifetime of their apps. In-app Billing now accounts for 23 of the 24 top-grossing apps in Google Play by allowing users to buy virtual goods and upgrades. The total revenue generated from in-app purchases now exceeds revenue from traditional app purchases. Now Google is allowing app developers to set up subscriptions with In-app Billing. This includes monthly or annual subscriptions from inside the apps. All subscriptions are auto-renewing. Developers can set the price and billing interval. After the transaction, Google Play manages the recurring billing and keeps the users informed about their charges by sending them an e-mail at each renewal. Google introduced an HTTP-based publisher API through enterprise-scale backend servers to validate or cancel subscriptions. Glu Mobile is one of the first games to utilize Google Play subscriptions for their Android title Frontline Commando.

Google Hires Several Of HP’s webOS Enyo Employees

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:34:59 +0000

Following the news of HP laying off 27,000 employees, Google has hired employees from them. Several members of the HP team that was responsible for building Enyo, an HTML5-based application framework that was integrated into the HP TouchPad is joining Google. Enyo is an essential part of HP’s open source strategy for webOS. It is likely that the poached Enyo employees will find themselves working on Android or on Chrome. One of the key employees that Google hired from Enyo is Matt McNulty, whom was responsible for heading up Enyo. Below is a statement from HP that was sent to The Verge:

We’re pleased with the traction Enyo has gained to date and plan to continue its development along with the open source community. The Open webOS project is on schedule and we remain committed to the roadmap announced in January.

The Jury Voted 9-3 In Favor Of Google Against Oracle

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:48:41 +0000

Yesterday we reported that the jury voted in favor of Google. As part of a follow-up to that article, I just wanted to add that the jury was split 9-3 in favor of Google. Jury foreman Greg Thompson spent time answering questions for reporters while Oracle’s lawyers had listened quietly. It turns out that Oracle did not have a chance to win all along. Oracle had to convince the jury that some portions of their Java APIs can be classified as protected. Google uses these APIs as the foundation for the Android operating system. Judge William Alsup even prompted to consider Java APIs as being copyrighted.

“A lot of the jurors were focused on functionality versus creativity,” stated Thompson. He added that the majority was “putting greater weight on functionality.” However the jury was not too pleased with how Google relied heavily on a blog post that was written by former Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz. Schwartz’s blog post congratulated Google on Android’s launch. Thompson said “we felt like it wasn’t a good business practice to rely on a blog – Some of us had an underlying feeling that Google had done something that wasn’t right.”

The jury couldn’t see Java APIs as being a protected art. “The more tech savvy a person is, the more difficult it might be to convince them of something that would limit [technology]… and future expansion of the common good,” said Thompson.

Google Updates Search App For iPhone

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:15:09 +0000

Google has updated the Search app for the iPhone. You will notice that the interface has been redesigned to give you faster results. There is a full-screen image search and a simple way to access all of the Google apps in one place. The app has autocompletion for search suggestions and multiple pages have a slide-in panel. At the bottom of the app is a navigational scheme that lets you easily switch between search modes as well.

Jury Says Google Did Not Infringe Oracle Patents

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:55:23 +0000

The jury in the lawsuit between Oracle and Google has decided that Google has not infringed on Oracle’s patents. Oracle said that Google were using Java patents in Android illegally. “Today’s jury verdict that Android does not infringe Oracle’s patents was a victory not just for Google but the entire Android ecosystem,” said Google in a statement.

Google To Start Alerting Users That Have DNSChanger Malware Infection

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:31:36 +0000

Google is working on a campaign to notify users whose PCs have been infected with the DNSChanger malware. The DNSChanger malware was part of a scam that came up last November when the U.S. Department of Justice accused 7 men from Russia and Estonia of conducting several kinds of Internet fraud schemes. Users were infected with the malware when clicking on malicious links or downloading bad software. The malware had sent infected computers to DNS servers to redirect them to websites that they never intended to visit. After the faulty DNS servers were found, a non-profit organization called the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) replaced the servers with the help of a court order. Paul Vixie of the ISC estimates that about 500,000 devices were still being connected to the temporary servers. However the court order is expiring on July 9th and those temporary servers will be shut down. This would cause hundreds of thousands of people to not have Internet. Google said that they will try to alert users in their preferred language.

WATCH: Larry Page Talks About Facebook Being Closed With Their Data

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:31:49 +0000

Google CEO Larry Page was interviewed by Charlie Rose of PBS last night to discuss various topics. One of the topics was regarding the Facebook IPO. Page wished Facebook well, but decided to focus more on Facebook being a closed environment.

When Rose asked Page about whether he is worried about Facebook’s competition in search, he said “I think that it’s something we take seriously — like people’s social media. I think it’s been unfortunate that Facebook has been pretty closed with their data. We’re in the business of searching data, we generally do not turn it down when it is offered to us. In general, I think we would like to see content on the Internet being more open.” He then talked about the issue that Google and Facebook had in regards to contacts. Check out the video below. The audio kicks in at around the 10 second mark:

Dennis Woodside Becomes CEO Of Motorola Mobility

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:35:45 +0000

Google CEO Larry Page has confirmed that Google has officially acquired Motorola Mobility. “Sanjay Jha, who was responsible for building the company and placing that big bet on Android, has stepped down as CEO. I would like to thank him for his efforts and am tremendously pleased that he will be working to ensure a smooth transition as long-time Googler Dennis Woodside takes over as CEO of Motorola Mobility,” said Page. Woodside expanded Google’s business across the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Russia. Woodside also helped Google’s revenue increase from $10.8 billion to $17.5 billion in under three years as the President of the Americas region.

Motorola Mobility Acquisition Will Close This Week

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:05:29 +0000

Over the weekend, Google was given clearance from the Chinese government to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. Today Motorola Mobility filed an 8-K form that says the deal will be closed in the next couple of business days. Next a “listening tour” will take place where new management will visit the whole operation. They will see what everyone does and make decisions. One of the biggest decisions could be headcount reduction, which would effect as high as 30% of Motorola’s staff.

An approval from the Anti-Monopoly Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce of China arrived on May 19th. “As the transaction has now received all required regulatory approvals, the companies are moving to close the transaction within two business days,” said the note.

It is unknown who will head up Motorola’s operations after the acquisition is complete. Google had head of Americas, Dennis Woodside, oversee the merger. Rumor has it that Google’s Chief Business Officer Nikesh Arora will lead the operations.