Google’s Android software to remain free even after Motorola deal (USA)
According to reports, Eric Schmidt, Chairman, Google Inc., has said that the company will keep the Android software free for mobile-phone makers even after completing a planned acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. He added that the deal to buy Motorola Mobility would not violate the openness of Android, and that the company will be run independently.
As per sources, Google and Motorola Mobility entered into an agreement in August wherein Google agreed to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, considered to be its largest acquisition. Industry sources claim that this deal will further empower Google to expand its market share as well as better compete with rival Apple Inc. Further, this deal is expected to bring over 17,000 patents that can be used by Google to protect the Android software platform.
Google subscription service undercuts Apple
Google Inc. has unveiled a digital-content service that will provide publishers a bigger cut of subscription sales as compared to Apple’s program.
According to Chief Executive Officer, Eric Schmidt, Google will keep about 10% of the fees charged by publishers. Apple stated that it’s keeping 30%.
Google is also giving access to more information about users, publishers claimed.
According to Nina Link, CEO of the Magazine Publishers of America, publishers would certainly like the option where they’re paying 10% instead of 30% which is a significant difference. Also, they love the fact that there’s some choice, and they think there will be even more.
According to sources, content providers are working with Google and Apple to make their wares available in more ways, including on mobile devices, as sales of paper magazines and newspapers slump. Google’s concessions on price and user data make it a more alluring partner.
Sources added that Google’s proposed 10% fee is much closer to something they would find to be sustainable based on the margins that they are operating under.
Google CEO wants to avoid long EU probe
Google Inc reportedly wants to avoid a lengthy legal battle with European Union regulators investigating its market dominance.
According to company’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, they certainly want to avoid that. He thinks it is in their interest and he would hope in their interests to a do a quick analysis of concerns that have been raised by competitors, hopefully they are minor or they are not correct. They’ll find out and make sure they are operating well within the law and the spirit of the law.
Brussels launched a formal investigation into Google in November following complaints from European rivals that it was abusing its dominant position in the market for web search services.
A previous EU investigation into software giant Microsoft snowballed into a 10-year legal battle in which the company paid $2.3 billion in fines.
Google to replace Eric Schmidt as CEO
Google Inc. has stated that co-founder Larry Page would replace Eric Schmidt as chief executive in a surprising management reshuffle announced with the Internet company’s fourth-quarter earnings, which jumped 29%.
According to the company, the moves, effective April 4, were made to streamline decision-making and create clearer lines of responsibility and accountability at the top of the company.
Page takes the reins at a time when Google is striking out in multiple directions with its small businesses, from its online video site YouTube to its large push in mobile advertising with Android. The investments, which drew their share of skeptics, are beginning to take hold even as its core search and advertising business continues to hum.
As part of the change, Schmidt will no longer be responsible for the day-to-day operations. Instead, he will become executive chairman, focusing on deals, partnerships, customers and broader business relationships. He also will continue to act as an adviser to Page and co-founder Sergey Brin, who will devote his energy to strategic projects.
Speaking to investors, Schmidt stated that he doesn’t anticipate a material change in the company’s strategic direction.
According to Google spokesman Gabriel Stricker, Schmidt hadn’t felt overburdened and remained the company’s public face. Over the past year, Eric has been as engaged and publicly visible as ever.
Google blocks data from Facebook as competition erupts
Google is going to block Facebook and other Web services from accessing its users’ information, highlighting an intensifying rivalry between the two Internet giants.
Google has always allowed its users to transfer data, including their contacts to other websites. Up til now, new Facebook users could find out whether their contacts on Gmail also had Facebook accounts, simply by typing in their Gmail user name and password as part of the Facebook sign-up process.
But Google will no longer let other services automatically import its users’ email contact data for their own purposes, unless the information flow both ways. It blamed Facebook in particular of tapping Google contact data, without allowing for the automatic import and export of Facebook users’ information.
Facebook has more than 500 million users and it relies mostly on email services such as Google’s Gmail to help new users find friends already on the network. When a person signs up to it 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.
As per the statement by Google, websites such as Facebook leave users in a data dead-end.
On this act, analysts supposed that the move underscored the battle between Google, the world’s largest search engine, and Facebook, the dominant Internet social network.
As per Gartner analyst Ray Valdes, the fundamental power dynamic on the Web today is this emerging conflict between Facebook and Google. Google needs to evolve to become a big player in the social Web and it hasn’t been able to do that. If people do search within Facebook, if they do email within Facebook, if they do instant messaging within Facebook, all of these will chip away at Google’s properties.
According to Google, while it makes it easy for other Web services to automatically import a user’s contact data, Facebook was not reciprocating. The company has decided to change their approach slightly to reflect the fact that users often aren’t aware that once they have imported their contacts into sites like Facebook, they are effectively trapped. Google will no longer allow websites to automate the import of users’ Google Contacts (via API) unless they allow similar export to other sites.
According to Google spokesman, the company had begun enforcing the new rules gradually.
Google also stressed that users will still be able to manually download their contacts to their computers in “n open, machine-readable format which can then be imported into any Web service.
According to Google’s Chief Executive Officer, Eric Schmidt previous statements, company would add social layers to many of its existing Web products in the coming months, following its less-than-stellar track record of developing stand-alone social networking products like Orkut and the recently shuttered Wave service.
As per Gartner’s Valdes, access to the explosion of new types of data generated by Web services, such as location-based services, would provide further flashpoints between Google and Facebook. It’s one skirmish among many to come.
