Google‘s doodle today is a rare thing–one of their interactive efforts. It’s a load of balls. Bouncing, colored balls that make up the famous Google logo. Everyone’s pondering why. We think we know. It’s about the future of Web tech, with no apologies to Adobe’s aging Flash.
Back in July Google said it was buying airline travel software giant ITA. Now the Justice Department is probing the deal, concerned Google’s might will put the squeeze on the industry.
While the U.S. holidayed for Labor day, the rest of the world just … um … labored, and news happened. But if you’re using Facebook to check the facts then beware–there’s a huge new phishing scam out there, predating.
Google is typically very secretive about the specifics of its search revenue. I can’t actually recall any other leak quite like this one, in which the budgets of specific companies are laid out–kudos to AdAge for snagging the internal document with such rarely seen information.
Google Chrome may have been late to the browser game compared to Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari, but in two short years it’s managed to become a formidable option–maybe even the best browser around–and is gaining market share fast (up to 7.5% these days).
Google’s “Don’t Be Evil” motto has become increasingly controversial in the past year as the Internet giant made private GMail contacts public with Google Buzz, collected personal information from Wi-Fi networks in Street View vehicles, and most recently teamed with with Verizon to hammer out questionable net neutrality policies. While it’s possible (and maybe even probable) that none of this was done with malicious intent, Google’s capacity to invade our privacy is scary. That’s why Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, took to Times Square this week to protest Google’s privacy invasions.
India’s authorities are already forcing Research In Motion to grant access to the encrypted email and instant messages of its BlackBerry users, and now the government is pressuring Google and Skype too. Doesn’t the government understand technology? Or, with new successes in the Indian economy, maybe the nation is feeling the need to flex a few muscles.
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We all get too much email. It’s not just spam, either–that stuff rarely makes it past the front gates of email security, so lots of people hardly ever see it anymore. But many of us get dozens of emails per day, some of which can be ignored, some of which may need responding at some point later, and some of which should be answered as soon as possible. But it’s all clumped together without care or meaning!
Microsoft‘s Bing app, available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, the not-so-lamented Sidekick, and finally Android, is basically an alternative to Google‘s search suite. It’s got web search, images, movie listings, local place listings, maps, and directions–just like Google. Now that it’s on Android, Google’s preferred platform for its best features, we can get a sense of how Bing might work with the upcoming Windows Phone 7–and how it compares to Google on Android.
